12 Reasons Why I Love Babywearing

Women throughout the world have been wearing their babies for thousands of years (if not from the beginning of time!).  From Nepal to Peru, Ghana to Indonesia, mothers all over the world have found different ways of using scarves, shawls or even just large pieces of cloth to carry their babies along with them as they go about their work every day.  Do a quick image search for "babywearing" and you'll find something that looks more or less like this

Women (and some men!) from all over the world wearing their babies in different ways.  And there's a good reason for it.  Not only is babywearing incredibly convenient for a busy mother, it's also a beautiful way to bond with and protect your baby.  Although the practice of babywearing declined in the West (North America and Western Europe) in the 1900s, I am incredibly grateful babywearing in the US is on the rise.  I don't think I could survive as a mother without it.

I love, love, love babywearing. I wear my baby every day and just about every where we go.  I wear my baby at home, I wear my baby to the grocery store, I wear my baby when we go for walks, I wear my baby at the mall and I wear her on our way to play group. I've worn my baby on public transport and I've worn her on an airplane. Heck, when she was really little I used to wear her at church, too. I am 100% serious when I say that baby wearing has saved my sanity and made life easier as a new mother. 

Although I'd seen countless mothers wearing their babies every day during my time working and researching in West Africa, I didn't really look into babywearing until I was pregnant with my first babe. As I did more research about the benefits of babywearing I quickly realized this was something I wanted to try. I researched different carriers (soft structure carriers vs. wraps vs. slings?), different brands (Ergo, Boba, Becco, Moby?) and ultimately ended up making my own wrap (<$10 of fabric vs. $30-$80 for a brand-name wrap -- I picked the cheap option) to use while my baby was little. My sister-in-law also snagged us a free Baby Bjorn (not such a fan) and we got an ERGObaby Four Position 360 Baby Carrier (LOVE!) as our baby started getting heavier and harder to carry in the wrap.  

It's been almost seven months now and guess what?  I still love babywearing.  And I want to share some of the reasons why.

1. It keeps my baby close and snug

When my baby was first born I was ridiculously anxious when she was anywhere but in my arms.  My husband used to try to take her so I could get some sleep but I'd spend the whole time worrying about her instead (anyone else hear phantom babies crying?). Even now that she's a lot bigger I don't like leaving her.  Babywearing lets me keep my baby close and snug where I know she's safe and happy. Goodbye mommy anxiety.

2. SHE feels safe and secure

There's nothing quite like a ride in the baby carrier to calm my little one down when she's upset. Ever since she was just a few weeks old I've been using our baby wrap or carrier to help soothe my baby. When she was teeny tiny I think the wrap reminded her of being in the womb -- she was snug and close to mom -- and she'd always calm right down as I walked with her.  Now that she's a little older, I think she knows that when she's in the baby carrier she's safe and secure and that mama isn't going anywhere.  The rocking motion created by walking or swaying side to side has always helped soothe her to sleep, too.

Which leads me to....

3. She takes the most awesome naps 

There are basically two ways I put my baby to sleep at this point in her life. She usually either falls asleep nursing or I put her in the carrier and gently rock her to sleep. She can't resist the side to side sway. Sometimes I try to take her out and put her in her bed but I usually just leave her in the carrier.  In her bed she'll usually nap for 30-45 minutes.  In the carrier it's usually somewhere around two hours.  Which would you choose? 

4. It gives me my hands back 

When I asked parents in a Facebook group I'm in what they love most about babywearing A LOT of them said "getting things done!"  Whether she's asleep or not, wearing my baby is a wonderful way to be hands free while still keeping my baby close. I can do my grocery shopping in peace (the few times we tried leaving her in her car seat she pitched an absolute conniption fit), I can do the dishes, work on my blog (yup, I'm wearing my sleeping baby right now), bake, clean, etc. So far I haven't really tried cooking while wearing her but once I'm comfortable wearing her on my back I'll probably try that, too.  I know a lot of moms love to cook with their babies.  

