Definition of babywearing
Dr. William Sears, a renowned American pediatrician, coined the phrase 'attachment parenting'. One of Sears' principles of attachment parenting is babywearing and he attributes many benefits to babywearing and the in-arms style of parenting.
Babywearing simply means holding or carrying a baby or young child using a cloth baby carrier (www.babywearinginternational.org)
Babywearing simply means holding or carrying a baby or young child using a cloth baby carrier (www.babywearinginternational.org)
Importance of babywearing
Intimate maternal bond
Mothers' oxytocin is increased through physical contact with the infant, leading to a more intimate maternal bond, easier breastfeeding and better care, thus lowering the incidence of postpartum depression and psychosomatic illness in the mother.
Calmer babies
Infants who are carried are calmer because all of their primal/survival needs are met. The caregiver can be seen, heard, smelled, touched, tasted, provide feeding and the motion necessary for continuing neural development, gastrointestinal and respiratory health and to establish balance (inner ear development) and muscle tone is constant.Infants are more organized. Parental rhythms (walking, heartbeat, etc.) have balancing and soothing effects on infants.
Babies are more secure
Infants are more organized. Parental rhythms (walking, heartbeat, etc.) have balancing and soothing effects on infants. Infants are "humanized" earlier by developing socially. Babies are closer to people and can study facial expressions, learn languages faster and be familiar with body language. Independence is established earlier. Attachment between child and caregiver is more secure.
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Reduces the risk of flat head syndrome
Decreases risk of positional plagiocephaly ("flat head syndrome") caused by extended time spent in a car seat and by sleeping on the back. .Concern over plagiocephaly has also led the American Academy of Pediatrics to recommend that infants “should spend minimal time in car seats (when not a passenger in a vehicle) or other seating that maintains supine positioning''.None of the babywearing positions require infants to lie supine while being carried. Infants can even be worn while they sleep, also decreasing sleeping time spent in a supine position.
Babies are happier
Studies of parent-child attachment, parental satisfaction and infant crying all point to babywearing as an ideal solution for most parents to provide an optimum environment for attachment between parent and child. Baby carriers and slings help increase the number of hours of day an infant is held, and there is an inverse relationship between the number of hours spend crying and the number of hours a child is held in a given day. Even 3 hours per day of babywearing reduces infant crying significantly, and at 13 months, babies who have been in soft carriers regularly are significantly more likely to be securely attached than babies who are carried in hard carriers
Hands free mummy!
Baby wearing allows the wearer to have two free hands to accomplish tasks such as laundry while caring for the baby's need to be held or be breastfed. Baby wearing offers a safer alternative to placing a car seat on top of a shopping cart. It also allows children to be involved in social interactions and to see their surroundings as an adult would.
Encourages breastfeeding behaviour
Breastfeeding and babywearing often go hand in hand. Many baby slings and other carriers offer mothers privacy and for many mothers, the option of nursing hands-free while tending to other activities or household chores. Not all mothers can nurse hands-free in a baby carrier. Large-breasted mothers and mothers of small or hypotonic infants may need to support the breast or help maintain proper positioning of the baby's head or body. Even so, a properly adjusted baby carrier can help reduce arm strain and allow a mother more freedom of movement while nursing, even if it does not allow her to be completely hands-free.
Prevents post-natal depression
Mothers who baby-wear are less likely to develop postnatal depression. This is particularly important as well in the case of mothers who've had traumatic birth experience. Babywearing improves the psychological well being of mothers and also helps to improve the recovery time in terms of the lowering the levels of cortisol (stress hormone) and increases the levels of oxytocin (a natural hormone that creates a “relaxation and well-being” response)
Compliments kangaroo (skin to skin) care
Babywearing can help premature babies and babies who are slow weight gainers to gain weight at a faster rate. Since the baby is held up close to the mother, the baby will be able to be nursed more often and often for longer intervals. Kangaroo care is well-studied and has shown clear benefits to premature and ill infants.
