Babies have been around a lot longer than prams, carpeted floors central heating and the like. Until a very short time ago babies were carried almost all of the time . It was the only way to travel, the only way to keep baby safe and warm. Slings have been around since our species lost that useful hair for clinging to; along with other momentous changes such as bipedal walking. We must seriously assume that we did not evolve the use of our front limbs only to immediately lose it for the duration of our childbearing years! When I first wrote this essay some eight years ago, I speculated that leather or vine slings were probably invented before clothes. I'm delighted that Dr T Taylor in "The Prehistory of Sex" agrees with me.
After a discussion of the challenge infant carrying presents to the erect, hairless hominid, he postulates
" The logical conclusion is that women invented the first characteristically human artifact – the baby sling. Until the recent invention of the wheeled baby carriage the child-carrying sling was one of the most ubiquitous artifacts on earth. At its simplest, it is a length if animal skin, tied to form a pouch and hung from one shoulder…The date of the invention of the baby-sling is unknown, because soft organic materials do not unusually survive in the archaeological record. Nevertheless we have indirect evidence for it in terms of human mental development. I believe that the invention of the baby-sling was the single most crucial step in the development towards larger brains"(italics mine)
There follows an exciting argument of the evolutionary conflict between on the one hand larger headed cleverer babies and the limits imposed by bipedalism on the pelvis, necessitating the baby's head to rotate while in the birth canal in order to be born. The evolutionary compromise our species has made is that our clever large brained babies agree to be born relatively immature and helpless (while they still fit through the pelvic girdle). In return we carry them until they are mature enough to interact with the world as individuals. The prolonged period before our babies can shift for themselves is our species' mechanism for allowing the continued evolution of larger brains. A by product of this earlier-than-our relations-birth is that the human baby is stimulated by the world around him from the safety of his mother's arms, he has a passive learning phase while his brain is growing very fast, another impetus to sophisticated intellectual development. Our hominid ancestors could never have managed to mind this new sort of baby without a sling; it is the cradle of culture. Not only is a sling useful, it is like tools, like music, like art, part of what we are. The American paediatrician William Sears has done more than anyone to remind us of the essential rightness of a baby's place in arms. He speaks eloquently of the "organising "effect of carrying, that the baby is in a state of having all its basic needs met and is free to grow and learn and thrive. He argues "carrying humanises a baby". I like to think of the baby as a precious plant growing in the garden of his parents' arms. The modern sling has the advantage of cosy padding and one-handed adjustment, but basically I believe that we are continuing a way of caring for babies as old as humankind. I also believe that babies are born expecting to be carried and contented when that need is met.
Desmond Morris has this to say
"Some parents have reverted to the ancient custom of carrying their babies around..The body rhythms these fortunate infants experience are primitively reassuring. Such infants are then more able to act in a bold, exploratory way, when the moment arises. They have been 'security sated' and far from weakening them, this strengthens them and makes them ready for new and novel encounters."
From "Babywatching" by Desmond Morris
"My earliest years are connected in my mind with my mother. At first she was always there; I can remember the comforting feel of her body as she carried me….and the smell of her skin in the hot sun. everything came from her.. As I grew older and more interested in other things, from my safe place.. I could watch without fear as I wanted and when sleep overcame me I had only to close my eyes."These words were spoken by Kabongo, and East African tribal chief when he was eighty years of age. The happiness and security he experienced as an infant being carried lasted a lifetime.
From 'Touching' by Ashley Montague
Our western way of raising children is very different. Kabongo spent his infancy in the company of his mother. We expect our babies to spend a lot of their time alone. In fact, most baby equipment serves to separate babies from their carers. Babies eat in high chairs , go for 'walks' in prams, and sleep in cots, essentially alone. Whereas all these props can have their uses, I cannot help feeling that their over use is not in the baby's interest.
