I LOVE babywearing! This is a pretty strong statement. But it is true. I fell in love with babywearing even before my girl was born. I was shown how to use a stretchy wrap at my antenatal class. It was so soft and comfortable! I knew right away that I wanted to use it to carry my tiny baby. And the rest is history…
You are probably thinking: Well, great for her! She is writing a blog about babywearing. It would be weird if she didn’t like what she is talking about.
But here is the thing. Even though I love to carry my girl and I still do so occasionally (even though she now weighs more than 15kg) my babywearing days are nearly over (for now anyway). I still love babywearing. I love to see another mum or dad carrying their child when I’m out on a walk. I love to see pictures of my friends who wear their child, so they have their hands free for their other children. I love to hear from other parents how much babywearing is helping them. And I love to help YOU along your babywearing journey!
So here are a few of the many benefits to explain why I love babywearing so much.
1. Bond with your child
When babywearing, your baby is close to you. At least your baby’s face is touching the skin of your chest, but maybe there is even more skin to skin touching. Your child will be able to hear your heartbeat. You will be able to feel your child’s breath, feel every little movement and hear all those quiet murmurs. The love hormone oxytocin is being released and helps you bond with your baby. Bonding isn’t something that happens overnight. It can often take some time, but babywearing can help you on this journey.
2. Keep your baby close
The reasons why you may want to keep your baby close can be vastly different. Perhaps you need to protect baby from older siblings, perhaps you don’t want strangers holding your baby while being at a social event or perhaps your hormones just tell you to keep your baby as close as possible (this is totally normal by the way). The reason doesn’t matter, it only matters that a carrier will help you to keep your baby close to you.
3. Protect your mental health
Keeping your baby close and having regular skin to skin through babywearing can help you cope better, regardless if you do have mental health issues or not. The hormone oxytocin is released when you are close to someone you love. This hormone helps you to bond with your child but will also reduce the effects of the stress hormone cortisol. There will be a lot of stress factors with a newborn baby and I think we all should take every opportunity to have some of those love hormones released.
4. Be handsfree
Newborns and babies often want to be held by you. But as nice as it is to sit on the couch all day long, there will be times when you need to get up and get things done. Even more so if you have older children. Without a carrier you only have one had available. With a well-fitting carrier though you will have both your hands free to do all those little things that need doing.
5. Have naps on the go
Besides all those great benefits listed above, I have personally found that being able to get out of the house at any time was my lifesaver in those early days. I didn’t have to worry about if or when my girl would nap. She didn’t need anything else other than me and a carrier. And I didn’t have to rush home because she got tired.
Why do you love to wear your baby?
Let me know in the comments what your babywearing benefits are! Why have you started to wear your baby?
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