WHY WOULD I WANT TO WEAR A BABY?
Or, it pees, so it's not a necklace, right?
by Adrienne Jones

Here’s a brief rundown, totally unscientific, of the benefits of babywearing.

1. Babywearing feels good. Babies love to be held, right? Some of them love to be held some of the time, and some of them love to be held all of the time, and being held makes them feel good. Secure, cozy, and loved. And who doesn’t want to do something that makes the baby feel good? But it also makes caregivers feel good. Babies are sweet and precious and lovely and it feels good to keep them close.
2. Babywearing is convenient. Sure, you want to be close to your baby. You want to have that close and attached relationship. But the dishes have to be done! How do you buy the groceries? The older kids want to go to the park! Oh no! Never fear; a baby sling or carrier makes it easy to meet baby’s needs for lots of physical contact while leaving you with two free hands to go about the business of your life in the meantime. Once you get the hang of it (and you are a woman, and the person who gave birth to the child in your sling) you’ll probably even learn to nurse your baby in the sling.
3. Babywearing helps babies to develop socially. Think about where most babies spend lots of their time: in a swing, in a carseat, in a stroller. They’re down low (near our knees), or in another room, or off to the side. A baby in a sling, however, is up where the action is, where people are talking and working and, well, being. They’re included, and everybody wants to be included.
4. Babywearing helps babies be happier. Some studies show that babies who are held more, cry and fuss less than their counterparts who spend most of their time in baby containers. Don’t take this information too literally, though. Some babies will cry no matter where they are and it doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong!
5. Babywearing keeps strangers’ hands (and mouths!) off your baby. Maybe this doesn’t bother you, but when I’m out with a baby, I am so bugged by people who (uninvited) touch my baby, or even kiss him or her. I had one baby who didn’t mind, and two babies who were markedly bothered by it. Almost no one, in my experience, will touch a baby in a sling. People will get in a baby’s space willingly enough, but they’re unlikely to move past the boundaries of the adult who’s wearing a baby. Thus, less touching and less bugging.
6. Babywearing keeps you and your baby in constant, loving communication. Human beings communicate so many, many ways, and a baby who is in contact with a loving caregiver can let that caregiver know what she wants easily. You can communicate with your baby, too, just by being close to him. You will instinctively move in ways that comfort him, speak softly or hum when he needs you to, and give him a touch or a kiss when that’s just what he wants.
7. Babywearing is comforting. Toddlers are brave explorers one minute, and skittish little critters the next. Rapid development is exciting, but also scary for little kids and babywearing is the perfect tool to give them the comfort they need when they’re ready to retreat to “home base.”
8. Babywearing is great fun! I could tell you tons of stories, but I’ll settle with these few examples. People get a kick out of seeing a baby in a sling. It’s different and unusual (this, of course, depends on where you are; it’s not so unusual at the co-op; more unusual at Costco) and it gets lots of comments. It really cuts through a lot of social boundaries and you get to chat with people you normally wouldn’t. There’s the bottom-patting thing, too. A baby in a sling or carrier has a bottom primed for patting, which is always fun. You’re up close to experience things with your baby or toddler when she sees something that tickles her fancy or interests her. You get to laugh right along with her, or ooh and aah at the beautiful/funny/crazy thing she has just discovered.

Join Adrienne for her Attachment Parenting and Babywearing class on Monday, April 7 AND our new Parenting a High-Needs Baby class on April 12. She is also leading our 2nd Nine Months Mothers' Group on the first fridays of each month.