Page 8 - Babywearing

When our first baby was born we were given a hand-me-down Ergo and we nestled our precious newborn in it with the infant insert – and so began our love affair with babywearing.

Ever since then, there has always been an Ergo in our home.  Our first baby is now an active two year old and Ergo has carried him (literally) through every stage – it could be easily be the only carrier you ever need.  Of course if you are like us, you might want to try all kinds of different carriers – and even several types of Ergo carriers.  There are several carriers we love, but Ergo has always been in heavy rotation in our home.  Here are the top reasons we always keep our Ergo within arm’s reach:

• Newborn Insert: We loved that we could use it as soon as we brought our baby home with the insert.  It came in really handy when our snuggly and sleepy newborn wanted to always be close – but we needed our hands free for basic tasks.
• Sleepy Magic:  During those tricky times

From:  Jodi Kendall Blog "This carrier's comfort stood out during the testing process, and both my husband and I can vouch that we didn't ache or have sore spots after using it. One thing to note about the Aussie Khaki color: it's a new color option for the company, and I especially loved that it channeled a bit of the explorer in me with its look, and my husband felt like it had enough masculine edge for him to feel comfortable wearing too. This carrier color is a great option for couples who crave functional features and something neutral and attractive in appearance. If I was taking my son Townes on one of my expeditions, this is the carrier I would reach for!" Head over to Jodi's blog for the entire review and an exclusive discount code!

Kangaroo Care describes a technique in which infants, often premature and underweight, are placed, skin-to-skin, on the chest of the mother or primary caregiver. This position ensures physiological and physical closeness and warmth. The stable body temperature of the parent can effectively regulate the infant’s temperature, and provides easy accessibility to breastfeeding. Even with the advanced technology in NICUs available in the United States, one recent study noted that 82% of neonatal intensive care units in the US include kangaroo care. Originally devised in in 1978, the concept of Kangaroo Care was the brainchild of Dr. Edgar Rey Sanabria, Professor of Neonatology at Universidad Nacional de Colombia, as a response to increasing mortality rates of premature and low birth weight infants. Lacking the resources for technologically advanced equipment and extra nurses and doctors, Sanabria proposed that allowing mothers to remain skin-to-skin with these fragile infants might increase their

There is no way to dispute the advantages of carrying a baby as often as possible. Babywearing is the best way to keep both mother and baby happy, while allowing for the tasks that women (and men) need to do while still caring for an infant. Along with making life’s tasks easier, babywearing has been proven to be good for baby, and mother, on a physiological, mental and physical level. The senses are constantly being ignited in this position. Babies can smell more clearly, see, feel, hear and even taste, if they are breastfed, while still in a carrier. Keeping their senses alive and aware is a very good thing for a newborn baby. Mothers, who carry their babies closely, release more oxytocin when carrying their infants. This helps them to bond better with their babies and breastfeed with greater ease. It also lowers the chances of post-partum depression. Babywearing helps the baby to bond with the mother; making her/him feel safe, secure and protected. Babies who are carried

Since the 1950s, more doctors have acknowledged the tremendous healing power of bonding with our young through babywearing, physical contact, breastfeeding and family beds. The physical, mental and emotional health benefits are unsurpassed by any drug or remedy known to man with the benefits lasting a lifetime. Hopefully, this article helps parents to bond with their offspring through a means that is biologically compatible with their infants’ needs because our babies are movement-starved. Bonding is the physical, mental, emotional, and, some might add, spiritual, connection and attachment most parents make with their offspring to varying degrees. It deeply engages all the senses. “The mother is endocrinologically, sensually, as well as neurologically transformed in ways likely to serve the infant’s needs and contribute to her own posterity. The hormone oxytocin, also called the love drug, and known to be as addictive as morphine, is released while breastfeeding, snuggling, or massaging.

Sometimes, whatever you do it is not going to work, and sometimes, doing nothing is what works best.  This is true of a lot of things in life, from curing a headache to fixing a drain, but is never more obvious than when trying to stop a baby from crying. This morning, I was taking my usual walk. It’s a 2.2-mile loop that takes me about 40 minutes. It is a great part of my day, and I always see an interesting cross section of people in the neighborhood walking, running, biking and pushing baby strollers.  Today, while I was about half-way around, I saw a young couple walking towards me with their baby screaming at the top of her lungs in her stroller. They looked so tired, so utterly exhausted, that I had to say something to them. “Rough night?” I asked. After rolling their eyes and nodding their heads in agreement, they said, “You know it!” We chatted for a moment, and I commiserated with them about their struggle. “Sometimes just taking her outside is the only thing that helps.”

Author Betsy Miller was successfully treated for hip dysplasia as an infant, and was able to walk, run, jump and play in her youth. As an adult, she experienced an unusual problem with her hips that lead her to search for answers that were not readily available except in medical journals. Being a professional technical writer, she was inclined to seize the subject and dive into research to find her own answers. She shares the depth and details of what she found, the most helpful and clear information, to allow parents to care for their children with hip issues with less confusion and more confidence. In The Parents’ Guide to Hip Dysplasia, Betsy Miller combines her experience and interest in hip dysplasia with her skills as a technical writer to bring parents answers to their questions about DDH and CDH. This 118-page book is written in simple every-day language and includes the practical and medical facts of developmental dysplasia of the hip, and congenital dysplasia of the hip. Any