Check out this mama getting work done with her baby snoozing happily on her back

Another mom I talked to said babywearing made the transition from one child to two a lot easier on both her and her older child. She loved that she could keep her newborn close while still being able to play with her older son.

5. Helps deepen your bond

Wearing your baby is an incredible way to help deepen your bond. Not only is it easier to respond to your little one's cues, being in physical contact with your baby releases oxytocin, or the "love hormone," helping trigger feelings of love and connection to your child. In The Second Nine Months, an article about babies' need to be held, Elizabeth Antunovic writes,    

"Our silent and most potent language, touch, is the medium through which parent and infant communicate and become attached, each tender touch strengthening the bond between them... She is not bonded to material things like a stuff animal to hug, a soft blanket to cuddle, or an artificial nipple, but she looks to her mother or a real person for comfort."

Babywearing isn't just for mom, either.  Dad, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings (if they're old enough) and other caregivers can get in on the action, too. Some adoptive parents have also found babywearing to be a beautiful way to bond with their baby.  

Check out this sweet grandmother bonding with her granddaughter in a stretchy wrap. She says. "I have only had a very small amount of time with her since she's been born, but it was very beneficial to our bonding." 

Snapped this one while I was working in Mali, West Africa where older daughters often take charge of their younger brothers and sisters.  In both Mali and Ghana, I rarely saw a baby NOT strapped securely to someone's back

6. It helps keep me healthy

Babywearing is great for both your physical and emotional health.  Not only has it been found to help prevent or treat postpartum depression, it also helps with anxiety and builds confidence in new parents. Although I didn't struggle with postpartum depression, I definitely experienced anxiety and sadness at times. Because babywearing helps keep my baby calm and happy, it helped me feel more confident as I learned to meet her needs and respond to her cues. Babywearing is also great exercise. It's like lugging a 7-35 pound weight around with you all the time! Because your baby is kept so close it can also help encourage lactation, too.  

7. Improves communication (and less crying!)

Keeping my baby close makes it easier to read and respond quickly to her cues. Because I can respond immediately to her cues, it also means my baby doesn't have to cry out to get my attention. Plus, she tends to be very calm and happy when I wear her anyways (see #2)  In fact, a lot of babywearing mamas I've talked to say their babies hardly cry at all. According Antunovic this also helps to build trust and confidence in babies:    

"When a baby is held close to her mother, her cues are easier to read. Communication between them is made easier. When her cues are responded to, she learns that she can 'trust' that her needs will be met, that she is loved and will be provided for. This sets the foundation for her fundamental self-esteem and the foundation for all subsequent relationships that she will have in her life."

8. It's so much easier to get around

I don't know about you, but I kind of find strollers to be a big pain. I know they have their uses, especially when your baby gets too big to carry, but at this point in my baby's life, I hardly ever use ours. And who wants to lug a baby around in a big heavy car seat?  I just find it so much easier to use our baby carrier. She's a lot happier (see #2), I'm a lot happier (see #1-7) and I don't have to fight through crowds or worry about uneven terrain.  It's just me and my baby, happy, snug and safe. 

We recently traveled to visit my family over the holidays. Wearing my baby made the proccess so much easier. First off, I had two hands to manage my luggage (see #4). Security was a breeze.  I didn't have to worry about gate checking a stroller and I didn't have to stand around waiting for said stroller to be brought up when we landed. And I had a safe and secure place to keep my "lap child" during our flight, too. As one mom told me, "In the past week, I got through four airports like a boss with my Tula [a brand of baby carriers]. The car rental lady was like 'usually parents are struggling with their kids and their stuff but you've got it together.'"

9. Breastfeeding handsfree

Okay, I only just tried for the first time a couple days ago but it was pretty awesome. It felt so empowering to be able to feed my baby AND get dinner ready AT THE SAME TIME. I am mama, hear me roar! I can see this being really handy while I'm out and about, too. Breastfeeding. Hands free. Standing up. Bam!

