In winter, you can protect your baby from the sharp bite of the frosty air by babywearing. Keeping your baby close to your chest allows you to share body heat. Just remember to keep the rest of your baby covered.

Use a Wrap Carrier

For younger babies, this is the ideal season to use a wrap baby carrier. Baby wrap carriers don’t leave as much room for air flow, which is a good thing in the wintertime.

Cover Those Baby Legs

If you use a baby carrier that leaves legs free, be sure to cover your child’s legs to keep them warm. Pants can ride up and leave bare skin. Baby spats and baby legs will protect little legs.

Wear a Baby Carrier Cover

Rather than covering each spot the wind and snow try to sneak in, you can wear a cover over you both. Peekaru’s fabulous vest covers every little hollow between you to keep the cold out. This vest fits over you and your baby together. If you only want to cover the baby and the carrier, Catbird Baby makes a baby carrier cover that works with most styles of baby carriers.

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Newborn babies need a little help maintain their body temperatures in any season. Winter can mean cold winds and warm houses that leave it difficult for a baby to adjust. Be aware of your baby’s needs to help maintain a consistent body temperature.

Normal body temperature for a newborn baby is 97.5-99.ºF (36.5-37.ºC), about the same as your normal body temperature. Babies, though do not yet have the ability adults do to regulate their body temperature. They don’t have the insulation through layers of fat, and their large body surface area in relation to low body weight means more heat loss. You don’t need to pull out the thermometer every hour, though. Just feel the back of your baby’s neck for a quick temperature check.

We give babies a little extra help through clothing and coverings, adjusting room temperature, and keeping them close to us.

Around the House

All newborn babies need some help maintaining the right body temperature, but, if your baby had low birth weight, was born early, or is sick, take special care to monitor body temperature and keep your baby warm.

You are your baby’s best warmer. You can warm your baby through skin-to-skin contact, also called kangaroo care. Put your naked or diapered baby against your bare chest, then cover you both with a blanket. This is perfect for breastfeed. Even without kangaroo care, breastfeeding gives your baby warm milk and warm skin. Babywearing, whether just around the house or when you go out, also keeps you and your baby close.

Clothing. Choose clothing that allows the baby’s skin to breathe, using one more layer than you need. If you are in a T-shirt, add a light jacket or a footed suit in addition to a T-shirt. If you are wearing a sweater, you baby will need at least a sweater, too. Do not, however, layer your baby in too much clothing, causing overheating. If you are wearing your baby, count the wrap or sling as a layer. Don’t forget cold legs when pants ride up in the baby carrier. Baby legs or handknit socks will help.

Hat. Especially during the winter, your newborn will probably need to wear a hat, since babies lose heat through the head. Have lightweight cotton hats for indoors and a warmer, woolen hat for trips out.

Bath Time

Make sure the air and water temperature are comfortably warm without being hot. After the bath, dry the baby immediately. If the room temperature in your house is cool in the winter, you might want to opt for warm sponge baths for your baby. The most important step in keeping a newborn warm during bath time is drying off quickly to avoid heat lose through evaporation.

Nighttime

Your baby doesn’t need a blanket, not in the traditional sense of a large rectangular covering. Babies obviously can’t adjust their covers, so a blanket not only doesn’t stay put but could become a hazard. Your baby is better off wearing the blanket in the form of a worn sleeping bag for newborns or a footed sleeper suit as babies get older. Wool is perfect, since it breathes naturally and helps sleepers regulate their body temperature.

If your baby takes well to swaddling, this will also help maintain body temperature. Not all babies like being wrapped up so snuggly, but do try swaddling.

Going Out

Keeping your baby just the right temperature when it’s biting cold outside is tricky. Have a great insulted suit with legs, if you are going in the car. Although you baby will stay warmer with legs together and those newborn legs naturally want to curl up, you need legs separated for a car seat. If you are on foot and wearing your baby, a vest that covers you, your baby, and the baby carrier, like our Peekaru fleece vest, lets you keep your baby warm with your own body heat.

Be careful not to overheat your baby outside, though. Avoid direct sunlight, especially in the car, and don’t leave an insulated suit on for long drives in the car. Choose light layers of clothing that are easy to remove one by one as you move through your day and the temperature changes.

You are the perfect temperature to keep your baby warm but not too warm. Keep your newborn baby close this winter.

Resources

• Dr Tamara Keith, “Keeping Babies Warm,” July 5, 2012.
• World Health Organization (WHO), Thermal Protection of a Newborn, 1997.

