A baby carried in the wrap is kept close to your body which enables them to feel your body heat, your smell, to listen to your heartbeat, swing as you walk around, hear your voice – all this perfectly replicates the snug, safe environment in the womb and that’s when the magic happens – baby calmly falls asleep.
The closeness of a parent builds the primary, basic relation between the baby and the world. We are the main source of alleviation and regulation for our babies. Bear in mind that the psychological and emotional growth are inseparably connected with the physical growth. That is why we speak about the psycho-motor development. Without the psychological security provided by the caregivers, it is definitely more difficult for children to develop physically. It is the emotional security and the initial interest in the world which develops when the baby feels safe and loved. This exactly is the driving force for the physical growth.
Babywearing satisfies the baby’s need for safety. But also, the need for closeness, touch, bond, unity, comfort. Through this contact our little ones also learn how to regulate their emotions and reactions of their own body. We affect each other in many ways and that’s how the ultimate bond is created..
!And the parents? What do they gain thanks to babywearing? Of course, they gain the feeling of safety, closeness, touch, bond, unity, and comfort. But also, space, freedom, joint responsibility, independence, self-esteem (parental competencies) and so much more!
Except for satisfying so many of our and our little one’s needs, babywearing is a huge developmental blessing. Properly wrapped baby gets remarkable support and stimulus for development. All senses are stimulated, including the three extremely important ones:
Touch – with the receptors located over the skin, receiving superficial and deep stimulus of touch, pressure, cold, warm, pain.
Proprioceptive – receiving stimulus from muscles and tendons and informing the brain about the location of the body and its parts in the space, and about the body’s movements.
Vestibular – informing about the location and movements of the head in proportion to the surroundings, also called the sense of balance, through the receptors in the inner ear, develops thanks to the swaying.
Thanks to this stimulation we support the baby’s development, we give him or her the first free sensory processing class, teach motor coordination, stimulate deep sensibility, we also support the future development of speech. The baby who feels safe spends less time and energy on signalling their basic needs. They spend more time in the state of the so-called quiet alert, in which he or she absorbs the world, gets to know their surroundings, preferably human faces.
Another incredibly important advantage of babywearing after the immediate skin-to-skin contact is also the secretion of oxytocin – the hormone of love and attachment, responsible for both milk production and developing a bond with the baby, turning on the protective mechanisms, and for the state of serenity that we get into while feeding, massaging and at last by babywearing!