We often focus on all the benefits that babywearing has for a mother, a father, or any other caregiver. However, what we rarely talk about are the many benefits that babywearing has for our babies. Let’s talk about those today!
Secure attachment
When you carry your baby from early on, they will learn that you as their parent are a safe place to be. Because they are close to you while being carried, you can pick up on their cues a lot easier and tend to their needs faster. This helps your baby to form a secure attachment to you and other primary caregivers. Having a secure attachment will be of great advantage for your baby in the future as they become more independent. It will give them a safe place to venture from and where they know they can always come back to.
Regulation of their body
Particularly during the first few weeks of your baby’s life, they will benefit from being held very close to your body. Your own body temperature helps your baby to regulate their own body temperature. Your breathing will help your baby to regulate their breathing. Your baby will be able to hear your heartbeat as they did when they were in your womb. They also won’t need to waste precious energy for crying to get their needs met as you will be able to pick up on your baby’s cues more easily.
Muscle development
Being in a carrier will promote the muscle development of your baby. Their head and torso will gradually become stronger as they start to lift their head to look around. The gentle movement that you provide also helps your baby to develop their vestibular system (this helps keep our balance).
Flathead syndrome
If babies are being carried a lot instead of being placed flat on their backs, they will less likely develop flathead syndrome (plagiocephaly). When being carried, babies naturally change the position of their heads and rest on the side of their heads or even on the front instead of the back of their heads.
Digestion
The upright position that your baby is in while being carried can often help with digestive problems like colic or reflux. While being carried they will naturally receive a gentle massage on their tummy to help bring air up or move food down.
Speech development
When being carried, your baby is close to your mouth. When you are talking, your baby will see the movement of your mouth. Your baby will also hear your voice much better when being so close to you. All this helps your baby with their own speech development.
Role Modelling
Your baby will be able to learn so much from you as their primary caregiver when being carried. This is nicely summed up in a beautiful quote from Dr. Rosie Knowles, babywearing consultant in the UK:
“He will learn to smile in your arms and laugh into your delighted eyes. He will be rocked to sleep in security while hearing a steady heartbeat. He will learn confidence and trust from mutually reciprocated loving touch. He will learn everything important from you. Your tiny child will learn how to engage with the world based on his observations of your reaction to it; he will respond to people his parents have a positive connection with, learning from your welcoming gestures and smiles to people, and be more fearful of those who do not respond. He will learn to recognise and manage risk in his daily life, and the strong attachments he forms will be the means to his later independence. He will seek to recreate attachments that seem to have gone awry, based on his positive experience of social interaction.”
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How has babywearing been a benefit to your baby?
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