Babywearing is the act of wearing or carrying a baby or child in a sling. Babywearing promotes in-arms parenting and attachment parenting and is a form of baby transport.

Why Babywearing

Many parents practice in-arms or attachment parenting, which entails wearing or carrying their babies. Parents and pediatricians alike, believe that babywearing promotes a strong bond between parents and children. Many find that most of all babywearing makes life easier on everyone.

Benefits of Babywearing

Dr. William Sears, a pediatrician, coined the phase attachment parenting. One of Sears' principles of AP is babywearing. Sears attributes many benefits to babywearing and in-arms styles of parenting.

Benefits of Babywearing Include:

• Babies who are carried cry less due to the comfort of a womb-like environment.
• Babies learn more because they spend more time in a quiet state of alertness.
• Babies are more organized; parental rhythms (walking, heartbeat, etc.) have balancing and soothing effects on infants.
• Babies get "humanized" earlier by developing socially; babies are closer to people and can study facial expressions, learn languages faster and be familiar with body language.
• Babies who are carried are smarter because of rapid brain growth due to constant daily stimuli and being an intimate part of the adult world.

Practicality of Babywearing

Slings allow the wearer to have two free hands to accomplish task such as laundry or cooking while caring for baby's need to be held or breastfed. A sling offers a safe alternative to dangerously balancing a car seat on top of a shopping cart. They also allow children to be part of the action and to see the world from a better view. Babies and children will enjoy getting to see the zoo and other places of interest from up high and not down on the ground in a stroller or car seat.

Not only is a sling good for social development for children, ease back and shoulder pain from carrying a car seat around, make household chores easier, a sling can also be a stylish statement. They come in many different designs and colors to match any wardrobe! They also are available in many different types of material; anything from silk, hemp, cotton to wool, fleece, and flax/linen.

Using a sling at first, can be mildly difficult to get the hang of, but once you learn, you will never forget. You won't want to be anywhere without your sling. There are hundreds of resources that show you how to use a sling, most of which you can find online. Some parenting groups even have workshops demonstrating how to use slings.

Breastfeeding and Babywearing

Breastfeeding and babywearing go hand in hand. Using a sling offers many mothers the privacy they desire when nursing their young. A sling also allows the mother to nurse 'hands free', while tending to other activities or household chores.

Babywearing can help premature babies and babies who are slow weight gainers to gain weight at a faster rate. Since baby is held up close to the mother, he will be nursed more often and often for longer intervals.

Caution and Concern

There are several points to remember when using a sling.

• Experiment with several different types of carriers to find one that works well.
• Start out wearing a baby with one hand slightly supporting the baby's back or bottom until a level of comfort and confidence is reached.
• While cooking at the stove or cutting food, wear baby in the rucksack or back carry positions.
• When bending down to reach something low or on the floor, bend at the knees.
• Be cautious of doors, corners and door ways when carrying baby.
• Smoking and drinking hot beverages are not recommended while carrying babies.

Pediatricians also do not recommend for parents to use front or back pack type carriers before a baby's first birthday. These types of carriers are rigid, not soft and do not give enough to mold to baby's body. They also place all of baby's weight resting on the base of the spine, prohibiting proper spinal growth and alignment and possibly causing major damage to developing spines. If baby can not hold his head up without support, these carriers are also not recommended. It is advised to take a baby out of a front or back pack type carrier every hour or so, to make sure baby's legs are not losing circulation.

External Links

• TheBabyWearer -- A Comprehensive Babywearing Resource Center including discussion forums, articles, consumer reviews and links to hundreds of on-line vendors.
• Wearing Instructions
• Rebozo Way Project
• Household Items as Slings
• Wearing and Sewing Instructions
• Baby Sling Instructional Video
• Baby Sling Sewing Instructions
• Research on babywearing