So you've heard that babywearing is "good for your baby" but maybe you don't know the actual scientific benefits. Fret no more, you've come to the right place! We've compiled all of the good stuff that's actually backed by scientific data. Let's dive in ...

Baby can better maintain his own temperature even with dad or other caretaker. Baby can actually have “thermal synchrony” with mother. If the baby gets too cold the mother’s body temperature will actually warm up one degree to help warm the baby(Ludington-Hoe, 2006)10. If the baby gets too hot, the mother’s body temperature will decrease one degree to cool the baby. The flexed position on mother’s chest is a more efficient position for conserving heat than laying horizontal.

High cortisol levels that result from mother baby separation has a negative impact on growth hormone. With mother present to help assist in regulating the baby’s breathing, heart rate, and temperature, the baby has decreased energy needs and can conserve his energy and calories and direct it toward growth. (Charpak, 2005)5

When held upright on their mothers’ chests babies spend more time in a quiet alert state, the optimumstate for observing and processing.

When a baby is worn on the chest of either parent there is usually an improvement in breathing patterns. The baby can hear the breathing and it stimulates the baby’s breathing so that the baby imitates the parent. (Ludington-Hoe, 1993)7

Bradycardia (low heart rate below 100) is markedly reduced and tachycardia (heart rates of 180 or more) rarely occurs. (McCain, 2005)11 Heart rate is so important because a baby’s brain requires a steady and consistent flow of blood to get the oxygen it needs to grow and perform properly.

Babies deal with pain better and cry less in response to pain (for procedures such as heel sticks). (Kostandy, 2008)1

Score higher on mental and motor development tests in the first year of life. (Charpak et al., 2005)2

(Feldman, 2003)8

Babies remain more calm and transition from one sleep state to another (Ferber, 2004)4 and also sleep longer in general. (Messemer, 1997)12

Baby continues to receive touch, rhythm and pressure and the soothing and comforting sounds of his mother’s heart beat, breathing and rhythmic rocking. Baby is in an ideal holding place during the “exterogestation“- or the second nine months after her birth.

According to the latest studies, the practicing of Kangaroo Care, or the special way of holding your preterm infant skin to skin, shows a 51 percent reduction in newborn mortality when babies (stable and less than 2 kg) were kangarooed within the first week after birth and breastfed by their mothers. (Lawn, 2010)2

1. Kostandy et al., “Kangaroo Care (Skin Contact) Reduces Crying Response to Pain in Preterm Neonates: Pilot Results,” Pain Management Nursing 2008: 9:55-65
2. Lawn et al., “‘Kangaroo Mother Care’ to Prevent Neonatal Deaths Due to Preterm Birth Complications,” International Journal of Epidemiology” 2010: April.
3. Whiting, J.M.W., “Environmental Constraints on Infant Care Practices”. In Handbook of Cross-Cultural Human Development edited by R.H. Munroe, R.L. Munroe & B.B. Whiting, New York:Garland STPM Press, 2005.
4. Ferber et al., “The Effect of Skin-to-Skin Contact (Kangaroo Care) Shortly After Birth on the Neurobehavioral Responses of the Term Newborn: A Randomized, Controlled Trial. Pediatrics 113 2004:858-865.
5. Charpak, N., “Kangaroo Mother Care: 25 Years After,” Acta Paediatric 94 2005: 5, 514-522.
6. Powell, A. “Harvard Researchers Say Children Need Touching and Attention,” Harvard Gazette.
7. Ludington-Hoe, S. Kangaroo Care: The Best You Can Do to Help Your Preterm Infant. New York: Bantam Books, 1993.
8. Feldman et al. “Testing a Family Intervention Hypothesis: The Contribution of Mother-Infant Skin-to-Skin contact (kangaroo care) to Family Interaction, Proximity, and Touch,” 2003 March Journal of Family Psychology. Vol. 17, 94-107
9. Furman, L. “Correlates of Lactation of Very Low Birth Weight Infants,” 2002 Pediatrics Vol. 109 (4) 57
10. Ludington-Hoe, S. “Breast Infant Temperature with Twins during shared Kangaroo Care,” 2006 Journal of Obstetric , Gynecologic and Neonatal Nursing, 35 (2) 223-231
11. McCain, G et al. “Heart Rate Variability Responses of a Preterm Infant to Kangaroo Care,” 2005 Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing,” 34 (6), 689-694.
12. Messmer P. et al., “Effect of Kangaroo Care on Sleep Time for Neonates,” 1997 Pediatr. Nurs. 23, no. 4 408-414.
13. Tasker, A., Dettmar, P. W., Panetti, M., Koufman, J. A., Birchall, J. P., and Pearson, J. P. (2002). Is gastric reflux a cause of Otitis media with effusion in children? The Laryngoscope, 112:1930–1934.