Friday, January 2, 2009

Benefits of Baby Wearing




As you know, I am a supporter of Attachment Parenting and the parenting principles they promote. One very important thing you can do for your child is to carry them in a sling or baby carrier as much as possible. I wore my babies all the time. Not only is it easier to get them places without carrying a heavy car seat or putting them in and out of strollers, but the children actually benefit from this time next to mom or dad. So what are the benefits of baby wearing?

Sling Babies Cry Less. That is pretty simple. Your baby is happy to be near you. They feel safe and loved so they won't cry nearly as often.

Sling Babies Learn More. If your baby spends less time crying and fussing they have more time to learn and explore the world around them. Sling babies spend more time in the state of quiet alertness than other babies. Quiet Alertness is the behavioral state in which an infant is most content and best able to interact with his environment.

Sling Babies Are More Organized. A newborn has an inherent urge to become organized. It will try to fit into his or her new environment. If left to his own resources, without the presence of the mother, the infant may develop disorganized patterns of behavior: colicky cries, jerky movements, disorganized self-rocking behaviors, anxious thumb sucking, irregular breathing, and disturbed sleep. The infant wastes energy he could have used to grow and develop. The baby needs to feel the motion of its mother walking, much like it did inside the womb. An infant also needs to feel the mother breathing and heart beat. Feeling these same beats and motions helps your baby slowly adjust to its new world.

Sling Babies Get Used to Our World Earlier. Baby wearing enhances learning by keeping the baby intimately involved in their mothers world. Baby sees what mother or father sees and hears what they hear. Carried babies are intimately involved in their parents' world because they participate in what mother and father are doing. A baby worn in a sling is more exposed to and involved in what is going on around him than a baby laying on the floor.

Sling Babies Are Smarter. Sling babies tend to be more attentive and make noises into adult conversations as if they were part of it. Baby wearing enhances speech development because the baby is up at voice and eye level and is more involved in conversations. He or she learns the most valuable speech lesson, the ability to listen.

I sincerely believe that my children are better off because I carried them as babies. My 2 year old is holding conversations and talking in a very mature way that blows away our friends. And our kids are still very attached to both mama and daddy.

For more information on Baby Wearing check out the Attachment Parenting Website or Dr. Sears' site.

You can find some great baby carriers at Hip Mountain Mama. They carry the Moby Wrap and Zolowear Slings and all baby carriers are 20% off in January.

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