Up to what age can we carry children?
If you are an advocate for porting, do not have problems transporting your children up to one age or another, there are no rules.
In recent years, a new way of carrying babies around has been gaining momentum. This is the portage , which involves transporting small carrying them ourselves, either back or front by backpacks, scarves or any of the multiple carriers that can be found today.
But is this way of taking babies with us really new?
Index
THE PORTING
The defenders of porting (we speak in feminine since it is mostly women who claim this form of transport of babies as the best) will say that the opposite is true. Reason is not lacking. Porting is the most natural and ancestral way for mothers to transport their children. The really novel could be considered the strollers and baby seats. Until not long ago, the only way that existed to carry babies with her was by carrying them in her own arms and, failing that, using an instrument that served as a baby carrier.and will help you hold it to your body. In the cities, in the countryside even while planting … seeing children attached to their mothers’ bodies was common. Today, indigenous tribes continue to practice porting as the only way to transport babies.
What these supporters of porting defend is precisely this idea: the natural and ancestral nature of porting and as a consequence (or perhaps as a cause of it) the multiple benefits that affect both the mother and the babies.
PORTING ADVANTAGES
If we talk about the baby, the benefits are numerous. On a purely postural level, carrying seems to favor the baby’s natural position much more than strollers. By being attached to the mother’s body, from the front, the baby’s legs acquire a suitable position, as well as his spinal column, which seems to be more prepared to take this position than lying down in these first moments. In addition, since babies are lying on their backs too frequently, the appearance of cranial deformities such as plagiocephaly is favored. On the other hand, in carrying, the risk of deforming the skull of babies in any way is avoided, especially if they are premature . There are so many advantages at this level that most physiotherapists advocate carrying on the buggies or pushchairs.
Carrying is also beneficial for the baby at other levels and areas of development . Some criticize the carrying, arguing that the baby’s vision is limited, as he cannot see his surroundings as when he is lying in the carriage. Well, this argument does not make much sense if you think that babies, in the first months of life, do not have fully developed vision and will not see what is not very close to their eyes. From the carriage, a newborn baby will not even be able to make out its mother’s face clearly. On the other hand, when you go in the carrying position, you will be constantly stimulated: you will see the mother’s face, her expressions, hear her voice more clearly … All these situations favor the baby’s development of communication and language. In addition, at the affective and socio-emotional level, carrying is also a source of stimulation, both for the baby and for its mother, reinforcing the bonds of attachment.
We constantly talk about mothers but it is obvious that the use of baby carriers can also be done by fathers. What’s more, as we say, it is a very favorable situation to develop bonds also in their case with their babies.
UNTIL WHEN CAN WE CARRY THE CHILDREN?
The detractors of the carrying also indicate the discomfort in the back that the carrying can generate to mothers and fathers. Once again, physiotherapists indicate that carried out correctly, carrying does not damage the back, since the weight will be at chest level and well distributed.
It is clear, however, that when the child reaches a considerable age, carrying is made difficult by the child’s own weight. In addition, once children acquire autonomous walking, they will prefer to explore their environment by walking and this is also how it should be. Walking allows children to explore their surroundings from another point of view and is essential for motor and cognitive development.
However, we cannot say that there is an age when carrying is no longer recommended. It is a decision that depends on the parents and the child himself . We should not force him to keep carrying it if he prefers to move autonomously or if he already feels “too old” to go all day on the neck of father or mother in the baby carrier. There will be some times when you are more tired or when you simply prefer to be in contact with your parents. Like so many other things, we will be able to leave the porting little by little. In general, at the age of three or four years, carrying ceases to be functional for both parents and children, but it is they ultimately who must decide when the time has come to stop carrying.
Dr. Tabriella Perivolaris, Sara's mother and fan of fashion, beauty, motherhood, among others, about the female universe. Since 2018 she has been working as a copywriter, always bringing to her articles a little of her experience and experience as a mother and woman.