Image © Kati Molin | Dreamstime.com

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Windows are open. I notice the occasional warm breeze. It’s time to ask whether you have the right carrier to take advantage of this beautiful weather with your baby or toddler. Do you have your summer baby carrier?

As you are out and about this summer, how active will you be and for how long?

Mei Tai Baby Carriers

If you will just be walking around town or going to the park, a soft mei tai baby carrier gives you a good balance between comfort and support for both you and your baby.

The FreeHand Mei Tai Baby Carrier is soft like traditional Asian baby carriers.

The BabyHawk Mei Tai Carrier has thicker, padded shoulder straps.

Both of these mei tai carriers get great reviews from our customers.

Soft Pack Buckle Carriers

If you will be hiking and spending a lot of time wearing your baby, a soft-pack buckle baby carrier will give both of you more support.

The Ergo Baby Carrier is our most popular baby carrier—lightweight an very comfortable.

The Boba Baby Carrier takes the traditional mei tai shape and adds zippered pouches, straps, and buckles to make this adaptable for long periods out.

Ergo always gets great reviews, but none of our customers has reviewed the Boba yet. Be the first!

A comfortable baby carrier that fits your lifestyle makes an active summer with your baby so much easier.

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You don’t need a lot of stuff to wear your baby. One baby carrier will cover most situations if you choose carefully. Around the world, women wear their babies multi-purpose lengths of fabric or scarves. Babywearing without stuff is not so difficult.

Most of us will probably opt for a commercial carrier for ease or safety, but don’t assume that is your only choice. If you use a length of fabric for your carrier, just be sure that you know how to keep your baby and yourself safe.

Limit the Number of Baby Carriers You Buy

Make sure your carrier or carriers match your actual lifestyle not the one you dream about. I was not a baby hiker, so a sporty Ergo would not have helped me. I did buy that style of carrier, and I didn’t use it. If you aren’t sure yet how you and your baby will travel around and what you will do, get a simple, newborn-friendly carrier to start. Wraps and slings are simple to start. If they keep working for you, you won’t need to add another carrier.

Buy a Neutral-color Baby Carrier

When you are wearing your baby, the carrier becomes part of your wardrobe. If you buy a more neutral color or design, you might not feel so tempted to get one for every outfit.

I owned several slings. Buying for my first child, I was stuck on the tail-end of the era of “all baby products are meant to make the parent look like a baby.” My first sling was an Over the Shoulder Baby Holder in light blue check with huge padded rails. I really came to hate that sling. As soon as I found my black Maya Wrap, I was set for life—then I bought half a dozen more Maya Wraps in various colors. I didn’t need them, though. Black served me well. It matched my wardrobe (as well as my graduation robes!). The revelation to me was that someone realized the parent doesn’t have to wear pastels just because she is carrying a baby. Hallelujah!

Choose a color or style that won’t deter you or your spouse or other caregivers from wearing your baby.

Don’t Get Accessories, Unless You Absolutely Need Them

If you aren’t going out in the sun, you won’t need an ozone cover up. If you are going to be spending a lot of time outside, you’ll probably be glad you invested in the cover up. If you already have plenty of blankets, why invest in a blanket that is only used for your baby carrier? You won’t need most extras, so don’t pre-buy accessories.

Use your simple baby carrier, and ask yourself what is working and what isn’t. Talk face to face with someone who has experience, and show them what you need. If you are near us in Orillia, Ontario, come by our store. We love to help parents solve bearwearing issues. Even if you don’t have someone close enough to help you face to face, call us and we will make sure you get the help you need in finding a carrier (and, sometimes, carriers and accessories) to fit your lifestyle.

Image © Andrey Burkov | Dreamstime.com

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Holidays are a stimulating, even over-stimulating, time for a baby. Especially if this is your baby’s first holiday season, there is likely to be a lot more going on than usual. Between parties and family, shopping and looking at lights, and other situations full of crowds of strangers, your baby may need a break. Here are a few tips to avoid an over-stimulated baby.

1. Keep Up the Routine
As much as you can, keep the same general structure that your baby is accustomed to. Don’t skip feeding and sleeping times.

2. Carry Familiar Items
If your child has a toy animal or doll that seems to spread calm, bring it. The more unfamiliar the surroundings, the more comforting familiar items and faces will be.

3. Explain What Is Happening
If your child is beginning to talk, the content of what you say might actually be helpful. For a baby who doesn’t yet understand your words, just the periodic sound of your voice will be reassuring.

