FF 17: Baby wearing

Carrying your baby in a carrier or a sling on your body has many benefits to both of you.  For the carrier it allows you to have both hands free to do other things especially important with siblings.  Having baby’s weight, light as she is, close to your body decreases the  stress and strain on your muscles and joints minimising fatigue.  Having her close also increases your opportunity to be tune with baby’s needs and moods.  For your baby, when she is in a supportive and well designed carrier, she is protected, safe and warm.  She is snuggled close enough to hear your heart, your breath and your voice as she could in the womb. She follows your daily rhythm and routine and gets gentle sensory stimulation through your movement and experiences. Peta Wilson, a Newcastle physiotherapist, designs, consults and sells wraps, slings and carriers.  She talks us through the benefits of the different options and what to look for to get the perfect fit for you and your baby.   Dorte Bladt: I’d like to welcome to Peta Wilson today. She’s from Moondani. Hello, Peta. Peta Wilson: Hello Dorte Bladt: Thanks for coming along. Peta Wilson: Thanks for having me. Dorte Bladt: So tell us a little bit about the exciting things you do. Peta Wilson: Well, I’m a physiotherapist locally and I’m also a mom of three beautiful babies. From there, I started to wear my babies in various types of carriers and decided to start a business called Moondani. I design fabrics and I make them into ergonomic, physio, myself-approved carriers so that they’re comfortable and they’re fitting well and also look very attractive. Dorte Bladt: Very good. So you obviously have a bit of a creative side. Peta Wilson: I do. I enjoy that side of it a lot. Dorte Bladt: There seems to be a lot about baby carriers and lots of different options on the market. Can you explain to us why would you wear a carrier and what should you look for? Peta Wilson: It’s very confusing especially for a new parent. They often want to get a carrier before their baby is even born so it can be a really tricky concept to get your head around. But the reasons you might want to wear a carrier is, one, to be hands-free so that you can do other things. Babies like to sleep a lot. They like to cuddle a lot. They like to feed a lot. And it really helps if you can have a comfortable way to keep them close while you’re still interacting with the world. So that’s good for both mom and bub and dad and whoever is caring for the child. There’s a thing at the moment. It’s called the fourth trimester, so it’s obviously something that’s been around since the beginning of babies and parents. But they’ve coined the phrase, the fourth trimester. That’s basically giving your baby a womb-like experience. They’re very used to being warm and cuddled in close and hearing the lulled sounds of their mother. Wearing your baby in a well-fitting carrier can give them that easier, gentler transition into the world after birth, which is really beneficial for all sorts of things. So their hormonal regulation, their temperature regulation, not to get into too much science about it but it just gives them that gentle transition into the world. Dorte Bladt: I think the science bit is very interesting, though. There are so many physiological benefits from continuing being close to mum but we sometimes, in our little busy industrial world, we sort of forget… just stick them in the capsule in the car and stick them in the pram that looks like it’s a tank but it’s quite removed from the experience that they had before. Peta Wilson: Yeah. I find from my own personal experience that having the baby close most of the time, it just puts them in sync with your own rhythms of your day.