It’s your Life. It’s their Childhood.

Nurture Both -  the many advantages of Babywearing

What is Babywearing?

There is nothing in the world that compares to having your baby in your arms – the feeling of your sleeping child against your chest, the sweet smelling downy head under your nose. These are moments every mother holds dear in those early newborn days. But life goes on, there are errands to run and things to do. Babywearing allows a busy parent the freedom to continue their normal daily routine while providing the richest and most desirable environment for their child. It is an instinctive parenting style where a baby is held close to the parent or caregiver in a sling or baby carrier. While babywearing is not a new concept in many parts of the world, it is rapidly gaining popularity in western cultures. So, what are the advantages of babywearing?

The Benefits of Babywearing – for Babies 

Emotional Benefits

Babywearing tells children that they are loved, safe, secured and cared for. Studies have shown that the more babies are held, the less they cry. One study found that allowing babies to cry unnecessarily alters the nervous system by flooding the developing brain with stress hormones and adrenalin.

After birth, a baby held in a sling will feel reassured by the presence of their mother’s body rhythms. The familiarity of her heartbeat, body temperature, body smell and breathing patterns will create a smooth transition from womb to world. A randomised controlled test reported in Pediatrics showed that carrying babies reduces crying and fussiness 43% during the day and 51% at night.

Cognitive Benefits

A happy baby is quiet and alert. In this state of mind, he is ready to interact with people and his environment. Babywearing offers babies the optimum position to experience the richness of the new world around them within the safety of a parent’s arms.

A carried baby shares equality with its caregiver as it physically on the same level. A baby in a pram has less equality and experiences the parent looking down on it.

Physiological Benefits

The act of touching a baby actually stimulates growth hormones. Babywearing also stimulates a baby’s vestibular system, the parts of the inner ear that work like levels or sensors to control the body’s sense of balance. The stimulation regulates a baby’s physiology, increasing their cardiac output and circulation and promotes respiration.

Developmental neurologists have discovered that the child of a mother who moves every day while pregnant shows clear developmental advantages. This is the same with a carried child who also develops greater physical and nerve strength.

Holding a baby in a sling for the majority of the day encourages the development of a baby’s sleep/wake cycles. Babies begin to distinguish external cues which help to develop a baby’s circadian rhythms. Babywearing promotes deeper, longer and more peaceful sleep cycles, vital for brain maturation.

Babywearing offers constant and easy access to the infant’s food source, the mother’s breast. Such ease of access allows a mother to feed her baby on demand, thereby reducing the potential of breast infection. The increased skin to skin contact enjoyed by babywearers also stimulates breast milk supply.

Baby slings offer a more upright position which promotes digestion. A baby’s tummy is massaged through the act of babywearing which also promotes bowel elimination. The acupressure points against problems of digestion or sleep, which are located on the belly and on the lower insides of the thighs, are automatically massaged through babywearing.

The Benefits of Babywearing – for Parents and Caregivers

A parent will feel more at ease and confident and able to enjoy their new baby when he/she is settled. Baby carriers offer skin to skin contact which stimulates levels of the mothering hormone Prolactin which increases a mother’s desire to hold and nurture her baby.

Good parent-infant bonding gives the parent greater confidence and develops their intuitive sensitivity. This heightened perception allows parents to read their baby’s cues and anticipate their needs and moods.

A good carrier offers parents hands-free freedom, allowing them to enjoy an active lifestyle indoors or outdoors. Parents’ muscular strength also develops in relation to the baby’s growing weight.

Babywearing helps parents balance their needs with those of their baby. Baby carriers help prevent life becoming completely dictated by baby. This sense of personal freedom and flexibility may well reduce the potential risk of post-natal depression which is often associated with being housebound and missing out on much-needed social interactions.

My Personal Experience

With the arrival of our second child (and new life size ‘demo-doll’) Jontae, I have fallen in love with Babywearing all over again! I actually appreciate the freedom Babywearing offers all the more now as it allows me to be hands-free to play with and look after my 3 year old daughter Tilli with ease. Having Jontae comfortably attached to me, Tilli and I are free to enjoy our day, walking the dog, tending our veggie patch or baking cakes together.

Tilli loves to use slings too. She carries her dolls in her child-sized sling, diligently tending to their imaginary needs. Watching her play ‘mama’ makes me reflect on the powerful model that Babywearing offers. An older child is easily encouraged to mirror loving and sensitive behaviour towards others around them as they watch their parents nurture siblings with the help of a sling or carrier. These early life experiences can play a crucial role in a child’s emotional, physical and psychological wellbeing. Looking ahead, such loving connections between parents and their children have enormous capacity to influence the destiny not only of the child, but of society itself.  Babywearing offers a simple solution for families with profound benefits that flow on even when your child is beyond the age of being carried. 

Need More Info?

Amongst other things, becoming a Babywearing parent provided a turning point in my career. My passion for ‘slinging’ shifted me from a design profession into a home-based business called ‘Babes in Arms’. I specialise in baby carriers from all over the world and advocate the benefits of babywearing through maternity hospitals and health professionals throughout Australia. It is my dream to encourage mothers from all walks of life and of all parenting styles, to reclaim the joy and freedom offered by the ancient tradition of Babywearing.

If you would like more info for your playgroup, mother’s group or maternity hospital’s ante-natal class, please feel free to contact me:

Anita Lincolne-Lomax

Babes in Arms

Toll-free: 1300 725 276

info@babesinarms.com.au

www.babesinarms.com.au

Hunziker UA, Barr RG.1986. “Increased carrying reduces infant crying: A randomised controlled trial.” Pediatrics 77:641-648

Powell A., “Children need touching and attention, Harvard researchers say.” Harvard Gazette April 9, 1998.

Conde-Agudelo A, Diaz-Rossello JL, Balizan JM. 2003 “Kangaroo Mother care to reduce morbitity and mortality in low birthweight infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev (2): CD002771

Sears, Bill and Martha. The Baby Book: Everything you need to know about your baby from birth to two. 2003

Dr. Eckhard Bonnet (specialist in paediatrics, youth medicine, environmental medicine and sports medicine). 1998.  Krankengymnastik 50 Jg No.8

U.C.L.A Lactation Dept Study. 1988

Dr. Eckhard Bonnet (specialist in paediatrics, youth medicine, environmental medicine and sports medicine). 1998.  Krankengymnastik 50 Jg No.8