4. Take Breaks
Before your baby gets anxious, take a break. Sing, talk, sway, or do whatever your baby finds soothing. If you will be in a noisy environment—a New Year’s Eve celebration, for example—build a relatively quiet break time into your plans.

5. Follow Your Baby’s Cues
Follow your baby’s lead. When your child starts pushing and getting restless, it’s time for a break. If you wait, you risk a meltdown, which could be far more uncomfortable for all involved. Just excuse yourself briefly for some rest time, to breastfeed, or just to go into a quiet place and talk face to face.

6. Wear Your Baby
When you wear your baby facing you, it is easy for you to face out talking while the baby turns in when she wants to. She isn’t stuck facing the unfamiliar with no way to make it stop. If she can nuzzle in your neck, she has a positive choice to make when facing out it too much.

Friends meeting your baby for the first time will want to hold and talk, but that during that phase at about 4 to 24 months old, most babies will not want to be passed around. Let this first introduction be at a distance if that is what your baby needs.

Give your child the best chance to be at his best when he meets friends and family for the first time. He won’t care about making an impression, but a lot of eager people really do have a genuine desire to get to know him. Help them both by bridging their expectations and being your baby’s refuge when holiday parties get to be just too much.

Image © Vanessa Van Rensburg | Dreamstime.com

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The Mei Tai baby carrier is comfort and fashion all in one. Mei Tai is pronounced “may tie” and is also referred to as an Asian baby carrier. Unlike baby wraps and baby slings, a Mei Tai adds padded shoulder straps and waist straps to a small, square body to give the Mei Tai unlimited options for babywearing positions. Because the adjustability is in the long straps, a Mei Tai is a one-size-fits-most baby carrier, easily shared between Mom, Dad and other caregivers.

We LOVE this baby carrier in particular for its versatility in the extremely varied weather of Canada. It can easily be adapted to use over light clothing in the summer time, or over a big, bulky coat when you need to keep warm during a blustery winter day.

Mei Tai Baby Carrier is comfortable and versatile like no other baby carrier. You have complete control in the positioning of the baby within the carrier, based on how you tie the straps. Baby likes to be tucked in and hidden? No problem! Your toddler wants to be propped up to see the world? A re-tie here and there, and you’re set! Baby’s arms are out and he can watch as Mom goes about her day. This adaptability means it is easy to get a comfortable fit on any wearer.

This soft, strappy baby carrier is easy to use, comfortable for you, fun for baby, and stylish. What more could you ask for in a baby carrier?

This post is part of a series in which we give an overview of baby carrier styles, comparing the specific baby carriers available within each style. Despite the variety of baby carriers on the market today, nearly all fall into one of four basic styles.

• Baby Wraps
• Baby Slings (includes pouch slings and ring slings)
• Mei Tai Baby Carriers
• Soft Pack Baby Carriers

Mei Tai Baby Carriers

Advantages

• our favorite for back carrying a young baby (less than one year), especially when there is a second child to attend to
• weight is evenly distributed over both shoulders and hips
• very supportive
• very versatile, offering unlimited number of carrying positions
• can be used front and back with a newborn to 30+ lbs (3 years or more)
• big variety of beautiful fabrics available
• higher resale value

Disadvantages

• not as heavily padded as most structured carrier (but this can be an advantage for a parent that wants less bulk!)
• straps are long and can drag on ground when tying (difficult in the rain or slushy weather)

Mei Tai Baby Carriers Compared

FreeHand Mei Tai Baby Carriers, also comes in Embroidered style
Style: Mei Tai Baby Carrier (Asian Inspired Baby Carrier).
Age: Suitable for newborn to toddler.
Carrying Positions: Front, Hip/Side, Back (all positions, infant to toddler)
Fabric: 100% cotton straps/structure. Printed fabric will vary.
Origin: Made in USA

Kozy Mei Tai Baby Carriers
Style: Mei Tai Baby Carrier (Asian Inspired Baby Carrier).
Age: Suitable for newborn to toddler.
Carrying Positions: Front, Hip/Side, Back (all positions, infant to toddler)
Fabric: 100% cotton canvas straps/structure.
Origin: Designed & created by work-at-home moms in the USA.

