Baby Wearing!

Babywearing is the practice of wearing or carrying a baby or child in a sling or other form of carrier. Babywearing is far from new and has been practised for centuries around the world. In the industrialized world, babywearing has gained popularity in recent decades mainly because it  allows the wearer to have two free hands to accomplish tasks such as laundry while caring for the baby's need to be held or be breastfed. Babywearing offers a safer alternative to placing a car seat on top of a shopping cart. It also allows children to be involved in social interactions and to see their surroundings as an adult would.

Benefits of babywearing include:

•           Mothers' oxytocin is increased through physical contact with the infant, leading to a more intimate maternal bond, easier breastfeeding and better care, thus lowering the incidence of postpartum depression and psychosomatic illness in the mother. Infants who are carried are calmer because all of their primal/survival needs are met. In a study published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers found that babywearing for three hours a day reduced infant crying by 43 percent overall and 54 percent during evening hours.

•           Infants who are carried are calmer - all their primal/survival needs are met: caregiver can be seen, heard, smelled, touched, tasted, fed (breastfeeding mother) and motion necessary for continuing neural development, gastrointestinal and respiratory health and to establish balance (inner ear development) and muscle tone, is constant.

•           Infants IQ and brain mass are measurably greater. When primal needs are met, babies spend more time in a quiet state of attentive alertness, ideal for learning - rather than in a panicked survival mode. 

•           Infants are healthier. Premature babies and babies with special needs often enter the world with fragile nervous systems. When a baby rides in a sling attached to his mother, he is in tune with the rhythm of her breathing, the sound of her heartbeat, and the movements his mother makes—walking, bending, and reaching. This stimulation helps him to regulate his own physical responses. Research has even shown that premature babies who are touched and held gain weight faster and are healthier than babies who are not.

•           Infants are "humanized" earlier by developing socially. Babies are closer to people and can study facial expressions, learn languages faster and be familiar with body language.

•           Contrary to western cultural myths, independence is established earlier.

•           Attachment between child and caregiver is more secure. Baby carriers are a great bonding tool for fathers, grandparents, adoptive parents, babysitters, and other caregivers. Imagine a new father going for a walk with his baby in a sling. The baby is becoming used to his voice, heartbeat, movements, and facial expressions, and the two are forging a strong attachment of their own. Baby carriers are beneficial for every adult in a baby’s life. Cuddling up close in the sling is a wonderful way to get to know the baby in your life, and for the baby to get to know you!

•           Decreases risk of positional plagiocephaly ("flat head syndrome") caused by extended time spent in a car seat and by sleeping on the back. Sleeping on the back is recommended to decrease the risk of SIDS. Cranial distortion resulting from non-vehicular time in car seats has shown to be more severe than in children who develop plagiocephaly from back-lying on a mattress. Concern over plagiocephaly has also led the American Academy of Pediatrics to recommend that infants “should spend minimal time in car seats (when not a passenger in a vehicle) or other seating that maintains supine positioning. None of the babywearing positions require infants to lie supine while being carried. Infants can even be worn while they sleep, also decreasing sleeping time spent in a supine position.

I was fortunate to have attended the Baby Wearing Meet 4 last March 31. I was really excited to attend since I want to learn how to use the “saya”. It was so great to see a gathering where babywearing is the norm and not the exception. Almost everyone carried their babies and it looks so convenient both for the mom and the baby.


Here are some pictures of me, trying to learn how to use the saya. I was so lucky that my teacher is no less than Bianca Araneta-Elizalde. Thanks to Chronicles of a Nursing Mom for the pictures.






Sample of a Mei Tai
source


I invited my mom to accompany us in the BW4 and she also became interested to baby wear Giulia. Actually, she even bought a Mei Tai! As per definition, Mei Tais is the modern take on a traditional Chinese baby carrier with a body panel, shoulder straps, and waist straps still carries the traditional name, "mei tai" (pronounced"may tie"). The new-generation mei tais typically have either wide, padded shoulder straps, or extra-wide, wrap-style, unpadded straps for the wearer's comfort. They also offer a variety of features such as headrests or sleeping hoods for the baby, pockets for diapers or other essentials, and fabric choices that range from strictly utilitarian to truly luxurious. Mei tais can be used from birth and are ideal for sharing among caregivers.

We have yet to train Giulia to babywear because I know it also needs practice and some getting used to babywearing.

Hopefully, we will be successful soon!







Other sources:
Wikipedia

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