While I don't consider myself an attachment parent I do see some benefit's to certain aspects of attachment parenting. For example when Abigail was only a couple days old and we came home from the hospital she would only sleep an hour or two at a time in her crib, so naturally I brought her into our bed for a couple of weeks to co sleep so that when she woke up at night she would not cry and get worked up but I would simply feel her stirring and feed her before she ever made a peep. We stopped co sleeping by the time she was 4 weeks old because we wanted to start working on getting her to sleep through the night, in her own crib and she did by six weeks, to accomplish this we let her cry it out...definitely not a method used by most attachment parents.
Likewise I have chosen to wear Aby in a sling since she was very only days old. You may remember seeing this photo of me and Aby when she was only a few weeks old.
I enjoy the sling, Abigail has always loved being in it. While I believe that these two things alone are enough to continue use of the sling and other carriers others are still critical and I feel that I am constantly having to explain this decision to wear Abigail. So here it is, a list of all of the benefits (in addition to the fact the Aby and I like it) of baby wearing.
Dr. Sears lists these things as the benefits of babywearing:
Mothers' progesterone (mothering hormone) is increased through physical contact with the infant, leading to a more intimate maternal bond, easier breastfeeding and better care, thus lowering the incidence of postpartum depression and psychosomatic illness.
Infants who are carried are calmer because all of their primal/survival needs are met. The caregiver can be seen, heard, smelled, touched, tasted, provide feeding and the motion necessary for continuing neural development, gastrointestinal and respiratory health and to establish balance (inner ear development) and muscle tone is constant.
Infants are more organized. Parental rhythms (walking, heartbeat, etc.) have balancing and soothing effects on infants.
Infants are "humanized" earlier by developing socially. Babies are closer to people and can study facial expressions, learn languages faster and be familiar with body language.
Independence is established earlier.
Attachment between child and caregiver is more secure.
Decreases risk of positional plagiocephaly ("flat head syndrome") caused by extended time spent in a car seat and by sleeping on the back. Sleeping on the back is recommended to decrease the risk of SIDS. Cranial distortion resulting from non-vehicular time in car seats has shown to be more severe than in children who develop plagiocephaly from back-lying on a mattress.
Concern over plagiocephaly has also led the American Academy of Pediatrics to recommend that infants “should spend minimal time in car seats (when not a passenger in a vehicle) or other seating that maintains supine positioning.
None of the babywearing positions require infants to lie supine while being carried. Infants can even be worn while they sleep, also decreasing sleeping time spent in a supine position.
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Like I said regardless of all of these other benefits, I like it, Abigail likes it and I will continue to wear her until...she exceeds the weight limits on my carriers.
This blog comes after some ridicule I received about my newest carrier. It allows me to change Aby's positions so that she can look around where as the sling covers her face. I love it, and I will be using it for a long time regardless of the way it looks to others or jokes that others may make about it. I don't have a picture of Abigail in our K'tan carrier but here are some of the ways that you can use it...
I don't usually blog about my frustrations, and feel free to disregard this entire post but seriously I'm tired if defending my choices as a mom and I won't explain it again.
