Any studies supporting babywearing and holding??

[fruitofthewomb]

Good morning, everyone. I wear my 2-month-old ds much of the time. I didn't know how to use a sling properly with dd (age 4), so I just held her. My parents are overly concerned that he's not getting stimulation in the sling. I know that he is, and that he's a very bright baby, but I would like to be able to give them results of a study showing that close proximity to the mother provides stimulation. Anyone know of anything like this?? It's gotta be out there, or we're making this stuff up (O: My father's a retired physician, so evidence would impress him and they would both be quiet about it. They think he'd get more stimulation on his back in a crib where he could look at a mobile or in a seat watching tv (!!!) than in my sling with nothing but a boob in his face. Help, please. Thanks!

Jeanne

[DogwoodMama]

I'm not aware of "studies" per say, but would say that baby-wearing is very common around the world... IMO, if it was "bad" for the baby, it wouldn't be so common! :grin

Here are a couple of articles that may give you some "talking points"...

http://www.naturalchild.com/guest/laura_simeon.html

http://www.thewigleys.net/why_to_babywear.html

The second article is by one of our moderators, btw (wigleys). She has a great website! :tu

Adding a Dr. Sears article I just found...

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/5/t051100.asp

[AngelBee]

What better stimulation then to watch everything your mama experiences all day long? :grin

[fruitofthewomb]

Thanks, y'all. I'll check those out!

[Dana Joy]

You want professional studies- here you go-
Does infant carrying promote attachment? An experimental study of the effects of increased physical contact on the development of attachment.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2245751&dopt=Abstract
Increased Carrying Reduces Infant Crying: A Randomized Controlled Trial
http://www.portareipiccoli.it/trial_hunziker.htm
and here are a whole bunch more if you want to look them up
* Gerber, Marcelle, The Psycho-Motor Development of African Children in the First Year and the Influence of Maternal Behavior. Journal of Social Psychology, no.47 (1958): 185-95.

* Bowlby, John, The Child's Tie to His Mother. Attachment Behavior. In Attachment, New York: Basic Books, 1969.

* Bowlby, John, Separation Anxiety. International Journal of Psychoanalysis 42 (1961) 89-113.

* Klaus, Marshall, et al, Human Maternal Behavior at the First Contact with Her Young. Pediatrics 46, no. 2 (August 1970): 187-192.

* Klaus, Marshall, et al, Maternal Attachment.- Importance of the First Post-Partum Days. New England Journal of Medicine, 286, no. 9 (March 2, 1972): 460-63.

* Study by Montreal Children's Hospital Research Institute: Mothers were asked to carry their child in arms or carrier at least three hours a day, and babies six weeks old cried 43% less. Published in a recent journal by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

* Study by Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Presbyterian Medical Center, published in 1991 in Child Development, reported stronger bonding with children carried in soft carriers for several hours a day.

* Brazelton, TB. and Robey, J.S., Collier G.A. (1969) Infant Development in the Zinacanteco Indians of Southern Mexico. Pediatrics, 44, 274-190.

* Barr, Ronald, et al. Crying in Kung San Infants, Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 1991, 33, 601-610.

* Landau, R. (1982) Infant Crying and Fussing: Findings from a Cross-Cultural Study, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 13, 427-444.

* Prescott, James W., PhD. Studies on bonding, the mother-infant relationship and aggression in cultures, check for availability through Wellspring (see "Other Resources" below).

* Super, C.M., Harkness, S. (1987), The Infant's Niche in Rural Kenya and Metropolitan America. In Adler, L.I. (Ed.) Issues in Cross-Cultural Research, Annuals of the New York Academy of Science, Vol. 285, New York, Academic Press.

[fruitofthewomb]

Thank you so much! I just emailed it to my parents and I am about to get to reading! I just got back from Burlington where my mom insisted on buying a mobile for the baby because he needs stimulation. She spent much of an hour expressing her concern that he isn't being stimulated - he needs stripes and things that move around. I said look at the McDonald's arches and the stoplights and the Christmas lights and the stuff in the store he just looked at with me for an hour! Ugh! Thank you!!

[DogwoodMama]

Great citations, Dana. :tu I've read Bowlby's work and Super & Harkness, but never thought of them as studies specifically supporting baby-wearing, but I agree they do.

[Littledisciples]

No real reasearch has been done to my knowledge but with children who are abused well the word of mouth is spreading fast how babywearing helps children get over RAD and other very sad forms of neglect disorders.Also great for drug addicted babies too. That baby is getting plenty of stimulation in the sling and also you can overstimulate a baby too much with those fancy gadgets and that makes for a cranky baby too.

[TulipMama]

Those are great links. *Grin*

[purplerose]

Great links everyone! I just spend an hour reading them! It just solidified my reasonings for babyweraring!!!! :grin