It’s You and Me Baby

Try wearing your baby in a fabric baby carrier or sling.  Some popular versions are the Maya Wrap, Moby Wrap, Cuddly Wrap, Kangaroo Korner Adjustable Pouch and others.  There are so many benefits to wearing your baby.  1.  It keeps baby safe and secure so he is able to focus on learning about his environment.  This helps with his cognitive development.  2.  It keeps a toddler from running into the parking lot or street or climbing out of the stroller–slings can be used for children up to 35 lbs.

 3.  It is convenient.  It frees up your hands.  4.  Babywearing promotes bonding.  You feel the rhythm of each other’s heart beat and breathing.  It helps you feel close and contected.  5.  It soothes a fussy baby.  6.  For moms who breastfeed they can nurse discreetly with their baby in their sling.

Cultures around the world have been carrying babies in baby slings or back carriers for a long time.  Western cultures have more recently recognized the many benefits of wearing your baby this way.  It is not only very convenient and comfortable but also there are both physical and psychological benefits to your baby.  The horizontal position supports the baby’s head and neck which reduces stress on the spine.  Baby is comforted by feeling and hearing your heart beat and respirations.  A baby feels secure and content by being close to the adults who care for him or her.  Babies worn in baby carrying slings cry less which results in less stress hormone release.  Caregivers who wear their babies are more in tune to their needs.  These advantages result in more bonding opportunities.  It’s a very nurturing experience to wear your baby.

The benefits of breastfeeding are clear.  Babies who are breastfed get the advantages of all the nurtients of breastmilk, incuding the healthy brain-building fats (DHA and AHA) and antibodies to ward off infection.  They also get the advantages of the beautiful bonding with mom.  Research shows that establishing healthy attachment and bonding between caregiver and child results in a child who is more content and self-confident.  Babywearing (wearing your child in a baby or breastfeeding sling) also helps with secure attachments and emotional health.  Using a breastfeeding sling can make nursing comfortable and the fabric can help keep baby covered to give privacy.  Breastfeeding and babywearing are a great combination.  

Wearing your baby in a fabric baby sling, wrap or carrier is smart.  Not only is smart for mom or dad because of its convenience and ergonomic design but also it helps your baby become smart.  Babies who are worn learn more.  Brain growth is enhanced by environmental experiences.  The nerves in the brain branch out and make connections with other nerves.   This process is optimized when you wear your baby because babies are more content.  They spend more time in the state of quiet alertness so their energy and attention are directed toward taking in the environmental experiences around them.  This builds brain.  Babywearing is the best.

Did you realize that creating a secure attachment with your baby would influence your baby’s success in life?  Well, developmental experts tell us that when a baby has bonded nicely with his or her caregivers it builds trust in relationships and an ability to connect with other people.  In Dr. Stanley Greenspan’s book Great Kids he says, “Throughout her life, a child must be able to ‘read’ and relate to a range of people.  As she grows up, this ability to connect will allow her to make friends and form a variety of relationships with significant loved ones, with casual acquaintances, and with colleagues and clients.  In times of stress, she will turn to those close to her to help her feel better and find solutions to problems.  Through connections with others, children and adults share the pleasures, joys, angers and sorrows of their lives.”  So bonding with your child is important, not only to feel safe and secure as an infant and child but also to form healthy, successful relationships as an adult.  The lessons of relationship-building start with the intimacy of an infant’s bonds with his or her parents.  So how do you “bond”?  Well, it’s a process that takes place over time.  Here are afew suggestions:

1.  Respond quickly to your baby’s needs.  When a crying baby is responded to quickly he learns that he can trust the people he is dependent on.