Here's a quick and easy how-to video from the Leaky Boob. It's done with an Ergo but I'd think the same method would work with most soft structured carriers (SSCs like Ergos, Bobas, Beccos, Tulas, Lillebaby, etc).

Anybody else want a top like that?

10. Provides more opportunities for learning 

Babywearing gives my little one a safe place to view and interact with the world around us.  She can watch as I chop veggies, or point out a pretty flower on our walk as we explore the world together. She can observe and process what's happening around her -- all from the safety of mama's arms (or well, mama's chest really but that just sounds kind of awkward). As Antunovic explains, 

"When carried in her mother's arms, the child gets a safe place from which to view the world, It is from this safe known place that babies learn about the unknown. When a baby is in a calm and alert state and in touch with her mother, she is in the optimum state for observing and processing all that is going on around her. These different opportunities for learning create the sparks for the neurons in her brain to grow and branch out and meet and intertwine with other neurons. The more these neurons grow and branch out, the greater the brain growth."

11. It's healthier for my baby 

Babies need to be held. A lot. Neurologist Richard Restak goes as far as to say that, "Touch, it turns out, is as necessary to normal infant development as food and oxygen" (as quoted in The Second Nine Months). FOOD AND OXYGEN PEOPLE! It seems like more and more people, however, are simply moving their babies from one container to the next these days.  Babies go from a swing to a bouncer to a car seat, to a play mat and then back to the swing again. Now, I'm not saying you have to hold your baby every second of every day or that you're a bad parent if you use a swing, bouncer, play mat or car sear (I've certainly used all of them) -- sometimes you've got things to do and you need your hands! Babywearing, however, offers another, potentially healthier avenue that allows you to touch, hold and snuggle your baby while also getting work done.

Added bonuses, since baby isn't spending a lot of time on his/her back, babywearing can help prevent flat head syndrome! I've heard babywearing is great for babies with acid reflux (keeps the baby upright) and it also helps keep prying, germy hands away, too! As cute as those "NO TOUCHING! Your germs are too BIG for me!" signs are, I'd rather just wear my baby.  When I'm babywearing I've found that people tend to miraculously hold back more (I'm guessing because my baby is tucked away close to my chest).  If they do still touch my baby, they're more likely to touch the wrap/carrier or maaaybe squeeze her little foot.  I much prefer that to them pinching her cheeks or playing with her fingers.

12. There's no better view!

There are few things that fill me with more love and joy than my sleeping baby's face. When I'm babywearing I love looking down her face rested on my chest, listening to her quiet little breaths.  It really doesn't get much better than this

Those are my top 12 reasons for loving babywearing but what about you? Do you babywear?  If so, what do you love most about it?


*** Although this post was not sponsored it does contain affiliate links.  I make a small profit when you buy products from these links at no additional cost to you***

Baby on a Budget: How to turn cereal boxes into wall art (for next to nothing!)

This post is part of our Baby on a Budget series.  Click here for more from this series.

When women are pregnant, they tend to go through a "nesting" period. For most women, the insatiable need to nest kicks in towards the end of their pregnancy (the last month or so?).  I think I started nesting as soon as I started actually eating real food again, somewhere towards the beginning of my second trimester.  I would lie awake in bed for hours, stressing about the baby's room.  At the time, we were in a tiny 550 square-foot 2-bedroom apartment. The baby's-room-to-be was where we stored a lot of our junk. I knew we wouldn't need to put a baby in there for a while (heck, she's four months old and she still sleeps in our room), but the whole thing just sent me into a tizzy. I needed a plan. I needed to be ready. I needed a cute, happy, decluttered room where I could sit in and smile instead of stare and sob.  And oh, I needed to do it as cheaply as possible.

So I started planning. And pinning, And pining.

I wanted to spell out my daughter's name on the wall with 3D letters but with a long name like Elizabeth it would have been expensive (at least for my tight budget).  Instead, I figured out a way to make letters for next to nothing. Out of cereal boxes of all things.

