Babywearing
by Stacey Potter

Imagine that you are a baby.  You have just spent 9 months bundled up snugly within living tissue.  Everything about your prenatal experience was wonderful.  You were never cold, hungry, or wet.  You always heard mama's voice, felt her heartbeat, and sensed her love for you.  

Now imagine being born.  There is space all around you.  It is cold. You sleep in a crib by yourself.  You are put in a car seat and then lugged around in it from place to place.  When mama picks you up, you are so happy. Here she is again!  Warm, loving, providing total safety and care.  And then she puts you into your stroller…so far away.

I came across an old experiment performed by Harry Harlow the other day.  He took a bunch of baby monkeys and gave them two choices: they could be with a "mother" monkey that was made of wire but dispensed food, or they could be with a "mother" made of soft cloth that did not have food.  Can you guess what they chose?  When you think of animal instinct, you think of the drive for food, right? But that was not the case. These babies actually preferred to snuggle into the softness of the pseudo-mother rather than nourish themselves.  

What does this say about the need for contact and comfort?  Everything.  It seems like every day mothers in our country are given some new device that distances us more and more from our babies.  The bucket seat is a prime example.  With this nifty invention, a baby could go all day without being picked up.  Pop him in his car seat and mothering is as easy as putting it into the car, onto the stroller, into the highchair…no need to pick him up at all.  Not that it can't be totally useful at times, but there is definitely a tendency to over use it.

So I searched for an alternative that would help make being a new mother easier but would also facilitate bonding with my baby.  That is when I discovered babywearing.

Babywearing has been an essential practice for mothers throughout history.  Women have always carried their babies in cloth carriers.  It just makes sense.  

Having your baby close to you just feels right.  You know he is safe and happy, and you can calm him within seconds.  You can look down on him and kiss him whenever you want, but you can still make those phone calls and do the dishes.  Wearing your baby makes life so much easier.  Almost anything you did before you can do with a baby in a sling.  

But the greatest reward is to your baby.  He is now totally secure.  He knows you are there.  He can feel you and smell you.  He hears everything you say and can see what you are doing.  In fact, babies that are held more cry less.  43% less.  Can you believe that?  That alone was enough to make me give it a try.  

I found out that it is totally true.  Elijah hardly ever cries.  Looking back, we had a very calm and happy baby.  Wherever we go still people comment on how peaceful and happy he is.  

The thing that I have noticed the most is how confident he is.  He will explore anything and simply looks back at me to check in every once in awhile.  He is happy playing for long periods of time by himself. He knows the world is safe.  That is what I have shown him through babywearing

Still, when Elijah starts to get fussy I just pop him in the sling and he is content.  He loves to look out at the world from the safety of his mother's arms.  And I will continue to wear him until he doesn't want to anymore.  That will be a sad day for me, as I cherish the moments when this independent, soon-to-be toddler is close to me.

References:
Read more about Harry Harlow's monkey experiment at
http://www.a2zpsychology.com/great_psychologists/HARLOW.HTM

Carrying reduces Crying
Increased carrying reduces infant crying: a randomized controlled trial. Volume 77, Issue 5, pp. 641-648, 05/01/1986  The American Academy of Pediatrics