Wearing your baby can improve his or her language skills. Babies learn best when they are in a state of "quiet alertness." Babies who are carried in a sling are more relaxed and spend less time crying. When they are relaxed, calm and feeling secure, they spend their "free time" learning to make sense of the world around them.
Using a sling also allows your baby to spend time with your face in their visual range. Your baby is able to be more attuned to your face and your voice. They can see your mouth move and hear the sounds more clearly than they can three feet away in a stroller. Especially when that stroller makes them face away from you.
Physical proximity is not the only key to developing language skills. It is the interaction with their parents that helps babies develop the ability to understand and create language. When you are carrying your baby close to your face, you are naturally more inclined to talk to them about what you are doing.
Simple chatter about daily tasks helps them make connections between the objects and actions they see and the sounds they hear. Simply talking to your baby about what you are seeing as you walk and responding to their attempts at speech can all help a baby increase their understanding of words long before they can talk well.
Here are some tips for improving babies language skills:
* Babble back! Babies love to hear you mimic their sounds. This helps teach them about the give and take process of conversation.
* Show and Tell! Even a trip to the grocery store can be exciting for a baby. Let them feel smooth fruits and bumpy ones as you talk about the texture, color and scent. Show them that bread is "squishy" and cans are hard, that yogurt is cold and lettuce is wet.
* Appreciate silence! Respond to your baby's cues when they are becoming tired or overstimulated. Knowing when to be quiet is a gift and can help make your baby just as wise as any skill you can teach.
Attachment parenting is about enjoying your baby and your connection with them. Enjoy your babywearing! Check out the great slings available below. I especially love the organic cotton flannel New Native carriers. They come in several sizes and they are so unbelievably soft and strong.
See a variety of baby wearing options at Little for Now
