Toronto?s Allie Dennis requested a stretchy wrap and a buckle carrier when she was creating her baby registry. But once her son was born, she found she was too nervous to actually try babywearing. ?I didn?t know anything about how to use a carrier properly,? she says.
When her son was two months old, she joined a mom group where volunteer babywearing educators demonstrated how to easily use a variety of carriers. As soon as she wrapped her newborn against her chest, she was hooked?so much so that shortly after, she trained to become a babywearing consultant herself, and opened the Little Zen One, an online shop for carriers and accessories.
According to a study in the journal Pediatrics, carrying your baby throughout the day can reduce crying by up to 51 percent. Using a baby carrier also allows you to hold your baby while you do other activities, like prepare dinner, tidy the house, care for other children or even just eat lunch. Many parents with babies who struggle to sleep in their cribs find babywearing especially helpful at naptime, as it allows them to hold their babies for naps without being stuck in bed. Babywearing is also a wonderful way to bond with baby, especially for parents who aren?t breastfeeding. And it was a game-changer during the cold Canadian winter, when Dennis couldn?t get her stroller down her apartment stairs or push it through the snow.
Tanya Barrett, a paediatric physiotherapist in Toronto, says babywearing is incredible for your little one?s de...