Placing your baby in a sling or other wearable carrier doesn’t only free up your arms and hands – many pediatricians and parents believe that wearing your baby eases colic, promotes bonding and encourages earlier emotional development. With a newborn close to your body, she can feel your heartbeat, hear your breathing and is in tune with the rhythms of your walking and other daily activities. This creates a familiar and secure feeling for your infant, which promotes growth without too much stress in the transitional period outside the womb. For babies exploring their new world, he can see the world as you see it, investigating sights, objects and other people at a more approachable vantage point. This closeness to the world of humans, where facial expressions, body language and speech can be examined much more closely, baby can develop positive social skills earlier in life.

Baby Wearing Around the World

Baby wearing is the social norm everywhere around the world except in Western society. Studies show that in cultures where mothers and fathers frequently wear slings, babies cry only a few minutes a day, rather than the few hours that most Western parents experience. This sense of security and the trusting feeling of a caregiver’s warmth, breathing and heartbeat is thought of as being soothing and secure, minimizing anxiety and stress and thus the need to cry.

Attachment Parenting

Dr. William Sears, the founder and advocate of Attachment Parenting, includes baby wearing as one such tool to his approach to child rearing. Bonding from birth, breastfeeding, sleeping in the same room for the first few months and responding positively to baby’s crying are among his styles to raising a baby, which usually comes naturally to most parents.

Whether you include baby wearing as part of a certain approach to parenting, or you just like the convenience of having your hands free and the emotional bonding of your child being close to you, there is no denying the advantages of wearable carriers. Many companies have been creating products for years, from fashionable wraps and slings for newborns to front carriers and baby backpacks for older infants. If you haven’t yet tried it, look for a style that is most comfortable for you. You’ll love the feel of your baby so close to your heart!