It is painful to put a child on your back or chest. The discomforts can be seen by both the man and child in this picture. Obviously, by the strain on their faces, they must be miserable. Such an odd concept, wearing your children - horrific.The idea of baby wearing has been around for some time. The modern Western Culture tends to prefer a stroller or even the car seat aka "baby bucket." Many other countries in the world prefer this method and some cultures treat this as a very natural occurrence it is just the way you do things.
For mothers who are breast feeding this can be a very good way to nurse your newborn or child. Depending on the carrier, and your comfort, many are built to allow nursing in any setting [although it should be acceptable to nurse anywhere anyway ;) ].
In no way does the wearing of a child set you back, or de-civilize you. It actually can be very useful and comfortable; not to mention that the bonding time from being held (attachment parenting) is amazing. As a father, some of my best trips out have been carrying / wearing my children. There are a variety of options as well. The most versatile would be a wrap form - such as the Mobi listed below; I prefer the Ero, myself.
To the right, in my widget scrolling - you can see several examples of carriers or click below.
They include:
If you reasearch on Wikipedia.org, you can find the following information, courtesy of several articles compiled there.
- Mothers' oxytocin is increased through physical contact with the infant, leading to a more intimate maternal bond, easier breastfeeding and better care, thus lowering the incidence of postpartum depression and psychosomatic illness in the mother;[2] similarly, the father carrying the baby has benefits for the paternal bond.
- Infants who are carried are calmer because all of their primal/survival needs are met. The caregiver can be seen, heard, smelled, touched, tasted, provide feeding and the motion necessary for continuingneural development, gastrointestinal and respiratory health and to establish balance (inner ear development) and muscle tone is constant.[3]
- Infants are more organized. Parental rhythms (walking, heartbeat, etc.) have balancing and soothing effects on infants.
- Infants are "humanized" earlier by developing socially. Babies are closer to people and can study facial expressions, learn languages faster and be familiar with body language.[4]
- Independence is established earlier.[3]
- Attachment between child and caregiver is more secure.[5]
- Decreases risk of positional plagiocephaly ("flat head syndrome") caused by extended time spent in a car seat and by sleeping on the back. Sleeping on the back is recommended to decrease the risk ofSIDS. Cranial distortion resulting from non-vehicular time in car seats has shown to be more severe than in children who develop plagiocephaly from back-lying on a mattress.[6] Concern over plagiocephaly has also led the American Academy of Pediatrics to recommend that infants “should spend minimal time in car seats (when not a passenger in a vehicle) or other seating that maintains supine positioning."[7] None of the babywearing positions require infants to lie supine while being carried. Infants can even be worn while they sleep, also decreasing sleeping time spent in a supine position.
God bless - Joe
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