2. Talking and singing to your baby

3. Playing (games like peek-a-boo,  my kids are 2 years and 4 years now and still enjoy peek-a-boo!)

4. Reading (even to young infants)

5. Holding, caressing, infant massage, babywearing (the practice of wearing your baby in a baby carrier)

Babywearing stimulates baby’s brain development and cognitive learning.  Babies who are carried in a fabric baby sling spend more time in the quiet, alert state.  This is the best state for learning.  Babies in the quiet, alert state show increased visual awareness of their environment.  This gives them a distict advantage.  At the same time they are at the caregiver’s eye level.  Parents can do more showing and explaining when baby is at their level.  Studies show that more words spoken to a baby, the higher their IQ will be.  When parents are going through their day the more speaking, showing, and explaining they can do to their baby.  This has been shown to help baby learn.

All mothers know that most infants spend about 65% of the day asleep (well, if you’re lucky!).  But sometimes it can seem like infants wake up and start fussing at the most inopportune times.  When traveling or in transit, it can be a real hassle to have a fussy infant with you.  For this reason, cuddle wraps are the ideal baby carriers for infants from a couple days old to several months.  The cuddle wrap is designed to support the infant and provide them with a comfortable place to rest.  Most infants can’t resist falling asleep in a cuddle wrap, and mothers who own cuddle wraps often find that their infants tend to sleep more soundly and wake up less frequently. 

You’ll be amazed at all the time you can save by wearing a cuddle wrap to support your infant.  Instead of tending to your infant because they are uncomfortable or not warm enough, you can have your hands free to take care of all those everyday tasks.  In addition, you’ll find it much easier to cuddle with your infant when you do have the time! 

Babies worn is slings are more content.  Studies show that the more time babies are being held, the less time they spend crying.  In many cultures babywearing (i.e. wearing your baby in a fabric baby sling) is the norm.  Babies who are worn cry for only a few minutes a day versus babies in Western culture where the “normal” amount of crying is measured in hours.  Crying is exhausting for both parents and babies.  It may be damaging to the baby’s developing brain which is getting flooded with stress hormones during crying.  Babies who are content can spend their energy calmly observing and learning about everything around them.  Therefore, babywearing is especially useful for colicky or high-needs babies who are much happier when they are worn.  However, even more content babies benefit from the bonding opportunity that babywearing offers.

 Babies are born to bond.  Scientists are realizing that warm, responsive early care from parents and other caregivers helps infants thrive.  Bonding or attachment is one of the most important factors in development.  If a child feels secure that his physical and emotional needs will be met then he can use his energy to work on other areas of brain development.  A wonderful book about all of this is called Bright from the Start, by Jill Stamm.  She writes, “What sounds simply warm and fuzzy creates demonstrable changes in the brain and nervous system.  Emotion affects attention. . .and attention, in turn affects learning.  How secure a baby feels therefore influences all the development that follows.”  Bonding is not one event.  It is an ongoing experience of attachment that occurs over time.  A simple thing like responding to a baby’s needs actually helps the bonding process.  One way to facilitate this process isn’t really talked about by many.  It’s referred to as babywearing–wearing your baby in a fabric baby sling, wrap or pouch.  Baby slings aren’t sold in many baby stores which is probably why it seems like a well-kept secret.  It’s a wonderful way to bond with your baby, is comfortable and quite convenient. 

 Over the last several decades, the baby products industry has developed a wide range of products that promote separation not closeness.  For example, infant swings and bouncy seats.  These devices basically hold your baby for you while you try to eat or even go to the bathroom!  If you choose to wear your baby in a fabric baby sling, pouch, or wrap then you have the opportunity to get all the benefits of having your baby close, plus the convenience of having your arms free to take care of your own basic needs.   There are important benefits to you and your baby being in close contact through babywearing.  For example, by wearing your baby you provide 3 familiar elements:  1) steady heartbeat, motion, and closeness.  When carried a baby shares in rocking, walking, and talking with the caregiver which reduces fussing.  The rhythm of the parent’s breathing stabilizes baby’s breathing and the warmth of the caregiver helps the baby regulate his or her own temperature.  Being held increases calming hormones and decreases levels of stress hormones in the baby.  Most important is the bonding that takes place when you hold and comfort your baby.