Babywearing: Good for Baby, Good for You

Babywearing means carrying your baby next to your body in a carrier throughout the day. It offers many, many benefits, including healthy neurological development for baby, a more secure relationship, and empowering parents to provide attentive care while giving them more freedom.

• Babies who are carried throughout the day have been found to cry less, have less colic, and be more content.
• Constant, varied movement and physical contact stimulates brain development, and involvement in your activities helps baby learn about the world.
• When baby is close, it's easy for you to respond to early crying sounds, and even pre-crying noises. You get more opportunity to learn baby's subtle signals, and baby becomes confident that his or her needs will be met when they are communicated pleasantly.
• A cloth baby carrier can be much more convenient and portable than a carseat or stroller.
• Babies in carriers can often breastfeed without changing position, and even without others nearby being aware that they are nursing.

Learn more about babywearing and connect to local resources:

• Attachment Parenting International - http://www.attachmentparenting.org/
• La Leche League International - http://www.llli.org/
• Babywearing chapter in William and Martha Sears' The Baby Book

And for some fun:

• "Baby Mamas - Put a Sling on 'Em" video - http://www.mothering.com/video-baby-mamas

If you like the idea of babywearing, try it! It's fine to start with a couple hours at a time - while on an outing, around the house, or if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, at one of my Mama Walks ( http://megumiburr.com/mama-care ). As you gain comfort, increase your babywearing time. You'll join the many happy, healthy babywearing mamas and babies around the world!