BabyHawk Mei Tai Baby Carriers
Style: Mei Tai Baby Carrier (Asian Inspired Baby Carrier).
Age: Suitable for newborn to 35+ lbs.
Carrying Positions: Front, Hip/Side, Back (all positions, infant to toddler)
Fabric: 100% cotton straps/structure. Printed fabric will vary. Reverses to solid (except camo).
Origin: Made in USA

Pikkolo Baby Carriers
Style: Hybrid Mei Tai & Soft Structured Carrier (A Mei Tai with Buckles!)
Age: Newborn to 40 lbs.
Carrying Positions: Forward Facing In or OUT, Hip & Back Carrying
Fabric: All cotton (exclusive of trim)

Interested in other Asian-inspired baby carriers? Wondering about pods and onbus? See our post comparing Podaegi and Onbuhimo with the mei tai.

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Take a wrap baby carrier and sew it together (pouch sling) or add rings to enable easy adjustability (ring slings), and you have our next category of baby carriers: baby slings. A baby sling is as uncomplicated as any baby carrier gets.

Baby Slings are compact, sleek, and easy to use. Their simple design makes them one of the most popular baby carriers available. We firmly believe that NO new mother should be without a simple baby sling for an easier adjustment to life with baby. You will be an expert at babywearing in minutes.

Using a baby sling or pouch couldn’t be easier. Just put it on and take it off like a shoulder purse. The baby pops in and out quickly, making a sling the perfect choice for a little one who wants up and down (and up again!) all day long.

Slings are a favorite baby carrier for carrying a newborn and for nursing hands-free. When paired with a soft-pack baby carrier, you’ll have the perfect baby wearing combination from birth to toddlerhood.

This post is part of a series in which we give an overview of baby carrier styles, comparing the specific baby carriers available within each style. Despite the variety of baby carriers on the market today, nearly all fall into one of four basic styles.

• Baby Wraps
• Baby Slings (includes pouch slings and ring slings)
• Mei Tai Baby Carriers
• Soft Pack Baby Carriers

Ring Slings

A ring sling takes the simple wraparound cloth baby carrier a step further. Rather than tying the fabric and using knots to secure it, attach two large rings and you have yourself a ring sling.

When the length of fabric is threaded through the rings, a pouch is formed where your baby will sit. You can adjust the size and shape of the sling through the rings. Baby can be worn snuggled in, laying down, facing out in front like a kangaroo, on the hip, or on the back looking over your shoulder.

Sometimes padding is sewn into the sides (“rails”) or shoulder of the sling, and a tail is left from the fabric that has been pulled through the rings. Some ring slings include a pocket in the tail to carry your extras while out and about.

Pouches

A pouch is a tube-style baby carrier, generally one long circle of fabric sewn with a curved seam to provide a pouch for your baby to sit in. There are no rings for adjustment, so usually a pouch sling is sized to fit the individual who will be wearing it. This is perfect for a baby who wants to sit on your hip.

Innovations to the basic pouch sling design have included zippers or snaps to make them adjustable, and a hybrid pouch—a pouch sewn into a ring sling for both comfort and adjustability.

Advantages

• short learning curve
• very compact, so it will fit into a purse or diaper bag easily
• most loved for the newborn stage – easy transition from snug environment of womb to compact sling
• easy to move baby in and out of carrier
• easiest for hands-free nursing
• pouch has no extra tail fabric to figure out
• tail of ring sling can be used for a nursing cover up

Disadvantages

• Sizing is important in a pouch sling for the most comfort. Ring slings make this easier, but some parents find the rings more difficult to adjust.
• only one-shouldered support, so a sling is less comfortable for extended wearing or for heavier babies and toddlers
• a pouch is less versatile for carrying in different positions

Sling Baby Carriers Compared

Upmama Hybrid Baby Slings
Style: Adjustable Unpadded Ring Sling Hybrid (ring sling/pouch)
Age: Newborn to toddler (35 lbs)
Carrying Positions: Cradle, Kangaroo, Tummy to Tummy, Hip/Side, Back (toddler only)
Fabric: Cotton Sateen (97% cotton, 3% spandex)
Origin: Made in Canada

Maya Wrap Baby Ring Slings
Style: Adjustable Lightly Padded Ring Sling (padded in shoulder only).
Age: Newborn to 35 lbs.
Carrying Positions: Cradle, Kangaroo, Tummy to Tummy, Hip/Side, Back (toddler only)
Fabric: 100% hand-woven cotton
Origin: Hand-loomed using fair trade labor in Guatemala

Sakura Bloom Baby Ring Slings
Style: Adjustable Unpadded Ring Sling
Age: Newborn to toddler (35 lbs)
Carrying Positions: Cradle, Kangaroo, Tummy to Tummy, Hip/Side, Back (toddler only)
Fabric: 100% Irish linen
Origin: Made in USA

Hotslings Adjustable Pouch Baby Slings
Style: Adjustable Pouch Sling (one-size)
Age: Suitable for newborn to 30lbs+
Carrying Positions: Cradle, kangaroo, front facing in & out, hip carrying
Fabric: 97% Cotton Sateen, 3% Spandex
Origin: Made in USA

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For a baby who can’t yet walk or talk, this Halloween is likely the first she will remember of familiar people putting on costumes and making scary faces. To make this a fun holiday for baby, be sure to give her an easy escape. If you are babywearing, a hip carry can give her choice.

