Making Parenting Easier
Find out more about the various benefits of using a baby carrier with your baby or toddler. Research has proven that there are many health and development benefits to babywearing ranging from easing baby’s colicky symptoms to supporting healthy hip development for your little one.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us
Baby is exactly where they want to be – with you! Because you’re so close, they’ll feel safe and secure that their needs are able to be met. They will be comforted by the rhythmic movement of your breathing, heartbeat and walking. Caring, physical contact with young babies aids the healthy development of their brain and babies who are carried regularly have more stable heart and breathing rates.
The design of the Izmi baby carrier ensures that baby’s spine and legs are fully supported in the most optimal position for healthy spine and hip development.
They are not lying on a flat or rigid surface that could hold them in an unnatural or uncomfortable posture, and the tiny physical adjustments that they have to make to the movements of carrying help to develop their muscle tone and sense of balance.
Being carried in an upright, tummy-to-tummy position in a sling or carrier can be a great alternative to ‘tummy-time’ for a baby, promoting healthy development of the upper body muscles and reducing the risk of ‘flat head’ problems (positional plagiocephaly).
Izmi carriers are recognised as “Hip-Healthy” by the International Hip Dysplasia Institute. When properly fitted and adjusted, our carriers will sit your baby in a comfortable position supporting their hips and joints.
The optimum Hip Healthy position for your baby is with their legs in a natural ‘froggy legged’ or ‘squat’ position, with their thighs fully supported by the fabric of the carrier, and their knees higher than their bottom. This is particularly important in the first six months when your baby’s joints and muscles are still developing.
Benefits of this Hip Healthy positioning include:
Find more information about positioning your baby in a sling or carrier on our Wrap and Carrier Fitting Guide page.
Being held in an upright position with the gentle pressure of your body against their tummy whilst being gently moved helps your baby to digest more effectively, and to more easily keep down what should stay down and to get rid of whatever’s causing discomfort. Babies who are carried regularly tend to be more settled during the day, and sleep better at night.
When high up in the carrier your baby can see your face, learning from your expressions and responses to their own first attempts at communicating. When you talk to other people, they are a part of the conversation and can share the experience with you.
Your baby is also in a great position to see and hear the physical world around them – if they want to. With all the new things they are experiencing, babies can be easily over-stimulated so it’s just as important that they can choose to turn away from it all if they want to or when they get tired.
You are always close to your baby and they can snuggle into you which has been shown to aid parent-baby bonding. Through the magic of Oxytocin, the more you hug your baby, the happier it makes you!
This, coupled with the fact that it is easier to get outside and exercise while keeping your baby close, means that one of the major benefits of baby wearing is helping to combat post natal depression. Holding your baby against your chest using a sling or carrier has also been shown to improve breastfeeding outcomes too.
You have the reassurance that you’ll immediately notice if baby needs something, or if anything is wrong with them. Being so close to your baby helps you to ‘tune in’ to how they communicate what they want. Babywearing from birth can also help in establishing successful breastfeeding.
Carrying your baby in a baby carrier allows you to have complete freedom while keeping your baby comfortable and secure. With baby calmer and more settled, you’ll have less stress and more time to meet some of your needs (as well as those of older children).
Rather than using a push chair to navigate busy streets and supermarket aisles a sling allows you to keep your little one conveniently close while having both of your hands free!
Using a well-fitting baby carrier will support and protect your spine, abdominal and pelvic floor muscles. Strength training helps to counter the reduction in bone density that naturally occurs while breastfeeding, protecting against future oseoporosis. Plus you’ll be carrying at least 3kg more in weight, which burns significant calories too.
If well fitted and used correctly, baby carriers are very comfortable to use for significant lengths of time. Babies naturally fit against your body and when supported close to your centre of gravity they are much more comfortable to carry than a rucksack or other load of similar weight.
We think that babywearing is fantastic for many reasons!
Each family will discover their own benefits that come with babywearing and will able to comfortably carry their baby or toddler regularly.
Izmi will make this experience as easy as possible with snug wraps that your keep baby secure yet never restricted, and soft semi-structured carriers that have the same mechanisms as typical buckle carriers, with more of the comfort snug feel of a baby wrap.
Cheeky Rascals Limited is a company registered in England & Wales (registered number: 3933118) whose registered office is at Liss Mill, Mill Road, Liss, England, GU33 7BD. VAT number: GB GB689097664. ©2021. All rights reserved.
