Finally, you have managed to get rid off cultural pressure, and you realized the real needs of your baby. The first priority for your child is cuddling and breastfeeding, everything else is secondary. Babywearing is a perfect choice if you want to make sure that your baby gets enough cuddling and bodily contact every day. It is, in fact, beneficial for both mom and baby. Besides, close contact is a huge help in breastfeeding, as well.

Nowadays, it is obvious that breastfeeding on demand is a biological norm. Diverging from it can trigger problems in the natural process: your baby may become restless, it can cause a decrease in your milk supply. Breastfeeding on demand means, that mother’s milk is not only assumed to be nourishment, but it is known to have a soothing and sedative effect as well. Besides, babies want their sucking need to be fulfilled even when they are not hungry. Infants may feed whenever they give a sign of their demand, irrespectively of the fact that the previous breastfeeding ended ten minutes ago or two hours ago. There is no typical daily routine, the family usually tunes into the baby’s needs, and parents learn his peculiar “mode of operation”, for example that he has a longer nap late morning almost every day, and feeds more often in the evening than during the day.

Skin-to-skin

There is a strong correlation between breastfeeding and mom-baby life. It can be detected by medical devices, that babies skin-to-skin with their mother after birth are in a better condition than newborns put into cribs. Their blood sugar level, temperature and breathing rates are more stable, their oxygen intake improves, and they sleep calmer. And maybe the most important regarding breastfeeding is that babies kept skin-to-skin with Kangaroo care accommodate to new circumstances more easily, they search for the breast more often, do not keep to themselves like babies kept in a crib. Frequent breastfeeding encourages good milk supply, and basically, it can be argued that it is the baby’s physiological need. It happens to carried babies very seldom that they feed only as rarely as every three-four hours, whilst babies in a crib are prone to sleep for such long hours.

 Everything falls into place

breastfeeding in Liliputi ring sling

Parents often complain about burping problems. I always explain them, that in earlier stages of evolution, babies were in fact burping for the whole day, since mothers kept them close to their body, in a vertical position: they were either sitting on their mother’s hip, or in a carrier on the waist, or on the back. Consequently, burping shouldn’t be separated from other events of daily life: if you wear the baby almost vertically, you are continually burping him – may this episode be an intimate relaxation in the armchair, cleaning with a stretchy wrap on, or a stroll outside. Even the shape of the stomach justifies this position. In fact, the stomach is a little sack with double curvature, and air can get stuck in its curves. If babies are put down after feeding, their tummy might hurt with the pressure from bubbles forming a big orb in their abdomen. If they are carried, the swinging movements of walking, and vertical position can help getting rid of the bubbles. Besides, warmth surrounding the belly has a soothing and pain-killing effect.

Solution for spit-ups

Reflux babies who often spit up also benefit from babywearing. The best for them is eating a little and often and burping up air they had swallowed very soon after feeding. If babies “live” in a sling, and they have access to the breast whenever they want to, they are unlikely to suck to bursting and spit up most of the milk. They will feed often and little.

Mothers with babies who spit up regularly should learn to tie the sling so that the baby can feed easily while being carried.

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Amanda Taylor (9 years ago)

That’s it! Absolutely agree, love this post!!!

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About The Author: Judit Szody

After I graduated from secondary school I wasn't accepted to university, so I had to work for a year. I was very lucky that destiny threw me in at the deep end: I was employed in a child psychiatry, where children from the age of four to eighteen with serious psychiatric problems were treated. I learnt there, that I am able to sympathize with those seeking help, and accept their differences. I enrolled to university next year, and finally graduated as a psychologist. During my study years, I gave birth to my three sons, who provided me with practical experience. While I was writing my thesis, I made interviews with eighty mothers about childbirth and breastfeeding. I became convinced that not the mother herself, rather the proper breastfeeding method, as well as the help and emotional support provided for breastfeeding is responsible for breastfeeding to last as long as it is good for the mother and the child. I was working as a journalist while I was on maternity leave. My steady topics were – and still are – pregnancy and the first years after birth: parent-child relationship, upbringing and breastfeeding. I joined the Hungarian Association for Breastfeeding, where I have the opportunity to work together with experienced professionals, I have access to the latest technical literature, and I can participate in conferences abroad. Within the framework of MÉRCE association, I worked in the project that surveyed the obstetrical wards in Hungary. Our work resulted in publishing two instalments of Guide to Childbirth (later the title Where is the best place to give birth? while I was working for Sanoma Publisher,) which has helped thousands of families to get a line on advice regarding childbirth, obstetrics practices and events surrounding delivery (psychological changes, breastfeeding etc.) My daughter, who was born in 1999, enjoyed the fruits of my experience and knowledge. Beside taking care of my child, I kept on working as a journalist, managed a moms club, led the conversation on breastfeeding for a day of the course organised by Alternatal Foundation, and also worked as a breastfeeding adviser for an internet service. I have still performed these duties, and additionally, I gained the title IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) in 2003, hence I can look upon myself officially as a lactation consultant. As an editor of Kismama Magazin (Moms Magazine), I encounter questions concerning baby care, upbringing, breastfeeding daily. These, by their nature, must be given up-to-date answers. Telephone helpline is a a part of my everyday life: I receive calls from all over the country, even from abroad. At present, I am the lactation consultant at the obstetrics of Uzsoki Hospital. I feel that the factual knowledge gained during my studies, the information attained from families and mothers, and more than nineteen years of being a practicing parent helps a lot in my work.