Why Every Parent Should Wear Their Babies
I'll admit it's a passion of mine, but it's also a primal instinct for humans - primitive as well as modern, civilized humans - to wear their young. The benefits are astounding, and I speak from personal experience. To list just a few of the 'official' perks of baby-wearing, you get calmer babies who cry much less and are less prone to colic or gas; they are better socialized because they are eye-to-eye with society and therefore also have better language development because they are better able to hear and see adults; and of course, parents get to bond with and know their child so well the child's needs are met instantly and less stress is experienced by everyone.
My Personal Experience
I did not find it as easy to do in the early months, but at 8 weeks my son and i found our groove. Because my arms got so tired from holding him while standing up, I insisted on mastering the wearing of him in a sling that was given to me. Artan nursed every hour for the first year, so i loved having the option to just nurse him while i did whatever it was i was doing - so not feeling interrupted, I was a happier mommy; not having to wait for boob, he was a happier baby. We used a sling for at least two and a half years, but used it less frequently as he was getting older, when he wanted to walk instead. I never once took my son's car seat out of the car - with the exception of the first and only time, which was just ridiculously cumbersome for me but i tried it because he was sleeping when we got to a restaurant. After that I just picked him up, sleeping or not, and put him into the sling, where he continued to sleep anyway. I also didn't need to keep a baby swing / electric or bouncy rocker in my space either. I never felt like it was cramping my style because my style is that of the busy hands, busy feet, eye-to-eye, heart-to-heart, relationship-oriented loving living type.
What Kind of Sling Works Best
I loved my padded ring sling for the first year because they have great control, are comfortable for the early months when nursing comfort is absolutely critical - especially with outings. If you find these awkward at first, there is a hump you have to get over and then these work blissfully - especially for constant-nursers!
For older babies, however, the one-piece / native / baby star/ band-style is my preference. These are great if you just need support with shorter wearings and want to have a tidier sling in tow (ie they fit better in your purse).
The really-long-piece of fabric style, which can wrap any which way, is great for going to a wedding; a really gorgeous wrap (i have made custom wraps for custom outfits) is especially handy for extra privacy in crowds where my child is not supposed to be the center of attention! ;)
They Usually Fall Asleep But They Could Also Be Super Heroes
If I could, I would coach every mother in my community for free on how to achieve easier baby-wearing. I will endeavor to use my feral goddess youtube page to post a few tutorials and demonstrations. Why is it important - aside from the fact that all babies tend to fall asleep in the sling - to wear your baby? Because it's imperative for humans to remain primal, to continue nurturing the mammalian brain and not neglecting deeply critical emotional energy within the limbic system, so that we can instead embrace yet another excellent opportunity to heal the evolving human race from the attempted denigration of the family bond by plastic corporate greed. We can recover our society from the surrogate comforts, which always lead to maladjusted personalities, neuroses, health problems, etc. Instead we can inspire authenticity in the people we co-create. They can be emotionally secure and therefore have none of the hang-ups we've 'discovered' in the most recent generations.
"...Modern science (as a front for greedy energy-control corporations financed by Illuminati banking interests) still has nearly everyone fooled." (David Wolfe / Nick Good, Amazing Grace 2008)
We can create super-heroes out of our children by meeting their physical and emotional needs in those early years especially. Do the research - children who are not breast-fed are much more likely to become criminals, for example. So how much greater can we make babies, if we not only meet their nutritional needs but also their higher-brain functioning (such as socialization, as i mentioned in the first section), simply by wearing them on our bodies?
Well, I have to admit, I am living with a 4-year-old super hero now and I am in humble gratitude that my instincts led me to this time-honored, primal practice. Baby-wearing - JUST DO IT!
<3 Blessings in Ecstatic Living
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