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Home › Articles › Baby Gear › Something to Sling About

Something to Sling About

Baby Carriers Are a Great Tool for New Moms

By Teri Brown

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Besides soothing the baby, slings and carriers free up a parent's hands. While in a carrier, Mom or Dad can fix a snack, take a walk, talk on the phone, check e-mail and do household chores.

The Bonding Factor

Dr. Avroy Fanaroff, chairman of pediatrics and chief medical officer at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, says that bonding is an important aspect of baby carriers.

"Babies love to be held close to their mom or dad, and studies predominantly done on premature babies show that so called 'kangaroo care' with the baby on the parent's chest encourages parental-infant interaction, keeps the babies warm, is safe, provides the benefits of closeness, proximity and touch and may have important benefits for growth and development," Dr. Fanaroff says. "In term infants, there also are long-lasting effects of close contact with the baby from soon after birth."

Research, such as that done by the Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital's in the 1970s, has long extolled the virtues of physical contact between parents and their infants. "This research on infant-parent bonding has been accepted worldwide by medical professionals and parents," Dr. Fanaroff says. "Early physical contact enhances development, reduces the risk of failure to thrive and child abuse."


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