If done correctly, carrying baby in a sling can be safer than carrying a baby in her arms. There is no sling of muscles that get tired, or hands that we are always able to insure. But anyway, the children's safety is always paramount. We offer you a few tips that relate to the child's safety when carrying it in a sling. You are responsible for the safety of your child, as well as for her.

No matter what you choose to sling, you just need to learn how to use it and to think about the safety of the child.

A few safety rules, which can not be neglected:

• Parents should make sure that the child can breathe. Sling allows parents to go about their business as their hands were free, but that is no reason not to take care of their child. None of the sling may not provide your child with a constant flow of air. It should check the parents.
• Do not carry the baby so that his chin touched his chest. This rule applies to all children who are on hand in a sling, in the seat, or in any other similar devices. This situation could interfere with the child breathe. Newborns are not so well controlled muscles to open the airway. The child should be comfortable to lie on his back, to his chin touched his chest.
• Parents should not allow that person or the child's head was covered with a cloth. Cover the head and face of the child can lead to a child has inhaled exhaled air, which is dangerous for the health of the child. In addition, if the baby's head is covered, parents can check whether everything is normal with the child. Parents should be sure that their child is no air. It is necessary to frequently check the condition of the baby.
• When carrying the baby in a sling parents can not run, jump or engage in any other physical activity, which is accompanied by shaking or bouncing. Experts say that such movement can damage the neck, spine and / or brain of the child.
• Never use a sling when you are traveling in the car. Unlike car seats, slings soft tissue does not provide the proper level of security.
• Parents should use a sling, which is suitable for the baby age and weight. For example, ergonomic backpacks can be used for hiking with babies and toddlers, but they are not suitable for children who can not sit unaided for a longer period. The backpack, which is usually put on the front, you can carry a child weighing from 5 to 12 kilograms. Children with less weight can simply slip out of the sling, and the guys bigger cause discomfort in those who put on a sling.

A few tips for everyday safety

• Parents should regularly inspect the slings and check them for defects. Particular care is necessary to check the seams, fabric, buckle and other fastening each time you use the sling. Do not use a sling if you find that it is something wrong.
• While walking with a child is sometimes viewed in reflecting the image of the surface - for example, car windows or shop windows - using them as a mirror to check the baby's position.
• It is not recommended to visit with the child in a sling places where there is an increased risk of falling. For example, the risk of falling is increased when you climb the stairs, ride a horse or a bike, skate. The risk also increases fall on slippery surfaces when you go bowling, sailing or exploring caves. When a child is in the womb, he gets a "built-in" protection from falling, but the child in her arms or in a sling does not have this protection. So no need to go to those places and engage in such activities.
• If you need to wear protective clothing to some classes, you do not have to wear a sling on top. Fixtures for transporting children does not provide for the protection of eyes, ears, protection against flying particles, which come from lawnmowers, protection from smoke and dust that occur in the process of mowing the lawn or washing dishes. Slings also provide fall protection.
• Protect your child from bad weather conditions.
• Hands and head need to be protected from the sun. Parents are not worth putting your child is very warm in the summer; do not use a sling if the outdoor temperature is so high that the child can get heat stroke. Do not let your child get cold in the winter. Now there are many jackets and coats, especially sewn for slings, but you can also improvise and develop their own design.
• Be attentive to what a child can reach, if it is in a sling on your back.
• Carrying the baby in your arms or in a sling - a very important job that you can be trusted to a responsible adult who is not afraid of risk.
• It is not necessary to wear a baby in a sling when doing cooking in the kitchen, as this increases the possibility of burns. If a child in her arms, or in the sling, it is located at a height plate, and it is likely that the child can get burned.
• When you drive a boat is better to keep the baby in a sling, and not on the hands, or better yet put on it a special suit or a life preserver. Unfortunately, slings are not compatible with such devices. Moreover, if you fell into the water with the child, who was strapped to you sling straps, you expose a child in serious danger.

Instructions for the study of new slings

Most parents easily learn how to wear a baby in a sling or front side, but even in these cases, the baby should be kept to hand as long as you are not completely sure that it is securely mounted in a sling. Slings that are put on the back, more complex, but give more freedom. For parents carrying children on their backs more convenient. The following tips apply to all types of slings, but special attention should be paid to them users slings that are worn on the back:

• To start practicing on a doll or teddy bear. If you understand the instructions for the sling, it is only the first step, now we need to understand the principle of its fastening. Having made several attempts without a child, you will be able to remember a sequence of actions when dealing with sling.
• It is best to test a new sling with a child when both you and the child is well rested and in a good mood.
• You need a supervisor or supervisors. It must be an adult who will take responsibility for your child. The observer must be ready at any time to pick up your child if he will fall.
• Use a mirror.
• Start small. It is better to start to practice using the sling, sending the child to the floor on the sofa, getting up and picking up your child for a.

