How Can Baby Carrying Help the Baby’s Physical Development?

A baby’s body develops in direct response to multiple sensory stimuli through touch, smell, hearing, taste and sight. Carrying babies actively promotes their general body development in response to various stimuli such as: skin-to-skin contact (the baby’s body swaddled against the parent’s), continuously felt movement, smell of the skin, sound of a heartbeat or a voice, taste of the skin and recognition of the face that is only a few centimetres away. These stimuli are particularly helpful for premature babies whose development is at an earlier stage than full-term babies. "Newborns can be carried while they sleep, so baby carrying presents a natural form of prevention of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome." (Dr Susan Markel).

So, what positive effects can baby carrying have on your baby's physical development?
The skin is the largest organ of the human body. When babies are carried tight against their parent’s body, their own body adapts to the adult’s shape and senses their movement. In fact, the skin is a human being’s most developed organ at birth and therefore, the one that the baby can communicate with the best. Baby carrying therefore contributes to mobility development and to acquiring balance and walking rhythm.
The baby’s back can develop correctly due to the ergonomic design of the baby carrier. The baby carrier supports the sitting position that a child instinctively adopts at birth. This position allows the child to maintain a curved spine, which is naturally present at birth and is also present during the first few months. The baby’s hips, still not fully developed at birth, develop ideally in the anatomically correct natural sitting position which can also prevent hip dysplasia.
A newborn’s skull is still soft, during the first year it will grow by 12 cm. Still in a phase of growth, it can easily become deformed if the infant's head is rested on the same side for prolonged periods. Vertical baby carrying can avoid this flat head syndrome (positional plagiocephaly).

To find out more about the effects of baby carrying on a baby's psychological and emotional development, please read this article.

Written by: Présence Bouvier (Managing Editor)