Hold your Baby Close to your Heart – the Many Advantages of Babywearing
by Anita Lincolne-Lomax

What is Babywearing?
There is nothing in the world that compares to having your baby in your arms – the feeling of your
sleeping child against your chest, the sweet smelling downy head under your nose. These are
moments every mother holds dear in those early newborn days. But life goes on, there are errands to
run and things to do. Babywearing allows a busy parent the freedom to continue their normal daily
routine while providing the richest and most desirable environment for their child. Babywearing is an
instinctive parenting style where a baby is held close to the parent or caregiver in a sling or baby
carrier. While it is not a new concept in many parts of the world, babywearing is rapidly gaining
popularity in western cultures. So, what are the advantages of holding your baby close?

The Benefits of Babywearing – for Babies

• Less Crying means a Healthier Baby
Babywearing tells children that they are loved, safe, secured and cared for. Studies have shown that
the more babies are held, the less they cry.1 One study found that allowing babies to cry
unnecessarily alters the nervous system by flooding the developing brain with stress hormones and
adrenalin. This sets up a pattern of over sensitivity in the baby which may predispose them to stress
disorders in adulthood.2

• Happy, Calm and Content
After birth, a baby held in a sling will feel reassured by the presence of their mother’s body rhythms.
The familiarity of her heartbeat, body temperature, body smell and breathing patterns will create a
smooth transition from womb to world. A randomised controlled test reported in Paediatrics showed
that carrying babies reduces crying and fussiness 43% during the day and 51% at night.

• Babies in a Sling Learn Better
A happy baby is quiet and alert. In this state of mind, he is ready to interact with people and his
environment. Babywearing offers babies the optimum position to experience the richness of the new
world around them within the safety of a parent’s arms.

• Baby is on Your Level
A carried baby shares equality with its caregiver as it physically on the same level. A baby in a pram
has less equality and experiences the parent looking down on it.
• Babywearing Stimulates a Baby’s Physical Development
The act of touching a baby actually stimulates growth hormones.3 Babywearing also stimulates a
baby’s vestibular system, the parts of the inner ear that work like levels or sensors to control the
body’s sense of balance. The stimulation regulates a baby’s physiology, increasing their cardiac
output and circulation and promotes respiration.4

• Sling Babies are Stronger Babies
Developmental neurologists have discovered that the child of a mother who moves every day while
pregnant shows clear developmental advantages. This is the same with a carried child who also
develops greater physical and nerve strength.5

• Sling Babies Sleep Better
Holding a baby in a sling for the majority of the day encourages the development of a baby’s
sleep/wake cycles. Babies begin to distinguish external cues which help to develop a baby’s
circadian rhythms. Babywearing promotes deeper, longer and more peaceful sleep cycles, vital for
brain maturation.

• Babywearing Makes Breastfeeding Easier
Babywearing offers constant and easy access to the infant’s food source, the mother’s breast. Such
ease of access allows a mother to feed her baby on demand rather than follow unnecessarily strict
feeding routines, thereby reducing the potential of breast infection.6 The increased skin to skin
contact enjoyed by babywearers also stimulates breastmilk supply.

• Babywearing Helps Digestion and Eases Colic
Baby slings and carriers afford a baby a more upright position which promotes digestion. A baby’s
tummy is massaged through the act of babywearing which also promotes bowel elimination. The
acupressure points against problems of digestion or sleep, which are located on the belly and on the
lower insides of the thighs, are automatically massaged through babywearing.7

The Benefits of Babywearing – for Parents and Caregivers

• Happy Baby, Happy Mamma
A parent is likely to feel more at ease and confident and able to enjoy their new baby when he/she is
settled. Baby carriers offer skin to skin contact which stimulates levels of the mothering hormone
Prolactin which increases a mother’s desire to hold and nurture her baby. Dads can also enjoy
carrying their babies, thereby extending his baby’s in-utero experience.

• Babywearing Helps You and Your Baby Communicate
Good parent-infant bonding gives the parent greater confidence and develops their intuitive
sensitivity. This heightened perception allows parents to read their baby’s cues and anticipate their
needs and moods. This increased sense of control promotes a calmness which can actually be
sensed by the baby - a calm parent actually smells different!8.

• Babywearing is Healthy for You!
A good carrier offers parents hands-free freedom, allowing them to enjoy an active lifestyle indoors or
outdoors. Parents’ muscular strength also develops in relation to the baby’s growing weight.

• Babywearing Reduces Risk of Post-Natal Depression
Babywearing helps parents balance their needs with those of their baby. Baby carriers help prevent
life becoming completely dictated by baby. This sense of personal freedom and flexibility may well
reduce the potential risk of post-natal depression which is often associated with being housebound
and missing out on much-needed social interactions.

1 Hunziker UA, Barr RG.1986. “Increased carrying reduces infant crying: A randomised controlled trial.” Pediatrics 77:641-648
2 Powell A., “Children need touching and attention, Harvard researchers say.” Harvard Gazette April 9, 1998.
3 Conde-Agudelo A, Diaz-Rossello JL, Balizan JM. 2003 “Kangaroo Mother care to reduce morbitity and mortality in low birthweight
infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev (2): CD002771
4 Sears, Bill and Martha. The Baby Book: Everything you need to know about your baby from birth to two. 2003
5 Dr. Eckhard Bonnet (specialist in paediatrics, youth medicine, environmental medicine and sports medicine). 1998.
Krankengymnastik 50 Jg No.8
6 U.C.L.A Lactation Dept Study. 1988
7 Dr. Eckhard Bonnet (specialist in paediatrics, youth medicine, environmental medicine and sports medicine). 1998.
Krankengymnastik 50 Jg No.8
8 Ibid

Anita Lincolne-Lomax
Babes in Arms
Toll Free: 1300 725 276
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