By Aga Cummins
Only in the last 10 thousand years did we start settlements. Only since then it’s safe to put the baby away and have it safe from predators. In terms of evolution it’s not long. Picking up and being carried by us is a survival need. Back 5 mins ago humans were not the strongest species. It was in our interest to have a baby quiet as we were moving not to attract a predator. It’s a natural instinct to pick up the baby when they are upset.
2 ways of carrying for young:
1. FOLLOWERS (when born are a miniature version of parents)
2. HIDERS (born in a nest, helpless when born, very silent, can only move slightly, fat milk content in mothers)
For years people thought humans are hiders. It’s obvious we are not followers.
Bergnard Hassenstain, a German biologist, came up with a new category. He proposed PARENT CLINGERS in 1970ies. When born are helpless, their senses function unlike with nesters. Their skeleton is built to help to grasp their mother’s fur. They have a very long period of being minded as are so vulnerable. This behaviour is typical for primates, e.g. chimps. Baby chimps may cling to the fur of their mother but are not able to care for themselves in other situations of life. So, they don’t get lost if the mother swings from tree to tree.
Young followers only cry out when they are abandoned. Nesters are crying out when taken out of the nest. Parent clingers cry out: hunger, pain however existential upset is when they don’t feel the body of a caretaker.
Human beings don’t have fur any more to let their offspring cling to. So, human newborns are not able to cling to their mother independently but need to be assisted by her or its father. Newborns have to be carried and therefore are called “passive parent-clinger”.
Babywearing is a perfect solution to this predicament. Babies are attached to the primary caregiver’s torso to mimic the primates clinging.
Dr. Evelin Kirkilionis studied Biology and Human Ethology and worked on the topic of carrying babies and basic needs of children for more than 20 years. In her doctoral thesis Evelin Kirkilionis gives evidence that human babies are adapted to be carried because of various behavioural patterns, physiological and anatomical characteristics. Moreover, she demonstrated that babies are adapted to always be in close contact with their parents/primary caregivers and to be carried in upright posture. Her research defeated the common opinion in the nineties, that babies shouldn’t be carried upright before an age where they could sit by themselves. She proved that babies are adapted to be carried in an upright posture with a straddled and squatted leg position. And she verified that carried children do not fall sick more often with any spinal diseases or show an increase of bad postures than children who weren’t carried as babies. New medical data confirmed her research. In fact some doctors made the best of it; parents or nurses often wrapped the little ones up with the joyous result that the survival chances of these premature infants were increased. Metabolic and physiological factors were found for the lower susceptibility to stress.
In her book ‘The Baby Wants to be Carried’ she takes us along our distant ancestors to the present, the physical development of a child and special situations, everything is discussed. The logic of wearing children is explained on the basis of historical, cultural, psychological and physiological aspects. Dr. Kirkiluinis gives a clear explanation about why an ergonomic carrier is preferable to a non-ergonomic carrier. Furthermore, the posture of a child in a sling or carrier is discussed and all existing slings and carriers are presented.