Baby Halloween Costumes

Baby Halloween costumes are for us more than for our babies. We can’t resist how adorable they are, of course. Very young babies don’t care, though, so don’t convince yourself that Halloween is important to your baby. Dress up and costumes are for you and for your older children.

Yes! Dress up the baby. Just know that it’s for your benefit.

A Lot of Stimulation

You know your baby. Does he love excitement? Will flashing lights, glow sticks, and wailing ghosts be fun for him? Or, does he startle easily with load noises and surprises? Even a party baby might find his limit on Halloween.

Make sure your baby has a way to choose to participate or not.

Babywearing Hip Carry

If you wear your baby at a Halloween party or as you walk through your neighborhood with older children, having your baby on your hip will allow her to see what you are seeing if she turns one way or let her tuck into you and hide when it is all too much.

A forward-facing kangaroo carry doesn’t give the baby the choice to look on or look away. It’s all stimulation all the time, which could be great for a baby who loves action. A back carry doesn’t let her see everything at the young child height where a lot of interesting things happen, so an active baby might be straining to see more from over your shoulder.

Hip carry leaves the choice to participate in Halloween up to your baby.

NOTE: Only use the babywearing hip carry once your baby can sit well. Newborns or babies who are just gaining head control will need more support.

Image © Olga Bogatyrenko | Dreamstime.com

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Inconsolable baby. Frazzled parent. Colic can be an overwhelming time for families. There are not only remedies for colic but ways of lessening the crying associated with colic through babywearing.

If I hadn’t witnessed colic in a friend’s baby and seen the devastating effect it had on her family, I wouldn’t begin to understand. I would just think that colic meant crying, but it goes far beyond that.

Colic occurs in about 25% of infants. “Colic” is the blanket term that describes the symptoms more than the causes, which are not always clear. From a few weeks old to 3-4 months old, some babies cry because they are in pain. They cry themselves into another world where they aren’t aware of their immediate surroundings. They are in pain, most often assumed to be digestive pain. This may be caused by food allergies or sensitivities, by reflux, or by other health issues. Colicky babies are in distress. Their cries are piercing and incredibly difficult for parents to handle day after day.

Colic Remedies

For more than a century, it has been common to give infants gripe water, a home remedy for colic that included alcohol, bicarbonate, and herbs that soothe digestion.

Motion and pressure can help—either the motion of bouncing, motion that gently manipulates the area of the pain, or gentle downward pressure of being carrying with weight on the belly—but carrying or physical soothing that starts after the crying has begun does not necessarily help. Babies are often unresponsive to these efforts.

Parents should definitely track what the baby or mother eats, note any changes, and cut out anything that they associate with periods of crying. There are other steps that can reduce crying. Rather than dealing with the symptoms once a baby is in pain, parents can take steps to prevent some amount of the pain their baby is feeling.

Research on Babywearing and Colic

Research has shown that babies who are carried more throughout the day cry 54% less during the evening hours when colic tends to peak. “The relative lack of carrying in our society,” wrote study authors, Drs Hunziker and Barr, “may predispose to crying and colic in normal infants.” They looked not only at carrying in response to a baby’s crying but to “supplemental carrying” during the day. Carrying during the day even when the baby was not crying reduced overall crying by 43%.

Although constant carrying is unlikely to become the typical infant care-taking practice in our society, we hypothesized that the “normal” crying pattern might be changed by supplemental carrying, that is, increased carrying throughout the day in addition to that which occurs during feeding. If so, such carrying might have anticipator.- soothing effectiveness in normal infants and therapeutic or preventative value in relation to infant “colic.” Urs A. Hunziker, MD, and Ronald G. Barr, MDCM, FRCP(C), Pediatrics (1986).

I think of babywearing as the lazy colic remedy because it takes so little effort to carry a baby more during the day to reduce their distress, or reduce the amount of time most babies are in distress, in the evening when most crying occurs.