I didn't take many pictures when I made letters for my daughter's room but I made sure to snap along as I made letters for my nephews later.

You will need:

• Cereal boxes (1-2 per letter)
• Ruler
• Exacto knife/scissors
• Cutting board/mat
• Pencil 
• Newsprint (I used all the pesky ads we normally just recycle)
• Flour
• Water
• Sandpaper
• Paint 
• Foam paintbrush
• Glue/tape
• Scrapbook paper, buttons, fabric, etc (etc = whatever else you can think of to decorate your letters!)

    

Step 1: Start hoarding cereal boxes. Lots of boxes.  I probably used one or two boxes per letter.  I also used boxes from frozen pizzas and cookies -- it just needs to be that thin, flexible cereal-box-type-cardboard.

Step 2: Find a font you like. You can use the fonts you already have installed on your computer or if you're feeling adventurous, it's pretty easy to find and install free fonts online.  For my nephews' letters I wanted a comic booky feel to the font so I just googled "free comic book font," found one I liked (Action Comcs Black), downloaded and installed it.  In Word (or you could use Microsoft Publisher), I blew each letter up as big as I could make it and have it still fit on one page (400 pt font size worked with this font), clicked print and the cut each letter out. For bigger letters you could also print them out over multiple pieces of paper and tape them together.  When you're done, your paper letters will act as a guide for cutting out your letters in cardboard.

I'm crafty-impaired so I like to use my ruler and exacto knife (with a cutting board underneath) to cut out my letters.  It helps make sure I keep my lines nice and straight

***insider tip*** 

If you want to make things easier on yourself use a sans serif font. For my daughter's letters I used a pretty font with a serif. It was a little tricky getting everything lined up correctly. My nephews' letters with a sans serif font were a lot easier to line up and keep straight without all the little extra "bumps" around the edges. I recommend taking some time to study your font to make sure it isn't too complicated before you get started.

Step 3: Cut out your cardboard. Using a few pieces of tape, secure your letter guides to the cereal box. Using a pencil, you can either trace around the letter and then cut it out or if you're lazy like me, just use your exacto knife to cut along the side of your paper guide.  Again, I like to cut against my ruler to make sure my cuts stay straight. Once you've finished cutting the letter out, peel off the paper guide and repeat, making a front and a back for each letter.

Make sure you cut out a front and a back for each letter!

Step 4: Next, cut 2-3 inch strips (depending on how thick you want your letters) out of your cereal box.  I'm a lazy crafter so I just used the width of my ruler as a guide to make it easier on myself.

Step 5: Construction time! Using tape, secure your strips between the top and bottom parts of your letter.  Make sure to shape the strips around any curves or angles.  If your letter has holes on the inside (like with a B or an A) make sure to line those parts first. When you're done, it should look something like this!

Step 6: Paper Maché.  Cut (or just tear) your newsprint into strips (approximately 1-inch wide but you don't need to be exact).  Mix up some homemade paste by combining about one cup of flour with one cup of water (you can add a few shakes of salt, too).  Next, dip your newspaper strips into the paste, wipe off excess paste and adhere to your letter.  Continuing doing this until you've covered the entire letter, front, back and sides. 

Let your letter dry completely and then repeat the process, paper machéing the entire letter again.  I'd stick my letters in front of a fan (so they'd dry faster!) and then I'd get to work cutting out and taping together my next letter while I waited.

Step 7: Sand.  Once both layers of paper maché are completely dry use a piece of fine sandpaper to sand down some of the rough patches.  This just helps make it a little bit more smooth.

Step 8: Apply a couple coats of paint. I just used some white paint I had kicking around from another project

Step 9: Decorate.  Trace the front face of your letter on a sheet of scrapbook paper you like, cut it out and attach!  I just used masking tape to attach mine and it's held just fine.  You could also get out the big guns and actually glue (hot glue?) the covers on if you want something more robust than tape. Instead of using scrapbook paper you could use buttons, fabric, glitter, lace, pebbles, feathers, heck I even thought about using old comic books.

