Health Advantages

The Over The Shoulder Baby Holder provides contact pressure, motion, pleasure, warmth, security and sound similar to the womb that the newborn's nervous system requires. Vestibular input has a direct effect on the system for arousal in the nervous system. As a consequence of this most important connection between movement and the reticular system, the movements of the care giver's body can help the baby maintain that nice quiet alert state for learning and allow the baby to drift into a fitful sleep when necessary. A baby who is worn for prolonged periods during the day tends to be in either the quiet alert state or in a light or deep sleep, seldom in a state of distress. (Roley 1991)

The vestibular system also is responsible for equilibrium and righting reactions (trunk and head control relative to the pull of gravity). A baby who is carried for prolonged periods tend to develop good tone in the neck and trunk and be able to adjust their posture nicely in different positions once they are self mobile. While walking would not be expected to occur more quickly, you could expect that the child would obtain sitting balance and transitional movements between positions such as from sitting to standing more rapidly. Once walking, their balance would be enhanced.

The Over The Shoulder Baby Holder has a shoulder pillow rather than straps over the parent's shoulders. This is especially important for a nursing mom because the straps can restrict circulation in a nursing mother's engorged chest tissue which can increase the incidence of breast infections. Also the sling allows mom to nurse more on demand because the baby is right next to mom. This also reduces breast infections. (1998 Study U.C.L.A. Lactation Dept.)

A baby is born in a state of physiological flexion. They are literally curled in a ball and not at all comfortable if you try to straighten them out. The sling lends itself to holding a baby in this flexed position. Movement stimulates the baby's ability to pull out of this little ball into extension. The very act of carrying the infant helps the infant to pull out of the flexion it is held comfortably in. In fact the muscle tone in the neck and back is greatly enhanced in babies who are worn.

When a baby wants to be more upright to see the world around him (around 4-5 months of age), the carrier should allow him to sit cross-legged, so his weight is dissipated through his legs and hips, as opposed to the style that has his legs hanging down, where again the young spine has to bear the entire weight and can cut into the baby's circulation by holding his legs apart in a bowlegged manner during the important early months when the pelvis is soft and forming. (R. Casses, D.C.)

With a conventional baby carrier (front and back types) the weight is carried on the parent's shoulder. This puts a strain on the neck, shoulders, and lower back. With our Over The Shoulder Baby Holder a child can easily be carried until three years old on the hip. The weight is evenly distributed across the shoulder, back and hip.

A baby's spine is placed in a compromising position in many of today's popular carriers. If the carrier positions the infant upright, with legs hanging down and support at the base of the child's spine, it puts undue stress on the spine causing a condition called spodylolistheses, and compromises developing curves in the spine.