Babywearing Benefits

In addition to other benefits of babywearing, the closeness of baby and parent can be soothing for babies before they get to the point that they can’t be calmed. Babywearing allows a baby to be comforted by people rather than by things. Babywearing is less about the baby carrier and more about the relationship that this tool enables. With the help of a baby carrier, your arms are your baby’s safe haven away from the stimulation of the world.

Your baby feels secure and calm near you, physical closeness helps a baby regulate her systems, and this closeness helps lessen the symptoms of colic.

References

Hunziker UA, Barr RG. Increased carrying reduces infant crying: A randomized controlled trial. Pediatrics 77:641-648 (1986).

Barr RG, McMullan SJ, Spiess H, Leduc DG, Yaremko J, Barfield R, Francoeur TE, Hunziker UA. Carrying as colic “therapy”: a randomized controlled trial. Pediatrics 87(5):623-30 (May 1991).

Image © Vladimir Mucibabic | Dreamstime.com

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Kangaroo care of infants involves a parent, usually the mother, holding the baby skin-to-skin on her bare chest. The steady warmth, easy access to breastfeeding, and simple, physical closeness benefit parent and baby.

All babies benefit from closeness to a parent, and premature babies need the most help.

Kangaroo Care Helps Baby Regulate Systems

Among the most important measurable changes for a baby during kangaroo care are regulation of body temperature, oxygen saturation levels, and respiratory and heart rates. As Dr Sears writes, babies spend a period of time after birth “getting organized.” One aspect of a baby’s organizing is the synchronization of heart rate and breathing, also referred to as “coupling,” and it can take as little as ten minutes in kangaroo care.

Because this closeness to parent is helping the baby regulate systems, there is more energy to be spent on successful breastfeeding, restful sleep, and growth.

As kangaroo care has become a common practice in hospitals, it has developed its rules and guidelines: baby wears only a diaper, baby is placed upright on the mother’s bare chest, baby is covered with a receiving blanket and held snugly to the mother. As I read the guidelines in several places, I wondered whether there was a place in this procedure for a mother’s instinct. I hope that these procedures aren’t meant to engineer away the need for a mother’s love and connection. Whether a parent follows these guidelines or not, their baby will thrive on sking-to-skin closeness.

Baby Saved by a Mother’s Love

A story that was in the news last August has astonished many. When an Australian mother was told that one of her two babies, born prematurely at 27 weeks, had not survived, she instinctively took the time to hold him, to tell him his name and what she would have liked to have done with him during his life. She undressed the baby and held him on her chest for two hours. Doctors told her that his periodic gasps were just a reflex, but she fed him breastmilk on her finger and he breathed. Though he weighed only 2lbs and doctors had declared him dead after working to save his life for 20 minutes, he lived. His mother’s warmth, touch, loving voice, and nutrition saved him. The story was published after she appeared on an Australian television show, carrying her five-month old son to interviews to help people understand the importance of kangaroo care.

That this baby was saved by his mother’s love may seem like a sentimental interpretation of the story, but the extensive research on kangaroo care bears this out. The benefits of skin-to-skin contact with babies are physical, but they are also far beyond the physical.

Babies Thrive on Kangaroo Care

Marsupial care, the idea of nine months in and nine months out, is not at all new. In last week’s post on babywearing around the world, I mentioned research by a British prehistorian who found that a mother’s marsupial care of babies—babywearing—was essential to human evolution.

In one tiny baby we can see the benefit of putting energy toward growth rather than the effort to regulate systems. The mother isn’t just an added bonus in this situation. The continued physical contact between mother and baby is essential to the individual baby. In the case of the baby in Australia, his mother’s closeness saved his life. Maybe this is true more than we realize. If this is true person by person, it makes sense that such care scaled up to a species level helped to focus development. More babies survived. More babies put their energy into growth, and everyone who followed them benefitted.

Babies thrive in kangaroo care. Kangaroo care isn’t a nice addition or a recent phenomenon but a necessity for all babies to reach their full physical and emotional potential.

Resources

Baby Carrier Industry Alliance, “Position Paper on Babywearing and Kangaroo Care,” October 2010.

“Kangaroo Care,” Cleveland Clinic, 1995 (reviewed January 15, 2009).

Holly Richardson, “Kangaroo Care: Why Does It Work?” Midwifery Today, volume 44, Winter 1997.

Image © Kati Molin | Dreamstime.com

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