 And voila!  You've made cute wall art for practically nothing!

***This post contains affiliate links. I make a small profit when you buy products from these links at no additional cost to you.***

Dreams for my Daughter

About a week and a half before we found out I have a little girl budding inside me, I took my journal to a park about five minutes away from our apartment. It's a pretty simple park really, not much more than a small playground, a field and an outhouse, but it's high on a hill and you can see the mountains in the distance and the valley below. Sometimes I go there just to breathe, to taste the air and feel the sun on my skin. I go there to listen, to heal.

As I sat and gobbled down the crisp air around me, soaking in the mountains and the sounds around me, my thoughts and soon the scribbles of my pen drifted towards the little one I'd been dying to meet. At first I tried to be gender neutral as I wrote but within two sentences I'd given up. I was pretty sure this was a little girl I was dealing with. I let my pen take flight and out flowed my questions and my dreams for this little baby.  Below I share a slightly edited version of what I wrote.

Sometimes I wonder what this baby will be like. What she will love? What will make her giggle with delight? What will she feel like - my baby - in my arms? What will her cry sound like? How will it make me feel? What will it feel like to love her? What will it feel like to have her love me?

I hope she loves the sun. I hope she loves the way it feels as it licks her skin. I hope she loves the feeling of cool grass as it squishes between her toes. I hope she loves trees and thanks them for their shade. I hope she loves the water in whatever shape it takes -- oceans, lakes, rivers and raindrops. I hope she stares at the the moon and the stars and wonders how they found their home in the sky.  I hope she tastes the world - with all her senses. I hope she feels its peace. Its love. Its majesty.

I hope she loves to dance - in that cute little diaper-wagging way. I hope she loves to laugh and to run outside and play. I hope she loves to twirl, watching her little skirt swirl out around her with delight. I hope she loves dress ups and jewelry. I hope she treats her dolls as her daughters (like I did when I was little).

I hope she has dreams - of being a princess, an astronaut, a magician or whatever else she can think of - I just want the dreams to be hers. I hope she loves to create - everything from mud pies to witches potions, castle forts to snow angels. I hope she strives to create smiles, laughter and love everywhere she goes, that she creates her own beautiful world and invites others (myself included) to come in.

I hope she tells stories - with her grandmother's gift for words and her grandfather's gift for exaggeration.  I hope she loves to cuddle and that she has her daddy's smile and her mama's dark hair.

I hope she learns to share - to share her toys, her joys and even sometimes her sorrows. I hope she loves to hug and tries to wrap the whole wide world up in her little arms. I hope she loves to sing. Any and everything. I hope she finds music in everything she encounters. I hope she makes up games and gives everyone a good part.

I hope she loves her cousins and has good friends.  I hope she loves her siblings (however many there may be) and trusts her parents. I hope she wants to tell us everything and that she'll always run to her mama for comfort for all of life's scrapes and heartaches.

I hope she follows her heart - wherever it may lead her. I hope she follows her head, too -- wherever it compels her.

I hope she finds love and beauty, even if both may look differently to what the world would tell her.  I hope she loves others and has a giving heart. I hope she wants to heal the world.

I hope she loves God and feels His immense love for her. I hope she learns that mistakes are a good thing - they teach us how to grow. I hope she knows that she has a Savior who loves her unconditionally, forever and always. I hope she sees her life as a gift and what she does with it as a gift back to her Father in Heaven.

I know this little girl will teach me every day. I know she'll make me smile, laugh, worry, cry, dance, play, tickle and sometimes even scream. But she will always be my baby - no matter what she says.

Learning to be her mother and her friend will be the most important thing I can do with my life. Teaching her to love God and follow Christ, to find hope, embrace beauty and to learn continuously - there is no better way I could spend my life and my love.

And there is no other way I would want to.