Preserving Ancestral Traditions through Babywearing
Babywearing has been around for millions of years, since the first humans on earth began making baby carriers. Nomadic early humans began baby wearing to keep their little ones safe and close. Humans are biologically adapted to carry their infants. There are various cultures, traditions, and beliefs across the world because baby wearing is an instinctive and primal parenting lifestyle. Many indigenous cultures from across the globe continues to preserve their traditional childrearing practices through baby wearing, whether that’s through passing down cloth carriers, cradleboards, rattan basket carriers, etc. to the next parent-to-be within their lineage. As an ancestral birthworker, I often encourage my clients to look deep into their traditional childrearing practices from their own families and ethnic identities (if they aren’t already doing this) as part of our birth planning and postpartum planning. Preserving our ancestral traditions in the childbearing journey is an innate practice for our deep longing to belong and to be in community.
“Many carriers have multi-uses. For earlier civilizations, it made sense to carry your baby; the world was full of sickness and predators and baby carrying kept your child from becoming a target of infection, wild animals, poisonous plants, climate exposure (snow, sleet, wind, rain), and other threats to child’s health. Also, it made it easier for women, whom the family unit relied upon heavily for day-to-day functioning, to return to work much more quickly. They were able to carry about regular chores such as cooking, cleaning, harvesting, skinning, tanning, caring for other family members, and going to market, with their child, who was dependent upon them for food and comfort, in close proximity.”—CuddleBug
