For nine months, your baby was carried and rocked in your womb. It felt a bond with you – a natural, primal experience for your baby.
At birth, this contact is interrupted, but the baby still wants to share this bond with its mother – to smell her, feel her and hear her heartbeat. Carrying your baby in a sling allows this close relationship to continue. Your baby receives plenty of physical contact, feels loved and secure. This helps develop their body awareness, and being carried makes your baby calmer and more balanced. When tied correctly, the wrap also has a positive effect on the hip joints and is the best carrying method for babies.
There are various types of baby carriers. As well as a sling, you can also carry your baby in a baby carrier (e.g. Babybjörn or Ergo Carrier). We’d be happy to briefly outline the pros and cons of these carrying methods for you here.
Baby sling
With a baby sling, the baby is securely wrapped against your body. The baby does not sit inside the sling.
Advantages
- The legs are spread to the ideal width.
- The baby is in an upright position, without sitting.
- The baby’s still-weak core muscles are supported by the firm pressure of the sling, giving the baby stability.
- The baby sling can be worn for long periods using various tying techniques.
- It adapts perfectly to any body shape.
Disadvantages
- Tying techniques need to be learnt.
- Unfortunately, the scarf has not yet shaken off its alternative image.
Carrying device
With this method, the baby is carried in a seated position, right against the mother’s or father’s body.
Advantages
- Easy to use.
- Fathers are more likely to feel it appeals to them.
Disadvantages
- The legs are not spread wide enough for optimal hip development, as the gap between the legs is too narrow.
- A baby’s core muscles are not yet sufficiently developed in the first few months.
- The baby sits in the baby carrier. As a result, the baby slumps and their back takes on a crooked S-shape.
Wrapping techniques for the baby sling
➊ Place the scarf across your chest so that the centre of the scarf lies over the centre of your chest.
➋ Take the ends of the scarf, one at a time, under your arms, cross the two ends at the back and bring them over your shoulders to the opposite side at the front.
➌ Now thread both ends of the sling through the horizontal part of the sling.
➍ Then cross the ends of the sling in front of your tummy.
➎ Now bring both ends round to the back and tie them in a double knot.
➏ Now lift your child onto one shoulder. Stretch the fabric and guide the child’s first leg and bottom into the first part of the cross in front of your chest. Then pull the fabric of the first layer nice and smooth over the baby’s body. Pull the fabric up until it reaches the child’s ears. The rest of the wrap is rolled up under the child’s knees.
➐ Now take the child’s second leg and guide it into the second layer of the wrap. The baby should now be "sitting" with their bottom in the cross. Again, pull the fabric smoothly without any creases and roll the rest under the backs of their knees.
➑ The horizontal part of the wrap is now pulled over the crossed wrap, leaving the child’s feet outside. Again, pull the wrap upwards to the child’s ears.
➒ To keep the baby’s face clear, pull the wrap down over their shoulders towards their arm, so that a sort of little sleeve is formed.
