Wearing a child: the art and science of carrying your child

"As long as I carry the child on my own, he is happy" - do not stop repeating the mother of capricious children in our practice. Having heard how parents praise the convenience of carrying their children in a bag, we decided to find out if this parental approach, so successful in other cultures, could become a part of our own parental life. Here is the story of carrying a child in a bag - how it has changed the lives of parents and children that we are watching, and how it can change yours.

Parents carry their children in many other cultures;in our culture, children are wheeled, and then parked somewhere. Child development specialists traveling

around the world and studying practiced approaches to caring for a child have repeatedly noted that children who are worn in a variety of garment-like dressings or breast bags look more content than children who are kept in bed, playpen, stroller and plastic seats. One of our patients recently returned from the island of Bali, where she attended the ceremony of touching the ground. Balinese children wear themselves during the first six months of life. A mother or other member of a large family carries the child all day long, and the child is laid next to her mother to sleep. The child literally does not touch the ground until the age of six months, when there is a ceremony of touching the ground and when the child is first laid on the ground so that he can crawl and move freely.

We studied research on approaches to childcare during the

Attitude for carrying a child

In case you are wondering how much time parents should wear their child, we will answer that parents, of course, are forced to sometimes take off their children and putits somewhere! In fact, it is important to come to a balanced approach to wearing a baby. But this type of parental care means that one should change their attitudes about what exactly children really are. You can imagine your child as in a photograph, lying quietly in the crib, passively staring at the flashing carousel, which they take in their hands, only to feed and play with it, and then put it back into place;you may think that these periods are "on hand" - just the compulsory intervals for calming the child until it can be put back again. To understand the constant carrying of a child, turn this point of view: carry the child on yourself most of the time and put him or her only during the

for many years and found universal agreement that the children behave and develop better if they wear a lot. A few years ago, at an international parental conference, we asked two women from Zambia who wore their children in bandages that make up one ensemble with their national costume. We asked them why women in their country most of the time wear their children. One woman replied: "These are the longest periods of day or night sleep, and also to give time to their own needs.

Develop a balanced approach to wearing a baby. Allow the child to enjoy periods of stay on the carpet when he can move freely, but immediately take it in his arms as soon as he signs it that he wants you to take it again. You will notice an interesting change in behavior: "recumbent" children usually cry to be picked up;children, constantly staying in their hands, learn to cry without crying with the body language that they want to be laid. The time spent on the hands is gradually reduced in a natural way, as your child grows older and develops motor skills. However, even a two-year-old child may sometimes have periods when he needs increased attention and wants to be picked up and carried.

makes life easier for mothers. "And the second one added: "It's good for the child."These women for a long time expressed feelings of "unity", "fullness" and "importance", which gives them the carrying of a child. Women in their country do not have books and studies of maternal hormones. All that they have is centuries of tradition, which taught them that something good is happening for women and their children when they wear children.

Are these two simple desires of

any parent in any country: make life easier for yourself and do as best for your child? Wearing a baby in a bag satisfies both these desires.

Inspired by these observations, in 1985 we began our own personal study of the positive effects that the wearing of a child on children and parents exerts. From that moment we covered many kilometers with our own children in a bag and, experimenting with different options, conducted accurate records. We recommended and recommend that parents take as many children as possible from the very beginning, and try different baby bags to choose the one that is most comfortable for them and for their child.

To mothers we now say: "Try to get used to the child in a sling bag, like it's your favorite clothes."At the first scheduled examination of the child, usually at the age of one week, we show the young parents how to carry the child. In the course of a personal childcare course, we recommend that parents experiment with different positions to find the one that will be most comfortable and allow the child to lie close to the body of the parent;we advise them to change the provisions in accordance with the development of the child.

Now, to show you how this practice can facilitate your parental life and contribute to the development of your child, we offer you the results of our studies and a personal course on wearing a baby.