Babywearing

Babywearing is an age-old way to care for babies.  Throughout time, women have carried their infants and toddlers in slings.  Most cultures have some sort or another of baby sling that mothers have traditionally used.  

Wearing your baby has many benefits.  Sling babies cry less often and for shorter periods of time.  They also are able to interact more with the people around them because they are brought up to eye level.  Some studies have shown that sling-carried babies are more intelligent than bucket babies (nickname for how when a baby is carried around in the popular car seat carriers it looks like the parent is carrying around a baby in a bucket).  The theory is that sling babies spend less time crying and more time learning.

Babywearing makes breastfeeding easier.  With some practice, you will learn how to nurse in a sling.  For moms who are a little shy about nursing in public, nursing in a sling is a godsend!  With a nursing top, and a sling, nobody is the wiser.

Babywearing makes traveling easier.  Ever tried to take a stroller on an airplane?  Pre-boarding is done by the time you get it collapsed and stored.  If your baby were in a sling, he would be safely in your arms, near his favorite source of comfort food.  Makes all those stranger's faces not nearly as frightening for him!

The Importance of The In-Arms Phase by Jean Liedloff
Dr. Sears on Babywearing
Review Of Baby Carriers by Kathy Ireland