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I have often been out grocery shopping or at some other public place and had someone comment about my baby carrier. Usually the comment is something like, “What a neat (interesting, pretty, etc.) carrier – there weren’t carriers available like that when my kids were babies.” My usual response is to smile and tell them how much I love my carrier or how it frees my hands up to care for my older children or push the grocery cart or whatever. The truth is that slings and pouches and other cloth carriers aren’t new. Women have been using various fabrics to tie their babies to them practically since the beginning of time. Slings and pouches are not as common in our culture as strollers, “snugglies”, or infant seat carriers.
Carrying your baby in a cloth carrier, also called babywearing, has lots of benefits to both mother (or careprovider – dads, grandparents, babysitters) and baby. A sling, pouch, or wrap type carrier allows the careprovider to care for the baby while leaving hands free for other tasks such as caring for older children, preparing a meal, or doing other household chores. Another advantage of the cloth baby carrier is the ability to go anywhere without lugging an awkward car seat or pushing a bulky stroller. I have been in many situations where I was standing in a crowded place or climbing a set of stairs or some other situation where a stroller would be impossible to maneuver and thought about how lucky I was to be wearing my baby.
Cloth carriers are designed to make babywearing more comfortable for the person carrying the baby. They are versatile and can be used in a variety of ways and positions, which allows you to carry children from birth well into toddlerhood. The “snugglie”-type front carriers that are popular in our culture put most of the baby’s weight on the carrier’s back, making them uncomfortable. They can only be used for infants for this reason. A sling or pouch can easily accommodate either an infant or a 30 pound toddler. This is because the weight of the child is distributed over the carrier’s shoulder and hip rather than just the back. Additionally, recent research has suggested that carrying a baby in a spread leg baby carrier may aggravate hip abduction, a skeletal deformity of the bones, muscles, and joints of the spine that often needs to be corrected surgically.
Babywearing is also good for the baby. Research has shown that babies who are carried cry less. They are given the opportunity to see the world from the adult’s level – they see other faces and things that are happening more easily than they would at the level they are at in a carriage. Babies who are carried develop a strong sense of security and trust in their caregiver. Babywearing is especially good for newborns who are used to the rhythm of their mother’s bodies – her voice, heartbeat, warmth, and motion. Being carried helps a newborn adjust to his big new world.
For more information about babywearing, visit www.thebabywearer.com.
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