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Aloha
it’s Stacie and I’m finally back to do my segment on baby wearing. For
those of you who are unfamiliar with the term baby wearing it usually refers
to baby being carried in a sling or in a soft cloth carrier and usually
parents who practice baby wearing do have their baby in a sling and the
carrier for a good portion of the day.
When I
first found out about baby wearing which is just within the past couple of
years I also found out there were actually some development benefits
associated with baby wearing. I found that out when I read that on the
internet, I was just thinking I wish I had known about this sooner because
then I would have had a response for all those people that told me I carried
my baby too much and I should put them down more.
Apparently there are social, emotional and physical benefits to baby because
of the movement and close physical contact that is involved when a mom or
dad wears their baby. The one thing that stuck out in my mind is that
babies who are often worn have more chances to learn because they cry less
and they spend more time in that quiet alert state which is I guess ideal
for babies learning.
And
because they are with mom or dad as they travel through the house or walk
around and interact with other family member’s maybe older siblings or
grandma and grandpa baby is exposed to a lot more sights and sounds than one
that is simply put in the swing or playpen or bouncer to relax. Usually
those things are away from the action in a quiet room where there is not a
whole lot going on.
Another thing that was interesting is that babies can learn about speech and
conversation because they are so close to most of their parents
conversations, their parents interactions with other people they kind of
learn about how conversation and how one person talks and then pauses and
then someone else talks.
They
learn about how there is a rhythm to speech and how some people use
different tones or different volumes and it may mean different things so I
thought that was just kind of cool and interesting. The bonding between
parent and child is probably going to be greater with baby wearing than with
a baby who is not worn or carried often.
Often
times parents who do wear their baby get to know their child rather well so
that’s kind of cool and I think that’s important especially when baby is
young and for first time parents who are sometimes unsure of whether or not
they are doing the right thing. If they get to know their baby really well
they can be confident that they know what baby wants and baby needs when
they cry.
For me
about baby wearing even more than all those developmental benefits, the
thing that I like most about it is that my son just totally and thoroughly
enjoys it. From the first time I put him in a sling I noticed that he liked
it right away. His whole body language and the way that he was acting it
was like he was going oh mom this is so perfect, this is exactly where I
want to be right here with you.
At
first I thought well maybe it’s just me you know I want him to like it I
want to be able to carry him around more and be in the sling and so I
thought maybe I was just seeing what I wanted to see but I’ve had so many
comments about how happy and comfortable he looks when he is in the sling.
Even family members that were the ones that told me I shouldn’t carry my
baby so much when they saw him in there they just noticed how content and
happy he looked and they also told me wow he just totally loves it in
there.
Like I
said I thought maybe it was just me but when all these people were
commenting on that and saying how happy he looked, how content he looked
then I knew that it was really truly something that wasn’t just mom hoping
that baby likes it and wanting to have him around more. That was pretty
cool.
I mean
even going around at the mall or walking around at the swamp meet on the
weekend total strangers would say isn’t that neat how he is being carried in
there and he looks so happy and he looks like he is having so much fun. In
fact when we first got the sling I knew he was comfortable because probably
about the first three, four, five times I put him in there the first week
pretty much every time we put him in he just totally relaxed and got real
still and fell right asleep so I knew he was comfortable in there and that
he liked it.
Another thing I liked about using the sling is that it was so easy to move
him from an upright position when he fell asleep into a laying down
position. That was pretty neat for me to be able to switch him to different
positions like that pretty easily. I’ve used some other infant carriers
before, one of them hurt my shoulders so much that I just never used it more
than a couple of times and then the other one that I had was recommended by
a friend and it was pretty good but it was just a little more difficult to
get baby in and out of especially if he was sleeping than using the sling.
The
sling for me has been the easiest thing so that’s also another positive that
I like. I prefer a sling over any other infant carrier that I’ve ever
tried. Basically that has been my experience with baby wearing. My son
totally loves it, it’s easy for me, I feel good as a mom when I see that he
is enjoying something so much and like I said the sling is a lot easier on
your arms than just carrying baby and it’s been a lot easier to use than the
other carriers.
For
anyone considering buying the sling for their infant or practicing baby
wearing it certainly comes highly recommended from me. I know while baby
wearing can help boost a parent/child bonding after birth next time I’m
gonna talk a little bit about something that helped me bond even more with
my son before birth.
I know
a lot of moms think about the child, the unborn child and some of them don’t
need bonding experiences and normally I’m pretty in love with my baby even
before they are born but with my son my husband and I went to the ultrasound
and that was just an amazing experience. That was just a lot of fun and
helped me see that ok this little guy is real, he is in there and he is
going to be here soon, it was just a lot of fun so I’m going to talk about
that a little bit more next time. Until then take care and enjoy your little
one.
