October has started which mean it’s the time to start celebrating International Babywearing Week. Babywearing means wearing or carrying a baby in a sling or in another form of carrier. It has been practiced for centuries around the world and can be enjoyed for as long as mutually desired, often until toddlerhood and beyond.
Babywearing Week is coordinated each October by Babywearing International and celebrated by babywearing groups around the globe. It aims to bring babywearers together for fun events, continued learning about babywearing. It is a week-long opportunity to celebrate, promote, advocate for, and focus media attention on the many benefits of babywearing.
Jennifer Taylor from MomTricks.com told Barakabits all about the great benefits of Baby-wearing. She is a huge fan of babywearing, and here are 7 amazing benefits of doing it, for both you and your little one:
1. Encourages Bonding.
Use of baby-wearing helps to create a more intimate bond between the mother and baby. In turn, this is wonderful for the developmental health of your baby. It is thought that skin-to-skin contact, also known as kangaroo care, is good for the baby, and carrying them helps facilitate this.
When you wear your baby, they feel happier. Furthermore, this also promotes development as babies are able to see the surrounding world and interact with it better.
2. Induce Better Sleep.
When you wrap your baby close to you, they love the warmth of the bodily touch. Your breathing calms and comforts them, in turn helping them sleep better.
3. Reduce Crankiness.
As stated above, your breathing calms and relaxes the baby. Moreover, the warmth of your body makes them happier. This further helps to prevent them from crying and getting cranky all the time.
4. Make Breastfeeding Easier.
Once you master babywearing, you can also start to breastfeed while doing it. This means that you’ll ultimately be able to breastfeed hands-free, giving you the ability to do other things around the house at the same time. Not only that, but if using a sling-style carrier, you can often discreetly breastfeed.
5. Provide Convenience.
Baby-wearing makes it very convenient to perform multiple tasks while carrying your child, especially when you have more than one. Wearing your baby provides you with free hands to do things easily and more efficiently.
You can clean, cook, help your other children, and do various other tasks around the house. Also, if you’re doing it while you’re out and about, you don’t have to be pushing around a bulky stroller. If you’re taking public transport, this is a lifesaver!
6. Exercise.
It gets very difficult to find time for exercise or work out once you welcome your baby into this world. But, babywearing makes it easier than ever.
All that you need to do is just strap the baby onto your back and continue with your daily chores. You can even take a short walk while carrying your child!
7. Keeps your Baby Safe and Secure.
Having your little one strapped to you is much more safe and secure, and gives you peace of mind compared to putting them in a pack and play or allowing them to run free.
In addition, baby-wearing makes it quite convenient to carry your toddler baby easily thus keeping him from running all around when out of the house.
Jennifer also told us the process of making baby wearing and make it completely safe for your baby. Here are the ABC’s of wearing baby:
A – AIRWAY
Make sure that the baby’s airway is always open. Do this by keeping his chin off the chest thus allowing circulation of fresh air around the face of your baby. Make it a point to keep your child close enough to be in view all the time, and always make sure that there is no extra material covering her face.
B – BODY POSITION
Ensure that the carrier or the sling supports your baby appropriately. Their back and neck should always be supported in the carrier, and should be positioned so that their head never slumps over. Once in a while, check to make sure that there is about 1-2 adult finger widths of space between their chin and chest at all times.
C – COMFORT
The sling or carrier needs to be comfortable enough for the baby. It is important to have a spotter around for your help if you are, in any way, uncomfortable with the use of sling or carrier. You can also look at the numorous video tutorials online about baby-wearing techniques. Over time, you’ll gain the confidence to do it all by yourself!
Wrapping up, safety should be the prime concern with baby-wearing, and you can never be too cautious. But with a little practice, you’ll be well on your way to being a confident and productive Babywearing.
With Jennifer’s Babywearing tips and benefits, International Babywearing Week is worth celebrating. It started the 2nd and lasts to the 8th of this month.
