by Mary Jessica Hammes
June 14, 2011

Clare Norcio wore both of her two children extensively. Grocery shopping, hiking, playdates, even on a trip to Sweden, a child was enveloped by her padded ring sling. The practice seemed, according to Clare, hippyish and unsophisticated compared with all the sleek Scandinavian women in Stockholm wearing their children in [Baby] Bjorns, but the purpose is the same. It may sound like a fashion statement, but there is medical evidence that carrying (or wearing) your child close to your body benefits both parent and child.

Stylish or not, the ring sling remained a family favorite and carried Norcio’s first son, now 7, for about two years. She and her husband also used an Asian-inspired Mei Tai wrap with their younger son, now 3 and, at 35 pounds, too large for much more than a quick piggy-back ride.

“Using a [sling] carrier seemed so intuitive for me,” says Norcio. “I even felt like I was cheating somehow, like my baby could hang out in the sling while I did other stuff, and it made those early days of motherhood a bit less overwhelming.”

Wearing your baby is nothing new—humans have been doing it since the beginning of time, and it remains very normal around the world for parents to strap their children onto their fronts, hips, or backs while they go about their day.

Strollers are a common sight in the United States (U.S.), but babywearing is gaining momentum, including among those who practice attachment parenting. Sure, there’s a whole niche market of upscale baby carriers made with organic fabrics and trendy designs, but babywearing addresses a basic need: keeping baby close to a caregiver.

Babywearing—whether you’re using a wrap, a ring sling, a pouch, a soft-structured carrier, or Mei Tai—is a safe way to bond with your baby, not to mention an easy way to stay close and attentive to your child’s needs each hour of the day. Some parents wear their babies extensively, eschewing strollers completely; others use a carrier occasionally. It’s a very emotionally satisfying closeness, but it turns out that there are real physical and developmental benefits to wearing your baby. In fact, keeping your baby close to your body is beneficial right from the start.

Kangaroo care
Kangaroo Mother Intervention (KMI) became a formal medical practice in 1978 in Colombia, South America, as a way to manage premature babies in overcrowded hospitals. KMI mothers held their naked babies upright against their chests, breastfed exclusively (or nearly exclusively), and were rewarded with faster weight gain and early discharge from the hospital.

KMI has been extensively researched when it comes to pre-term infants. In 2001, researchers found that KMI babies spent less time in the hospital, had less severe infections, and for the most part breastfed until at least three months of their corrected age (the age the child would be had the pregnancy gone to term). Results from a 2004 study showed that KMC (kangaroo mother care) babies had better physiological outcomes and stability than those babies placed in incubators. A 2001 study showed that KMC babies had better weight gain, earlier hospital discharge, and higher breastfeeding rates. A 2003 study found that babies given KMC has less risk of hospital acquired infection, severe illness, and lower respiratory tract infection at the baby’s six-month check-up.

You’ve probably heard the term “kangaroo care” (KC), which simply means any amount of skin-to-skin contact. Kangaroo care has benefits, too—more quiet sleep and less crying (according to a 2002 study), less apnea, bradycardia, and periodic breathing (according to a 2004 study), and more mature sleep organization (according to a 2006 study). And, a 1996 study found that mothers who practice kangaroo care have more stable milk production and greater breastfeeding success.

There are fewer studies of kangaroo care and infants born at term, but those that exist show the same benefits of better sleep, more breastfeeding success, and even an analgesic effect for the babies following heel stick procedures (a method of drawing blood from babies). You can read more about kangaroo care here.

How does babywearing fit into this? Wearing your baby maintains that close contact, which even without the skin-to-skin component results in decreased crying and increased bonding along with many other health benefits.

Physical benefits of babywearing
A 2005 study suggests a link between gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD), which causes excessive crying, and Western infant care practices, or “an emphasis on infant autonomy (since) the time of the Industrial Revolution,” as defined by the study. The researchers state that from an evolutionary biology standpoint, babies under 6 months of age are “exterogestate foetus(es),” meaning they are dependent on “maternal co-regulation,” and that wearing your baby could provide “sensory nourishment” that may decrease excessive crying.

Meanwhile, a much earlier Pediatrics study published in 1986 found that babywearing for three hours a day reduces infant crying by 43 percent overall and 51 percent during evening hours. And even before that, in 1969, a study published in Developmental Psychology showed that premature infants were physically healthier in growth and motor development when they were held more rather than less.

A 2003 study published in the Journal of Prosthetics and Orthotics examined deformational plagiocephaly (the misshaping of the head due to repeated pressure on the same spot). This is found among infants who spend excessive amounts of time in car seats, infant carriers, bouncy seats, and infant swings. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends putting babies prone (back up, face down) when they are awake (however, babies should always be put to sleep on their backs). One more benefit of babywearing? Babywearers are able to carry their babies in non-supine positions as they go about their daily routines and activities.

There’s another practical reason for babywearing: If you have other children, you can spend time with them while still staying close to the newest member of the family.

Emotional benefits of babywearing
There’s a lot of anecdotal evidence for the emotional benefits of babywearing—often you’ll hear parents say that they feel more confident as parents, that they’re more responsive to their babies’ cues, expressions, movements, and immediate needs. And their babies are calmer, having all of their primal needs (seeing, hearing, feeling, even smelling their caregivers) met.

It is documented that mothers who suffer from postpartum depression or anxiety benefit from wearing their babies. Infant contact boosts levels of oxytocin, prolactin, GABA (gamma-Aminobutyric acid), and norepinephrine—all of which are neurochemical systems that can decrease anxiety, according to a 2007 study published in Frontiers of Neuroendocrinology.

Research also shows that wearing your baby leads to a stronger bond between parent and child. A 1990 Columbia University study published in Child Development showed that mothers who wore their babies in soft baby carriers in the early months were more responsive to their babies’ vocalizations than those parents who carried their children in infant seats. Consequently, when the infants were 13 months old, those children who had been worn in soft carriers demonstrated (as measured by the Ainsworth Strange Situation, the test famous for measuring child-parent attachment) more secure attachment to their parents than those who were carried in infant seats. In other words, both mother and child were more closely bonded.