Babies
are demonstrably more content in arms. Several studies have documented that
babies kept in close contact thrive better, cry less. The gentle swaddling effect
of a soft sling is very soothing for a little one who after all was so
recently completely cuddled all the time. Young babies like as much continuity
as possible between life before and after birth. Some writers talk of the first
three months after birth as the 'fourth trimester' of pregnancy. Many
anthropologists have admired the contented babies of 'primitive' peoples. "!Kung babies are carried most of the time by their mothers ties in soft leather slings against their side where they can easily reach the mother's breast.. All the babies are plump… the !Kung never seem to tire of their babies.."
Lucky !Kung babies! Interestingly , babies who are carried a lot tend to reach developmental milestones earlier than those raised in the usual western manner.
"A European child of the middle classes rarely attains the stage of walking before one year, usually between a year and eighteen months. But the children of primitives and nomads in general, gypsies for instance, are much more precocious in this and in other respects: The awakening of the sense perceptions, practical intelligence , presence of mind, rapidity of reflexes and keenness of observation"We learn about life in babyhood. The experiences we have shape our adult lives. They colour our perception of future events. Do we see friends in a room of strangers, or threatening unknowns? Do we trust our senses and judgement or are we always in doubt. There is evidence that humans are very adaptable, that even with less than perfect childhoods most people will prevail. On the other hand, one cannot but look at our modern adult world and wonder why there are so many lost opportunities, so much destructive behaviour, so many addictions, so many people literally out of touch with their own needs and the needs of those around them. Some writers believe that unmet needs, particularly unmet needs for touch and security in infancy will compromise forever the happiness and effectiveness of the adult. The need to be in arms is so basic that the 'adult baby' will search all his life for what is missing. Jean Leidloff's book 'The Continuum Concept' addresses the issue in a thought provoking way. Based on her experience of a primitive South American tribe she advocates that babies are carried for a six month ''in arms phase. Examples of the special, almost not quite fully here status of ' the young baby in various world cultures abound. It is almost universally recognised that this little person is still connected more to his mother than the earth. Many of the ceremonies which welcome babies traditionally are of a 'grounding ' nature. For example among Krishna devotees the First Grains ceremony marks a transition of fully entering the world of men. In Bali at about six months babies are ceremonially placed on the earth for the first time. They are earthed, grounded, anchored, here. But not before a phase of 'coming down to earth' those special in-arms months. Once a baby reaches the stage of supporting himself on the floor and moving, he will not need to be in arms so much. However the bold explorer one moment becomes the tired little baby the next. He comes back: for milk, for cuddles, to share, to chat, to sleep. The seesaw of individuation tips and tilts many times even in one day of babyhood. But there is a steady progression.
In our family slings are the only essential equipment (apart from car seats). Infants are carried almost all the time. Our second youngest Bea was lucky to have three reliable people around to cuddle her.(Teddy has had not only the reliable carriers but the enthusiastic amatuers also!)As they "wake up" more and gain control of their muscles they spend increasing periods of time exploring the world. Towards the end of the first year we used the sling most at sleepy times and keep-me-safe times. At a year our babies like to practice walking and then hop in the sling for a rest. At two we take the sling in case they fell asleep and need carrying. Eventually however that babe in arms runs off to join the others on the climbing frame. Perhaps you will use your baby sling for shopping, perhaps for walking to soothe your little one to sleep or perhaps you will find that you carry your baby for most of your waking hours. Most parents end up carrying their baby a lot more than they had thought they might –and love it. Rest assured that by meeting their need to be close to you now, that you are raising a child who will grow emotionally strong and confident.
I'm a reading kind of person.I feel fortunate to have been born in a place and time of mass literacy and access to information. Becoming a parent today can be quite an isolated and isolating experience. Not all one's peers are having children, fewer children are being born, to mothers no longer as young as previously. It can create a situation where one does not have a lot of role models, where perhaps one is distant from one's own childhood, or don't want to follow the precepts of one's own upbringing anyway. In these cases a good book or ten are a wonderful resource. You may or may not find your parenting path in these recommendations. I have read and "taken what I need" from all of them. Mail me to let me know of your book recommendations too.
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