Infants need to adapt to the outside world as well as being outside of the womb. A baby carrier, like Baby Bjorn carriers can simulate the womb experience as well as provide much needed comfort for the newborn, allowing your baby's energy to be focused on early growth. While supported in a baby carrier your child can hear your heartbeat, and feel the rhythm of your walking and breathing, much how they felt it while in the womb. As a result this encourages positive growth.
Baby carriers and slings can also reduce the risk of premature infant mortality, a fact that was discovered by accident. A shortage of incubators in a hospital in South America forced medical practitioners to wrap premature infants to their mothers in order to provide them with the warmth and stability that would normally come from the incubators. In doing so it was discovered that the premature babies who were strapped to their mothers using baby slings thrived as well and sometimes even better than those in the incubators. This is a testament to the effectiveness of not only baby carriers, but attachment parenting in general.
Another added benefit of baby carriers is that they help soothe crying and colic. According to extensive research, when babies are worn in infant carriers for at least 3 hours a day, they tend to cry 43% less during the day and 51% less at night. This significant reduction in the amount of time spent crying results in a happier, more balanced baby with milder temperament.
The benefits of baby wearing are not only for the infants. One of the obvious benefits of carrying your child in infant sling is that it allows your hands to be free to be able to perform your daily tasks. Baby slings offer a more convenient way to carry your infant, especially in places where a stroller would often be difficult to navigate, such as large crowds or up and down the stairs. Using baby carriers has also been linked to reducing the instance of post partum depression in women, as the act of wearing your newborn simulates the womb effect for both baby and mom.
Basically, a baby carrier or sling should be on every mother's necessity list for the new baby.
