This year’s International Babywearing Week has been themed "Love transforms” and will be celebrated during October. We would like to use this occasion to share the benefits of babywearing with our top ten reasons to love using a baby carrier.
Baby carrying has many positive effects on your child's development, your bond together and your own freedom and mobility in everyday life.
Here are our ten reasons why parents love using a baby carrier
1. Carrying is always possible
Strictly speaking, you could carry your baby around your body 24 hours in a day. From day one, babies love to be carried. When placed in the M-position in a baby carrier, this helps the development of your little one. Erogbaby carriers are ergonomically designed to be comfortable for a long time, benefiting your baby and wearer too. You can therefore carry your child against your body all day, whenever you want and your baby will let you know when they have had enough.
2. Promotes bonding in the fourth trimester
A fourth trimester? Yeah, we know: The first three felt long enough, but the fourth trimester is probably the best of them all as you've just given birth to a sweet, tender new life. The fourth trimester refers to the first three months post birth. It is during this time that your little one moves from the familiar snugness of the mothers warm, dark womb into a new environment full of unfamiliar sights, sounds, smells, and sensations. During this time, your baby is adjusting to a period of enormous change and development. Babywearing can make this transition easier for your baby, because they need a lot of touch, security, and support. A baby carrier promotes the crucial bond between you and your child. It allows you to stay connected to your baby throughout the day, whilst at the same time being able to sense your little ones needs and signals immediately.
3. Improve postpartum depression
For mothers, evidence shows that babywearing can help improve postpartum depression. During a study, mothers who offered their newborns daily skin contact had significantly lower scores on the depression scale. Combining babywearing with activities such as taking a walk and light exercise, can help reduce postpartum depression even greater.
4. Baby carrying is a hands-free hug
If you have older children, you will appreciate having your hands free. Not only because you can take your older child lovingly by the hand. Babywearing makes multi-tasking around the home or when you are out and about that bit easier, allowing you to support both children at the same time.
Some parents can carry comfortably in tandem. This means one baby carrier on the front position and another carrier on the parents back. If you do not want to carry in tandem, you can place one baby in a buggy and carrying the other baby in a carrier. This makes a comfortable and space-saving solution rather than using a bulky double pushchair.
5. Travelling is less stressful
When navigating through hectic airports, walking through narrow streets, taking some fresh air in the countryside, or discovering new holiday destinations using a baby carrier can make your live a little more flexible.
For example, when travelling on your holiday with your family, walking through a busy airport using a baby carrying makes carting your luggage around that much easier. Whilst taking a long-haul flight, a carrier provides a safe and comfortable place for your baby to catch some much-needed sleep whilst resting close to your heart. And if you need the toilet whilst your little one is asleep on you, you can walk down the aeroplane aisle with ease while carrying your little one.
6. Makes breast/chest feeding calmer
Babywearing and breast/chest feeding go hand in hand. The physical closeness between you and your little one encourages milk production and therefore breast/chest feeding. Baby carrying also makes breast/chest feeding easier because when you're on the go, you can easily feed in a baby carrier.
Top tip: use the UPF hood on our Omni and Adapt baby carrier ranges for privacy if you need to when you are in public.
7. You become more flexible in the city
Have you ever tried to use a pushchair on public transport?
You arrive at a train station to find the lift is out of use, instead you have 100 steps to climb!
All we can say is, it’s not a lot of fun.
You can fold a baby carrier compactly or simply stow it away in your change bag if you need to. Using a baby carrier on the go allows you to grab a coffee or do your shopping with ease. And when you get home, you don’t have to worry about where to store a pushchair. It's a great option for city living.
8. Babies who are carried tend to cry less
Evidence suggests that while babywearing may not prevent colic from occurring, babies who are carried tend to cry less. A much-cited study published in the journal Paediatrics found that baby-wearing for three hours a day reduced infant crying significantly by 43% overall and 51% at night. When babies are happy, parents are too.
9. Babywearing is independent of age
Did you know you can carry your child on your body after the age of one? This is the walking age for children. Ergobaby baby carriers are designed to carry your child up to 20.4 kg. This is ideal for all those active parents and caregivers who don't want to miss out on outdoor adventures with their children.
Admittedly, it requires a certain amount of body strength. But it's fun and we all know those little legs can get tired very quickly!
10. Cuddle and kiss your baby
We always say that you should carry your baby so that they are "close enough to kiss".
This encourages the release of the bonding or love hormone oxytocin, which has a host of benefits including helping to promote successful breast/chest feeding.
If you would like to discover which Ergobaby baby carrier is right for you, you can take our online quiz here.