Babywearing

If you learned that there’s a baby care item that could help improve your baby’s language development, support their social and emotional learning, strengthen their core muscles, and reduce their sense of pain and discomfort during vaccinations would you want to try it? If you’re interested in learning what this incredible care item is, read on.

Babywearing

Babywearing is what it sounds like: carrying your baby hands free in a soft sling or carrier. Though babywearing research is new, the practice is not. Many cultures have used babywearing for centuries to hold their babies near while doing housework, gardening or simply wearing baby to keep them close for bonding and nursing.

Kangaroo Care or Skin-to-Skin

A similar practice, Kangaroo Care, is widely used in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) to let moms hold baby to their breast to help baby stabilize their own temperature and breathing, and for breastfeeding.

Your nurse will recommend you go skin-to-skin with baby right after birth. Your baby, snuggled warmly against your bare chest without any clothes or blankets in between, is the best way to start bonding and breastfeeding.

Babies held this way feel your warmth, the movement of your breathing and they can hear that familiar heartbeat they’ve known all along. Your voice is also recognizable by your newborn, so speak and coo or even softly sing to your little one. This creates a sense of knowing and attachment between the two of you. Depending on your comfort level, you may want to throw a light baby blanket over your little one as they snuggle against you. This type of close, interrupted cuddling decreases stress for both you and baby.

Advantages of Babywearing

Baby wearing has its advantages when compared to carrying baby in a stroller or an external carrier. Snuggled against you, your baby will learn language and social cues early while their distance vision is limited. You’ll feel like you can move more freely with your baby, particularly in places that may not easily accommodate strollers, such as leisurely walks on the beach or going hands free to help your older children. An extra fun benefit is that you can use both hands to eat while wearing baby—don’t be surprised when baby’s eyes follow your hands up to your mouth when eating!

Babywearing can create a sense of calm for you and your baby during uncomfortable blood draws, vaccinations, or other procedures. Place your baby in the carrier for at about 15 minutes before the procedure and return them to the carried position afterwards.

Wearing your baby provides them with easy access to your breast for a soothing snack; did you know that baby can smell your milk when snuggled close to your breast!

Babywearing vs Tummy Time

It’s likely you can find many parents and babies who don’t enjoy tummy time. Some babies relax and play during tummy time while others get frustrated, even angry!

Research studies show that tummy time is important to strengthen your baby’s core muscles that eventually support their crawling and walking. Now, experts also know that when you carry your baby a soft carrier, they use those same core muscles to stabilize themselves as you’re walking, leaning, and moving about. As you move, baby tightens and relaxes their muscle to adjust; this repeated process in response to movement is another way to support your baby’s core muscle development when tummy time frustrates your little one.

Babywearing is an option that’s worth trying although it is not a guarantee that it’ll be your family’s or your baby’s preference. If you have multiple children, it may work for one and perhaps not another. Ask family and friends for their advice if they have practiced babywearing. Join a meetup group where you can interact with experienced moms to get their advice on what worked best for them and their child. Their advice can make all the difference in learning about the different types of wraps and carriers. You may even be able to test out different options to learn what you’re comfortable with and what baby likes before you purchase a wrap or strap-on baby carrier.

Next time you’re eating dinner with one hand or chasing a toddler in a store, think about the benefits of babywearing for your child’s development and consider the option for you and your little one.