Children - Psychological and Emotional Development

Baby carrying has many positive effects on a baby's psychological development. The body closeness from baby carrying provides warmth as well as reassuring and familiar sounds and movement. Children feel relieved when their need for contact is met. As a result they do not have to devote their energy to their protection and survival (secretion of stress hormones). They can focus their energy on their development and discover their environment while being cradled in a protective cocoon. This close physical contact provides children with the body contact and affection that they need. Body-to-body contact is particularly important during the first few moments after birth.

Firstly, children need physical contact in order to bond with the mother, this helps them to separate better later on. Being assured of limitless love will help the child to become a more self-assured and confident individual, who will later become that much more independent. Children are reassured by this close contact and as a result they cry less and fall asleep more easily. Furthermore, having been cradled in the mother’s womb for nine months, the baby naturally wants to regain this soft floating feeling. The tiny human is a parent-clinger and this is proved by the gripping and finger-curling reflexes present from birth. Thus physical contact brings the child feelings of well-being.

Secondly, dialogue with the parent and resulting social skills are key elements in the baby’s psychological development and future well being. Parents are more likely to talk to children carried at adult height than to children in strollers, for example. This increased dialogue encourages language development, which can especially benefit children with speech difficulties. This closeness also helps to stimulate the baby’s relational and emotional life. Babies learn from their parents that they are worthy of love, and that in life there are always people close by ready to give comfort and help when it is needed.

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

Written by: Présence Bouvier (Managing Editor)