AND CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON
Regardless of whether or not you believe in evolutionary theory, one can see similarities between humans and primates, such as chimpanzees and gorillas. We are all social animals, which means that we need to be in groups and to be affectionate toward others to survive and thrive. It is simply nature that we long for touch, and love, which is so often shown through touch. Babies are no different. They also long to be touched and thrive when they are. When a mother or father plays with their baby, holds, talks to them, and cuddles with them, the babies smile and react positively to that stimuli. It is not very often that I see babies in strollers facing the same direction as their parents, so they can not make facial contact, with smiles on their faces. They are lacking the interaction they so desperately need to survive and thrive developmentally. Never do you see other primates leave their young, assuming that if they touch them too much they will become spoiled. They are always in contact with another primate, gaining new experiences that enable them to grow and learn.
Since baby chimpanzees and gorillas, etc... have the ability to cling, allowing for the mother to do the things she still needs to get done, we need to find creative ways to accomplish the same task. Baby wearing is the answer.
Choose a method, backpack, front carrier, or sling, they all allow for physical contact, without hindering the daily chores that need to be done. I choose the sling because of the versatility of being able to shove it in the diaper bag and the multiple positions it uses.
There have been numerous studies done by a variety of anthropologists on baby wearing and other cultures. In these studies, they have measured the amount of contact each culture gives their babies and the results of that contact. In America's traditional way of parenting, we touch our infants approximately 20-25% of the day, but in Korea they touch their infants 90% of the day, the Ache spend 93% of the day and 100% of the night in contact with their babies, and the Kung!San babies are in physical contact with someone at all times, they are never put down, or put on the back. They are encouraged to watch what their parents are doing. The crying time of their infants rarely exceeds thirty seconds per crying spell. The results then of amount of touching is that all the cultures that spend the majority of the day in physical contact with their babies is that their motor skills develop faster and their motor-cognition skills are better than our babies. Our babies were found to grow slower and have developmental delays.
There are so many benefits for our babies, when you 'wear' them most of the day. They cry less, and when they do cry it is for a shorter amount of time. Because they are tended to almost immediately, none of their signals (crying) go unanswered, enabling them to trust that their needs will be met, and in a short amount of time. Babies cry in order to get a message across to their parents, that something is not right, by letting them 'cry it out' only sends a message back that their needs are unimportant, and that their parents will usually not answer them in a timely manner. These babies eventually stop crying at all, but also tend to be more clingy as they grow older, learning that they need to be upset to get attention for their needs, instead of trusting that any need they may have will be met.
Another benefit of wearing babies is that they will become more attached to you and you to them, you get to learn every inch of their personality, such as which movements mean what. For instance, when my daughter smacks her lips one way it means she's hungry, another way she is usually playing with her teeth. I know this because I am constantly watching her movements, and if I don't see them, I can certainly feel them. I would not know her as intimately as I do now, if she lived in a crib, swing, and car seat.
Wearing babies also helps to get them off to sleep when they are really tired, but are fighting sleep. I wear my daughter around the house when she's really tired and I still have stuff to do, she sits up watching me, and eventually lays against me and falls off to sleep, no crying at all.
Additionally, because the baby is sitting at the same level that you do things with your hands, they are passively learning by watching you do something. She also listens as you carry on a conversation with those around you, learning the language she will one day speak. Since the baby is up in the action it increases verbal and social development. It promotes healthy nervous system development as well because of the movement they feel as you walk around normally, the same movements they felt in the womb as they developed.
A lot of people say, "if my baby is always with me, and never on the floor, she'll never learn how to roll over, crawl, or walk." My daughter is carried at least 99% of the day, is rarely on the floor, but on the few occasions that she shows interest in being on the floor, I put her there, and every time she does something new. She learned all her skills anywhere from two weeks to a full month ahead of schedule.
If you're breastfeeding, wearing your baby (in a sling) can also promote healthy breastfeeding, for a couple of reasons. The baby is able to nurse on demand, not on a schedule. This enables her to eat as often and only as long as she needs, which will also ensure that her mom has enough milk for her and won't get too engorged. Additionally, because you can nurse discretely in a sling, it may help a mother to relax in public and thus feel freer to be able to nurse no matter where she is.
Even just giving baby wearing a try would be good, and who knows - you just might like the closeness it will bring between you and your baby.
Written by: Gretchen Wieringa, Indigenous Babies
RELATED LINKS:
Our Babies, Ourselves, How Biology and Culture
Shape the Way We Parent. Meredith F. Small. Anchor
Books, New York, 1998.
Attachment Parenting, Instinctive Care for Your
Baby and Young Child. Katie Allison Granju, et.al.
Pocket Books, New York, 1999.
The Baby Book, Everything you Need to Know
About Your Baby From Birth to Age Two. Dr. William
Sears, and Martha Sears, R.N. Little Brown and
Company, Boston, 1993.
The Fussy Baby Book, Parenting Your Hign-Need
Child From Birth to Age Five. Dr. William Sears, and
Martha Sears, R.N. Little Brown and Company, Boston,
1996.
Information in the above article was retrieved from the following sources:
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