Today, we have a guest post by one of our wonderful doulas from East River Doula Collective, Adriane Stare!

Adriane is a Brooklyn-Based Babywearing Expert, Postpartum Doula, Lactation Educator, Sleep Consultant, and self-proclaimed 'Lazy Mom' to two boys. Keeping small humans alive is hard work by design! She believes the key to surviving the ups and downs of parenthood is finding your people, accessing evidence-based information, and having a good sense of humor. After the birth of her first son, Adriane fell in love with babywearing - the most critical skill that she learned as a new parent. She founded Caribou Baby and Wild Was Mama in 2011, Brooklyn’s beloved Natural Baby and Maternity shops and educational class spaces (now known as The Wild). For more than a decade, she’s helped thousands of families find their confident, joyful groove in parenting by teaching them how to develop real skills and strategies, instead of just buying stuff and quick solutions. Her babywearing work and parenting approach has been featured widely on news and parenting platforms, including Good Morning America, The New York Times, Mother.ly and Crain’s New York.

To connect with and learn more about Adriane, you can visit her website: www.mostpartum.nyc

Enjoy!

WHY WE CARRY BABIES

Ba·by·wear·ing - /ˈbābēˌweriNG/

Noun: the action or practice of carrying a baby close against one’s body in a sling or similar carrier.

The term “babywearing” was coined in the 1980s, by a popular pediatrician named Dr. William Sears. But the art of strapping babies to our bodies is as old as time itself. Anthropologists believe that baby slings may have been the very first tools that humans ever created, more than 2 million years ago. Without some sort of rudimentary animal-skin carrier, our early ancestors would not have been able to properly care for their very needy infants, who could not cling independently to their fur, nor balance easily upon their upright backs.

Today, babywearing is still just as good for babies and parents as it was for our ancestors. When our babies are kept calm by being held and worn on our bodies, they develop language, think creatively and learn to relate to the world around them in ways that no stroller ride or bouncy seat can mimic. And when parents have their hands free and can easily leave the house, they can connect with friends and other adults, run household errands, and feel confident that they can meet their own basic needs as well as their babies’.

We often parent today in isolation, without the support of immediate family nearby, or a partner at home on paid-leave from work to help share the load. Perhaps more than ever, we need baby carriers to act as extensions of our bodies, and as an extra pair of hands. If you’re on the fence about babywearing, or worried that it might not be for you, here is a short list of reasons why you may want to consider trying it.

TEN REASONS TO WEAR YOUR BABY:

1. HELP YOUR BABY SLEEP: Regular close skin contact helps babies to regulate their circadian rhythms and distinguish the difference between night and day sleep. Research shows that movement, as from rocking or babywearing, calms a baby and lowers their heart rate, which makes it easier for sleep to overtake them when they are tired.

2. MAKE BODY-FEEDING EASIER: Research shows that wearing your baby increases the duration and frequency of body-feeding. Body-feeding parents release oxytocin when they hold their babies close, which helps them to make more human milk and respond to their baby’s hunger cues.

3. REDUCE CRYING: Babywearing reduces crying, both in frequency and duration. Studies show that only 3 hours of babywearing results in up to 50% less crying! When babies are not agitated, their brains spend more time in a “quiet alert” state, which is when they do most of their important social learning.

4. IMPROVE BALANCE AND STRENGTH: Most infant containers (such as strollers, car seats, swings and bouncy chairs) severely limit movement. Babies need to experience movement against gravity, and in ALL directions (up-down, side-to-side, back-to-front) to practice strength and coordination. This variety of movement stimulates the inner-ear, which reduces ear infections and enhances neuromotor development. Carrying a baby is the perfect and natural activity to rebuild bone density lost during pregnancy and body-feeding, and it helps to strengthen postpartum muscles incrementally.

5. FOSTER LANGUAGE: Carrying children encourages their sociability and improves their language development. When babies can watch their parents' faces closely, they learn how to react to their environment and communicate with others. Adults speak more words to their babies when they’re in- arms, which is positively correlated with vocabulary acquisition by age two.

6. IMPROVE BONDING AND ATTACHMENT: Carrying our babies attunes us to their needs, increases parental self-confidence, and supports bonding. Research shows that healthy attachment with our children makes them more confident, independent, and resilient later in life.

7. REGULATE THE NERVOUS SYSTEM: When parents hold their baby on their bodies, they help regulate their child’s nervous system, temperature, heart rate, and breathing. Calm babies secrete less of the stress hormone, Cortisol, which can drain energy required for brain development and fighting illness. Lower cortisol also correlates with better weight gain and physical growth.

8. IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH: Babywearing has been shown to reduce the incidence and severity of perinatal mood disorders like postpartum depression or anxiety. New parents experiencing mood disorders often report that babywearing allows them to continue to care for their babies even when they’re not feeling their best.

9. LET OTHERS SHARE THE LOAD: Babywearing is not just for the feeding parent! When partners and other caregivers can confidently use a carrier, the feeding parent can trust that their baby is getting excellent care. When a baby bonds with multiple caregivers, they can transition more easily, allowing more adults in the home to participate in parenting.

10. TRAVEL ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE: Carriers allow parents and babies to adventure beyond the pavement: to walk on a beach, hike in nature, or travel by public transportation. Navigating a stairwell, an airport, or crossing the street with a toddler is safer and easier when you have two free hands.