With leadership from the nonprofit organization Babywearing International, Inc., volunteers and advocacy groups around the world are teaming up to raise awareness about babywearing during International Babywearing Week, September 21-28, 2009.

The term “babywearing” means carrying a baby or young child using a cloth baby carrier. Babywearing allows parents to have both hands free while carrying their children, and research indicates that this practice has numerous benefits for children.

A study published in the journal Pediatrics in 1986 found that 6-week-old babies carried at least three hours a day in a soft carrier cried and fussed 43 percent less than others overall, and 51 percent less in the evening hours. Another study, published in the journal Child Development in 1990, found that mothers who were given cloth carriers at birth were more responsive to their babies and had babies who were more securely attached than mothers who received plastic infant seats.

(Source) Press