Should I Use a Baby Wrap?

So, you’re shopping for baby carriers and trying to decide which carrier is right for you? There are many options and it might feel overwhelming. Is the Aura Baby Wrap right for you? Today, we’ll outline a few of our favorite reasons to use this baby wrap. Wraps are an ideal tool for early postpartum days Baby wraps are an excellent choice for mamas in the early days postpartum. While several of our carriers are newborn friendly (like the Omni 360) and can be used from birth on up, a baby wrap like the Aura Baby wrap can be extra cozy and snuggly, especially in the early days postpartum where you’ll mostly be home, bonding, cuddling, feeding, and napping. Bond with your baby during the fourth trimester  The benefits of holding baby close to you are many. The fourth trimester refers to the first three months after birth and it’s when your little one is moving from the familiar comfort of your warm, dark womb to a new environment full of unfamiliar sights, sounds, smells, and sensations. At this time, baby is adjusting to a time of enormous change and development. Babywearing and baby wraps in particular can help support this transition for baby by keeping baby close and connected to you. They need a lot of touch, containment, and holding. Whether wrapped up in a baby wrap or in  a carrier, babywearing promotes that critical bond between you and your child during the days that matter most. Babywearing allows you to stay connected and close throughout the day and attuned to baby’s cues and needs. Kangaroo Care or skin-to-skin is easily accessible with the Aura Baby Wrap The benefits of skin to skin contact are innumerable. Essentially, this means holding baby skin to skin against mother (or father’s) chest. "Skin to skin contact has been demonstrated as key component to help a baby regulate his heart and breathing rate, maintain body temperature, gain weight, enhance his immune system, spend more time in deep, restful sleep, and while awake it can aid in more quiet and alert time, fewer crying hours and make him more amenable to breastfeeding. Kangaroo Care helps mom as well, by reducing stress and with that lowering the risk of post partum depression. Skin to skin helps speed up your recovery time from labor and essentially creates a feeling of closeness between mama and babe. This close holding bond between baby and mother also helps to regulate a mother’s hormones, increase her levels of maternal oxytocin, and ultimately helps increase her milk supply." Read this full blog on benefits of Kangaroo Care, here. If you’re at home, you can even go topless and just wrap baby straight onto you around the house! Not only can this be a sweet way to bond with baby, it is a way to start to reconnect to your beautiful postpartum body after birth. The wrap is soft and snuggly and gentle on your skin. Baby wraps are comfortable, snuggly, and soft If you haven’t tried our Aura Baby Wrap, the material is soft, cozy, and lightweight. Depending on the type of birth experience you’ve had (such as a C-section or for anyone those first 40 days), the bulkiness of a carrier waist belt or a large buckle may not be ideal right away as your body and skin are healing. The soft material of the baby wrap may be ideal for you and won’t put too much pressure around your waist or any scarring you may have. The compression of the wrap may even feel supportive and helpful or you can try tying off the wrap above your incision if you've had a C-section. When the wrap is on snugly and tightly, it is quite soothing. Not just for baby, but for you. It can feel like getting a nice hug, which is comforting for baby and also for you. Leave the wrap on while running errands While you can’t leave baby in the wrap in the car for obvious reasons, you can wear your wrap like a fashion statement and keep it ready to go for baby. It’s comfortable to wear you can easily leave it on and ready for baby as you go out and about without having to take the full wrap on and off. Wearing a wrap can prepare you for other forms of babywearing If you’ve already got your baby wrap down, it will be a breeze to transition into a more structured carrier, like our Omni 360. Once baby outgrows your wrap (we recommend for greatest comfort wearing your wrap up to 25 pounds), you can transition to one of our other more structured carriers which can be more comfortable as baby grows! You may also find it convenient to use your baby wrap for some things and your carrier like an Omni 360. Many parents will use both depending on comfort, task at hand, or baby's preference, too. Dads can wear baby wraps, too! This might go without saying but dads can babywear, too. We wrote a whole piece here on masculinity and babywearing, but nothing brings us more joy than seeing dads in a baby wrap, too. Hands-free This is really a benefit of any baby carrier, but freeing up your hands to around the house or out in the world is one of the most brilliant aspects of babywearing. Easy to use Wait really? I know, you might be thinking “That looks like a really long piece of fabric. What in the world am I supposed to do with that?” Well you’d be surprised! Once you get the hang of it, putting on a baby wrap is quick and easy. Pro tip: get your wrap before baby arrives and practice wrapping it around you before you have baby. That way, you’ll be comfortable with it and ready to go before they arrive. We’ve got a nice demo video for you here as well as some quick tips for comfort.