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Hey hey, welcome to the better postpartum podcast. I’m your host Angel Swan, crunchy Christian mama to one and postpartum doula to many. I help moms care for their bodies, minds and newborns naturally during the first three months after birth. If you’re looking for pro tips on how to nurture your body naturally after childbirth, take care of your newborn baby using crunchy mama methods and help your whole family thrive during the fourth trimester, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve got a lot to cover. So let’s dive in. I’ll see you inside the episode. Hey there, today we are going to be talking about babywearing. What is it? Why should you do it? All the things. So what is baby wearing anyways, baby wearing is simply carrying a baby close to your body in a sling or some other baby wearing carrier that straps to the front of your body. When your baby gets a little bit older, and you’re like a super pro, maybe you’ll carry them on your back too. But for the purpose of this episode, we’re talking about baby wearing on the front of your body. Baby wearing is really common. It’s actually really, really common around the world. And it’s easy to see why there are so many benefits to baby wearing. And I just wanted to take this episode and entire podcast episode to highlight some of those benefits so that you might be inspired to try beret babywearing for yourself. So what are those benefits of baby wearing? Like? Why is all the hubbub about so babies carried in a baby wearing carrier. So babies who are worn are typically more calm and cry less Ding, ding, ding, ding ding. Like if that is not the number one reason to baby where I don’t know what is. So instead of fussing, they’re in a quiet but alert state. And if they do cry, it’s very brief. And it’s just to communicate with you that they need something. So if they’re crying while they’re being worn, they’re probably hungry, or they need their diaper change. Or maybe you need to adjust the positioning. Maybe they’re too hot, too cold. Usually they’re not too cold. You’re very toasty. But yeah, they essentially are just more calm and cry less, it’s great. And babywearing provides a really cozy transition from their life inside of the womb to outside of the womb. So inside the womb, babies are really snug, they’re curled up, and they’re just being hugged by your body. It’s like a giant hug all the time. Then when they’re born, you know push them out, or they’re pulled out via C section and their cozy little world is suddenly turned upside down. The world is very big, it’s cold and it’s overwhelming. Wearing your baby gives them some of those comforts that they felt inside the womb like hearing your heartbeat, feeling the warmth of your body feeling the rhythmic movement of your chest as you breathe in and out. Feeling the swaying that happens when you walk around. Like all of these things are so very soothing to your baby. If you’re having a hard time getting your baby down for a nap in their crib, and you’re just like exhausted, like I’m trying to be consistent with putting them in their crib, and I just can’t take it anymore. And I want them to take a good nap. But I also don’t want to let them sleep on me because I need to get things done like Hello, pop them in a baby wearing carrier. Yes. Because baby wearing is so soothing, your baby will likely be able to sleep much better in their carrier than they would on their own. It’s just it’s back to you guys, they sleep better on you just gonna put it out there. So if you’re having trouble getting your baby to sleep, definitely pop mini carrier, it’s normal for babies to want to sleep on their caretaker. So don’t feel bad if this is the only way that they will take a good nap. It’s truly, truly it is not possible to spoil a baby under the age of one. All through that first year, give them all the snuggles that they want, you cannot spoil them, it’s just literally not possible. And sleep is really important for your baby’s development. So it’s okay to let them sleep on you in order for them to get the sleep and the rest that they need to grow.

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Babies who are worn are more receptive to learning about the world around them so they have more visual and auditory alertness, which is going to help them along in their language development and help them be able to talk a little bit sooner Things like that. as your baby grows and is able to be worn facing outward, then they’re exposed to all kinds of new things. And they have this really awesome view of their surroundings from high up. And this helps them to learn about their environment and it exposes them to so many new stimuli that are going to help to aid in your baby’s brain development. babywearing also promotes bonding. So babies love to be held closely. That’s just what babies do. They love to be snuggles snuggled. There are snuggle bugs. And when you guys can see each other’s faces, you’re able to communicate both verbally and non verbally, which is going to speed up your baby’s language and social development. You’re also going to be able to quickly comfort your baby when they become upset or startled because they’re literally right there on you already. And being close to you comforts them and makes them feel safe. This isn’t just for moms either. So anyone who’s wearing the baby is going to get that benefit of bonding from being so close to the baby. So I’ve seen some really, really cute pictures of dads and older siblings baby wearing it is the best and it’s a great way to bond. Another awesome benefit, especially right now during the pandemic is people will not touch your baby as much as they would if you were just holding them. This is who you are, because germs are really you guys specially right now, even without the COVID pandemic, this is a great benefit to baby wearing because your baby’s immune system is just really fragile and can only take so much. I remember when my daughter was two months old. She had it had her first round of vaccines yet and I was really, really nervous about taking her to this fun party that my mom has every year. It’s basically they call it a hootenanny. And basically people come and camp at her house, in their campers in their tents for an entire weekend. And it’s a lot a lot of fun. But I was super nervous to bring my tiny little fragile, newborn baby to the party because I knew people were going to be touching on her and like wanting to kiss her. And I did not want any of that happening. So I just wore her in a carrier. And it was fantastic. People would maybe like touch her foot or something. But nobody was like trying to give her a kiss on the face or anything. It was fantastic. So huge benefit is people will not be touching your baby as much. Now if you’re breastfeeding babywearing comes in for the win. Yet again, it is so easy to nurse your behavior while you’re wearing them. And a lot of times you can do this and people won’t even notice what’s happening. Especially in a sling or Stretchy Wrap. Those are really easy to be like discreet. The fabric of those baby wearing carriers serves to cover you and your baby from the eyes of people around you. It’s important that if you wish to nurse your baby while you’re wearing them that you figured out baby wearing a nursing separately before trying to combine those two skills and do it at the same time. And baby wearing is also great because it stimulates your milk production by triggering the release of oxytocin because keeping your baby close to you triggers that release of that hormone which is associated with lactation, oxytocin, and prolactin, that are the ones that trigger your milk production. So that releases oxytocin and you will make more milk by having your baby up against you all the time. Baby wearing is also great because it can reduce the risk of postpartum depression. So there are a lot of reasons for this. So by baby wearing, your baby is likely sleeping better, which means you’re sleeping better. You’re more restful, they’re not crying as much which means you’re not as stressed out all the time from trying to sue the crying baby. And like I said before baby wearing helps your body to release oxytocin. Oxytocin

