Here are my most favourite facts about baby wearing and how truly awesome it is!
Babies who are worn cry less by up to 43%!
When a baby is worn they feel secure and content. Parents who wear their babies respond to their babies “ques” is record time (eg for feeding or changing). Therefore, babies who are worn have been shown to cry less by up to 43%. (http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/health-concerns/fussy-baby/baby-wearing/benefits-babywearing)
Baby wearing triggers oxytocin production.
Baby wearing is such a great way to bond with your baby. All warm, snuggly and cosy together, especially in the early days if you couple it with skin to skin, baby wearing is a trigger for that fantastic love hormone oxytocin.
Baby wearing counts as tummy time!
When baby is worn upright in a supportive sling it is so good for their muscle development. They are gently supported by the sling but their little muscles are engaged appropriately and their vestibular system (balance) is being worked while they work against your movement as you wear baby. This is such a great start to the physical development of baby.
Helps with baby who suffer with Colic or Reflux
The advice for babies who have colic or reflux is often to keep them upright especially after feeding. Baby wearing is a fantastic way to do this as the baby is soothed by being cosy and secure in a sling without putting any pressure on the back of baby's head.
Super for Hips
In the womb, the hip joint needs to be very flexible and so once born, very young babies hips are still made up of soft cartilage which grows into bone over the first year. To begin with, the socket covers only two-fifths of the ball and over time the socket needs to grow up to 50% more to cover three-fifths of the ball. For the hips to develop properly the ball and socket must be held firmly in the right place. The hip joint is not fully formed until the age of two. Babywearing in a well fitting sling holds the hips in this optimal position for hip development.
Great for brain development
When we are born our brain begins to make all the synaptic connections we need for the rest of our lives. The type and quality of the connections made are influenced by the experiences and "stimuli that the baby receives from the outside world." (1http://blog.ergobaby.com/2013/10/ages-stages-a-science-based-view-on-baby-carrying-positions/) For these connections to be made babies must be exposed to appropriate stimulation. Babywearing allows for baby's to become fully immersed in the world and to encourage those connections to be made, therefore providing an ideal basis for intellectual development and for life long openness to education and learning
Happy babies, happy children, happy adults
There is significant research showing that those babies who are securely attached grow up to be children and adults who are emotionally well developed and available. Easterbrooks et al (2000) showed that secure attachment promotes emotional availability in children. Additionally, a study of American children demonstrated that children with secure attachments had higher levels of positive moods, more constructive coping tools and better regulation of their own emotions. (Kerns et al 2007). It has also been shown that babies of more sensitive mothers had lower baseline levels of the stress hormone cortisol (Blair et al 2006). Babywearing aids this process of secure attachment.
Babies who are worn cry less by up to 43%!
When a baby is worn they feel secure and content. Parents who wear their babies respond to their babies “ques” is record time (eg for feeding or changing). Therefore, babies who are worn have been shown to cry less by up to 43%. (http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/health-concerns/fussy-baby/baby-wearing/benefits-babywearing)
Baby wearing triggers oxytocin production.
Baby wearing is such a great way to bond with your baby. All warm, snuggly and cosy together, especially in the early days if you couple it with skin to skin, baby wearing is a trigger for that fantastic love hormone oxytocin.
Baby wearing counts as tummy time!
When baby is worn upright in a supportive sling it is so good for their muscle development. They are gently supported by the sling but their little muscles are engaged appropriately and their vestibular system (balance) is being worked while they work against your movement as you wear baby. This is such a great start to the physical development of baby.
Helps with baby who suffer with Colic or Reflux
The advice for babies who have colic or reflux is often to keep them upright especially after feeding. Baby wearing is a fantastic way to do this as the baby is soothed by being cosy and secure in a sling without putting any pressure on the back of baby's head.
Super for Hips
In the womb, the hip joint needs to be very flexible and so once born, very young babies hips are still made up of soft cartilage which grows into bone over the first year. To begin with, the socket covers only two-fifths of the ball and over time the socket needs to grow up to 50% more to cover three-fifths of the ball. For the hips to develop properly the ball and socket must be held firmly in the right place. The hip joint is not fully formed until the age of two. Babywearing in a well fitting sling holds the hips in this optimal position for hip development.
Great for brain development
When we are born our brain begins to make all the synaptic connections we need for the rest of our lives. The type and quality of the connections made are influenced by the experiences and "stimuli that the baby receives from the outside world." (1http://blog.ergobaby.com/2013/10/ages-stages-a-science-based-view-on-baby-carrying-positions/) For these connections to be made babies must be exposed to appropriate stimulation. Babywearing allows for baby's to become fully immersed in the world and to encourage those connections to be made, therefore providing an ideal basis for intellectual development and for life long openness to education and learning
Happy babies, happy children, happy adults
There is significant research showing that those babies who are securely attached grow up to be children and adults who are emotionally well developed and available. Easterbrooks et al (2000) showed that secure attachment promotes emotional availability in children. Additionally, a study of American children demonstrated that children with secure attachments had higher levels of positive moods, more constructive coping tools and better regulation of their own emotions. (Kerns et al 2007). It has also been shown that babies of more sensitive mothers had lower baseline levels of the stress hormone cortisol (Blair et al 2006). Babywearing aids this process of secure attachment.
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