After graduating from college, I spent a year working with a children’s organization in Guatemala. I immersed myself fully, wanting to learn as much as I could from a culture so different from my own. I ate new foods, learned the language, fit in as best I could with the people around me. I grew accustomed to seeing the Mayan women with their babies slung on their backs as they went about their work. I was amazed how these stout, little women could carry massive baskets full of grains on top of their heads while wearing toddlers on their back and walk for miles. Even more impressive than that, I never saw a child crying while being worn by their mother.
As much as I loved watching those women and their happy babies hitching a ride, it never occurred to me that I might some day wear a baby on my own back. I saw it as a custom specific to the Mayans. But years later, while pregnant, I came across the concept of babywearing as I researched Attachment Parenting. It made so much intuitive sense to keep my baby close instead of parking her in a plastic gadget. And, since I had married a Guatemalan man, I couldn’t help but think it would be a wonderful tie for our baby to the culture of her father.
Babywearing became my obsession. I was convinced by the research and seduced by the variety of beautiful slings and wraps. Little did I know our baby carriers would become our most essential baby items, hands down. From day one, our little girl refused to sleep unless she was in contact with another human being. She would be sleeping peacefully in our arms, but the second we put her down, she would wake up screaming. Without baby carriers, she would never have gotten any rest, and I would never have gotten any sort of break.
As I’ve continued to wear my daughter for nearly two years, I am constantly getting comments on the “new invention” I’m wearing. But in reality, babywearing itself is as old as time. Hieroglyphs in Ancient Egypt have shown babies slung in some sort of carrier. In fact, using a piece of cloth or animal hide to strap a baby to one’s back has been the norm in every traditional culture around the world. In Japan, women used their silk sash from their Obi to tie their baby on. In African societies, indigenous cultures of the Americas and some parts of Asia and Europe, a shorter, wider piece of cloth was used to tie their child on.
Of course, it makes sense. Before strollers, car seats, pack-and-plays and bouncy seats existed, where would a mother put her baby? And in more primitive societies where women’s daily work was heavy, physical labor, tying a baby safely to one’s back while continuing to haul the water, harvest the fields or wash laundry in the river was the best possible choice. The art and practice of babywearing has probably existed as long as babies have existed.
In more modern times, the pediatrician Dr. Sears coined the term Attachment Parenting, as well as the term Babywearing. The German company Didymos introduced the wrap-style baby carrier to the modern European parent in the 1970’s, and around the same time today’s most popular front packs were introduced to the mainstream. In recent years, babywearing has received a surge in popularity with dozens of beautiful, comfortable, and nurturing baby carriers entering the market, all based an ancient design.
When something has survived thousands of years as an essential baby item, there must be a good reason. In the case of babywearing, there are many, many good reasons. The benefits of babywearing are tremendous, for both your baby and you.
Babywearing makes your baby feel more secure. When your baby is worn close to your heart instead of stashed in a plastic gadget for much of the day, your baby feels more secure and attached to you.1 When your baby feels calmer and more secure throughout the day, they continue to be calmer, more content babies at night. Studies show that worn babies cry 54% less in the evening hours than the average baby.2
One of the reasons worn babies are so much calmer is that babywearing simulates the womb environment. In the womb, your baby was used to being held tightly in the fetal position, with the sounds and rhythms of their mother’s body to calm them. When they come out into the world, your baby struggles to remain calm without these comforts. In most baby carriers, however, your baby is held in a position that keeps their limbs under control (similar to swaddling) until they are old enough to want their arms or legs free. In a baby carrier, your baby continues to be close to the sounds and rhythms of your body, or those of another loved one.
Babywearing helps your baby learn more. When babies are carried, they spend more time in a quiet, alert stage, which is considered the ideal state for learning. Instead of looking at people’s knees from a stroller or car seat on the ground, your baby experiences adult interaction from the very beginning. They see and experience all the things you experience. Their senses are stimulated, increasing brain development, but they always have the option to turn inward toward you and be cuddled when the stimulation becomes too much.
