Babywearing and Its Benefits (Guest Post)

Babies … to wear or not to wear? I remember seeing old pictures in magazines or books as a child of either European, African, and indigenous women carrying their babies in large cloths worn like a sling.  I never saw it in real life though. I guess somehow it became unpopular in America.  I often wondered why my grandmother who had many children didn’t practice that nor instill it in any of her daughters.  I don’t know about your family, but in my mom’s family baby wearing wasn’t done by The Silent Generation, nor did The Baby Boomers, nope, not even The Gen Xers! What gives?  I’m going to go ahead and proudly say that we Xennials, you know, the ones born between 1977-1983 gave the baby wearing a comeback, a revival of some sort.  Perhaps we all read Dr. Sears’ books about attachment parenting & its benefits, or perhaps we did it out of convenience as busy moms.  Either way, I’m proud to say, I’m a baby wearer!

I still remember the first time my grandmother saw me wearing my first son in my Moby Wrap, she said “I hope you’re not wearing him too long you’re going to spoil him!”  I don’t know how many times I heard that from other people.  My mom on the other hand thought it would hurt my back. I had to look up all the benefits to prove to grandma that there were many good reasons to do so.  It gives you a closer bond, it supports breast feeding, they help avoid little misshaped heads, and babies are more able to regulate their hear rate & breathing; which are the 2 major worries when you have preemies.  I’ve had 2!

There’s also the convenience of being able to do other things while “holding” your baby.  For me they came in handy because at one point I had 3 boys under 3 years of age! Sounds crazy, I know but my 1^st two were born 13 months apart, so I needed my Moby Wrap in front for the newborn AND my Ergo Baby Carrier on the back for my 1 year old toddler.  Of course on weekend outings my hubs would wear one kid & I would wear the other.  We’ve tried every carrier you can think of.  I loved my Moby for my infants, then the Ergo for my 1^st two.  Ergo was perfect because it put my babies in an upright sitting type of position around me.  They had some cool designs also, but since we spend a lot of time either at Disneyland, Legoland, or San Diego Zoo & Safari Park, more padding on the straps would have been perfect.

For the 3^rd & 4^th (last) babies I discovered the Tula Baby Carrier. Not only did I love the fact that the founder was a momma from Poland, the prints are adorable & fashionable.  The comfort for both baby & mom is just superb.  My hubs had to stop my Tula collecting, but even he has loved wearing our babies even more with these comfortable carriers.  We no longer had to trade off on the carrying every so often. I actually went hours carrying our daughter & didn’t feel it on my back nor shoulders. The fabrics used are softer, easier to fold & carry, more breathable, I can’t say enough!

Did you/do you babywear? What is your favorite carrier? 

 About the Author

Hi there! I’m Jewels! Just a small town California girl. I have a Master's in Biomedical Engineering and am a wife to my blue-eyed hunk from the same small town. I am also a homeschooling momma of 4. My day consists of being everything I am needed to be … teacher, nurse, referee, caregiver, chef (not so extraordinaire), chauffer, and so on. So please, join me on this roller coaster some people call crazy, that I call Beautiful Chaos.

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