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helps your body to release oxytocin, which gives you a mood boost. It’s called the love hormone. And it helps to fight postpartum depression and that way, it’s just win win win all around. The most obvious benefit to baby weary is that you can be hands free and do whatever you need to do and your baby is super cozy and comfortable and happy. This is great for doing normal daily routines like doing the laundry, cleaning and whatever other chores you want to do. It’s also really great actually exercise without a lot of effort. as your baby grows, YouTube will grow stronger from moving around with the weight of your baby on you. It’s also helpful if you have older children because then you can be hands free to attend to their needs and play with them. Life is just easier when you can baby where it’d be hands free. So now that you know the benefits of baby wearing, you should know some general safety tips so that you can really enjoy this newfound freedom and also keep your baby safe. So while baby wearing, your baby should be in an upright position, they need to have a clear airway and their backs should be supported and not slumped over. We don’t want them to be hunched, and their feet should be free to move around. And their their legs should be in an M position. So if you’ve never seen this before, definitely Google proper baby wearing positioning to get a better idea of what this looks like. I know it’s a little bit hard to describe and understand on a podcast, your baby should be close enough to kiss. So you can just lay down and give them a little kiss on the head. So they’re going to be worn relatively high up on the front of your body. You should not wear your Baby while you’re cooking on a hot stove or using sharp knives. I feel like that’s kind of obvious, but it needs to be said because sometimes we’re sleep deprived and we don’t always use our common sense. So don’t put them in a dangerous position by doing so. If you need to bend over, you should bend at the knees and not at the waist. This is important for keeping your baby properly positioned because the shifting of the weight is going to knock them out of alignment. And it’s also important for taking care of you and your back. Don’t throw out your back by babywearing, you can do it safely and comfortably by bending at the knees and not at the waist. And your baby is going to be plenty warm while up against your body. So make sure that you don’t overdress them. So typically, the rule for dressing babies is whatever you’re wearing, they just need one more layer. So while babywearing, you might even need to take off one of those extra layers. If you have them layered up. play it by ear, you can test their body heat by sticking your finger on their chest or on their back and it should help you get an idea of how warm they are. And once your baby gets a little bit older, usually around two months, they can actually start sweating. So if they’re sweating, then obviously they’re too warm. And when you travel, your baby should go in a car seat. Never ever ever travel in a vehicle. Whether that’s a car or riding your bike, you should not be babywearing while doing these things, put them in a proper car seat. Okay, please be safe when you travel. It’s so important when you’re in a moving vehicle for your baby to be safe and secure in a proper safe car seat. So there you have it. I hope that this inspired you to try out babywearing if you haven’t already. And if you’ve tried it, but you weren’t successful, maybe try a different carrier, my daughter for a long time for the first two months, she would not be worn in one of the structured carriers like the Ergo baby, she hated it. So we had to use a sling, which was great for her. It’s also really great for newborns in general, they just prefer that or a Stretchy Wrap is good for newborns. Then once they get a little bit bigger, you might switch to the structured carriers. So if it’s not, if you’re not been successful, you know, try a different carrier, check your positioning. Put your baby in the carrier and go and check yourself in a mirror. Adjust the positioning as needed. And just keep trying. You know, babies have a calming reflex and that calming reflex can take up to five minutes of crying before they settle down. And then once they go through that little cycle, then they might stir up again and take another five minutes. So just keep trying. Eventually your baby should settle into a carrier.

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Just don’t give up because seriously, babywearing is a total game changer. It gives you your freedom back and everybody is just more well rested and the house is more peaceful when you’re able to baby where and feels a sense of normalcy in your life. Thank you guys so much for listening. I will see you next week. Hey lady, thank you so much for hanging out with me today. I hope you enjoyed this episode. And if you did, would you do me a huge favor and rate and review this podcast. The more ratings we get the more moms we can help. If you want to get more postpartum tips and encouragement subscribe to this podcast and hang out with me online. You can read my blog at postpartum companion.com/blog hang out with me on Instagram at postpartum companion and join my free Facebook group called the better Postpartum Support Group. If you have your own postpartum story that you’d like to share, head on over to postpartum companion comm slash podcast and submit an application to be on the air. Thanks again for listening and be sure to subscribe and meet me back here next week. Have a blessed day and don’t forget to pray. Bye bye now.