Babywearing helps your baby’s physical development. Specifically, it benefits your baby’s vestibular system, or sense of balance. When your baby is worn, they move in all different directions as you move throughout the day, instead of lying still and flat in a car seat. These movements help the development of the inner ear. Scientists have discovered that this regulation of balance helps babies breathe and grow better, regulates their physiology and improves motor development.3
Babywearing doesn’t just benefit your baby. There are tremendous benefits for you as a mother that go beyond having a baby who doesn’t cry as much (which might just be enough for you). Immediately after having a baby you may get a brief baby moon – a period of time in which you languish on the couch cuddling your baby all day while someone else cooks the meals and keeps the house organized. Of course, this only happens if this is your first baby. And even for first-time moms, there quickly comes a time when you have to get up and begin to do things around the house, or outside the house. Babywearing allows the convenience and freedom to complete all the things on your to-do list while keeping your baby close.
As a babywearing mother, you’ll inevitably hear comments about how strong you must be, but in reality a baby carrier is so much easier to maneuver than lugging bulky car seats in and out of cars, or maneuvering huge strollers through narrow store aisles and into the trunk. Babywearing offers the freedom and mobility to go anywhere you would normally go without your baby, hands-free. And many baby carriers add to their convenience by doubling as an extra changing pad, blanket or nursing cover in a pinch.
Babywearing helps others care for your baby. Particularly if you’re a breastfeeding mother, it may feel like you are the only one who can meet most of your baby’s needs. Babywearing offers a break for you, allowing a father or grandmother or other loved one to soothe your baby by babywearing, keeping them calm and secure while you get a break. For many babies who will only nurse to sleep, babywearing often offers another way to get them to sleep.
Babywearing is good for post-partum depression. In addition to fostering attachment with your baby4, wearing the baby is a great way to provide stimulation and physical closeness when you might not feel like interacting with a lot of talk or cuddles.5
Babywearing is also a great way to start to get some post-partum exercise while staying close to your child. By taking a walk with your baby in a carrier, you get the dual benefits of cardiovascular exercise and weight training. If you start babywearing when you child is little, your muscles have the chance to strengthen slowly, as your child’s weight increases.
And finally, babywearing makes breastfeeding easier. Many styles of baby carriers allow you to nurse discreetly while on the go, which is extremely helpful when your baby announces they would like to nurse the moment you’ve stepped foot in the grocery store. When babies are going through growth spurts, they often want to nurse very frequently, and nursing in a carrier keeps you from having to stop and sit down every time your baby wants to nurse. Some babies with latch problems even nurse better in a sling. The sling helps put their body in a curved position with their chin toward their chest, which helps with their latch. The walking motion helps your baby to focus on the task at hand, and as their body relaxes, so do the sucking muscles.
Babywearing was a conscious choice I made while pregnant, based on my experiences in Guatemala and my research on Attachment Parenting. But ultimately, it became the obvious answer to so many challenges my daughter presented. Even without the exposures I had to babywearing, I believe I would have somehow stumbled my way into wearing my baby. Perhaps I would have fashioned a sling from my favorite pair of maternity jeans. Luckily, there are countless styles of comfortable, fashionable baby carriers available. Now you know why you should wear your baby. The only question left is which carrier?
References
- Anisfeld, E., Casper, V., Nozyce, M. and Cunningham, N. (1990). Does infant carrying promote attachment? An experimental study of the effects of increased physical contact on the development of attachment. Child Development, 61, 1617-1627.
- Hunziker, U. A. and Barr, R, G. (1986). Increased carrying reduces infant crying: a randomized controlled trial. Pediatrics, 77, 641-8.
- Sears, William, M.D., The Attachment Parenting Book. Little, Brown and Company, New York, 2001. p 70.
- Anisfeld, E., Casper, V., Nozyce, M. and Cunningham, N. (1990). Does infant carrying promote attachment? An experimental study of the effects of increased physical contact on the development of attachment. Child Development, 61, 1617-1627.
- Pelaez-Nogueras M, Field TM, Hossain Z, Pickens J. (1996). Depressed mothers' touching increases infants' positive affect and attention in still-face interactions. Child Development, 67, 1780-92.