Among the many useful items intended for babies and care for them, only one has been more than a century is a fierce debate among parents. Reconcile them can not even pediatricians, because of their views on this issue is also very controversial. Nevertheless, many generations of children grew up happily, peacefully snoring in bed with a pacifier in his mouth. According to surveys conducted in Western countries, the nipple to the baby often becomes necessary to subject 85% of the children can not do without it in the first months and years of life.

Potential problems associated with non-nutritive sucking

Many mothers rely on pacifiers help when their child is worried and can not sleep. Of course, for parents in these difficult situations nipple becomes a good assistant, but whether all children need this help?

Despite the fact that the sucking reflex appears in the unborn child in the fifth month of fetal development and accompanies the baby during the first year of life, sucking the nipple to the baby is not a necessity. In the first 4-6 weeks of a newborn is much more important as often as possible to be at the breast to stimulate milk production in mothers. To offer him a pacifier in the period of breast-feeding rather rashly: There are several studies that show that children who received early pacifier, breastfeeding lasted less than three months. But if the nipple has served the cause of failure of the baby from the breast, or, on the contrary, serious difficulties with breastfeeding mother forced to resort to using pacifiers? This question pediatricians do not give a clear answer.

A child receives breast milk is not for the regime, and on-demand, always able to satisfy their sucking reflex, so the nipple is not an urgent need for it. But it also happens that the child does not want to take the breast, because it is already satisfied, however, it continues to be capricious, and not having to satisfy their need to suck. If such a situation does not offer the child a pacifier, then soon he will find a way to solve the problem, started to suck his fingers, but this is not the best alternative pacifier.

Possible difficulties with breastfeeding in children, early accustomed to the nipple - is not the only issue that bothers pediatricians. Several studies have shown that baby pacifiers - perfect habitat for mikroorganizov. Most of them are not able to cause any serious diseases, but fungi of the genus Candida and staphylococci still to be feared. According to the study, which was attended by 10 thousand very young people in the UK, 36% of children who are accustomed to the "dummy", colic and ear pain occurred significantly more frequently than in 40% of infants who do not know what the nipple, and 21 % of children prefer to suck his fingers. But the health of 2, 7% of children, and sucking a pacifier, and fingers, too, was not up to par.

The relationship between the non-nutritive sucking and otitis media Otitis - than could face an ear infection   seriously worried pediatricians in recent years. The fact that the nipple to the baby is indeed a risk factor for otitis media, talk and studies conducted in 22 countries. All because of the structural features of the eustachian tube in children, through the fistula which pathogens is not too difficult to get out of the mouth and throat to the middle ear.

Sucking nipples - it is also the additional risk of infections of the gastrointestinal tract, accompanied by vomiting, fever, diarrhea and colic, which will inevitably cause a reference to the pediatrician.

However, kids, long tied to the nipple, become part of patients not only pediatricians but also dentists. Until now, it has not been proven conclusively whether Dummy cause early tooth decay More about caries - take care of your teeth until it's too late , But malocclusion, associated with its use in children are very common, and, according to the American Dental Association, the most significant malocclusion Malocclusion - what if the mouth is not so as it is necessary?   there are children who continue sucking the nipple over 48 months. Unfortunately, a comparative study of traditional and orthodontic pacifiers form showed no significant differences from their use: no problems with the bite of a child for a long time sucking the nipple - a rare and happy exception.

What is the use of pacifiers

But it is not all that bad. Like any ambiguous phenomenon that causes a lot of disputes, non-nutritive sucking can not be considered occupation certainly harmful.

In 2005, the medical journal Bristish published a study conducted by researchers at the University of California (USA). Physicians interested in what is the relationship between pacifier use and the risk of sudden infant death syndrome Sudden Infant Death Syndrome - the cause has not yet been found   (SIDS). Comparing the two groups of 185 infants who died of SIDS and 312 healthy children, the researchers made an unexpected conclusion: the use of pacifiers significantly reduces the risk of SIDS, especially in children who sleep on their sides on a soft mattress or are exposed to passive smoking. It is noteworthy that thumb sucking was not less conspicuous protective factor. However, doctors are in no hurry to call the parents immediately give a pacifier in his mouth every baby as a causal relationship between non-nutritive sucking and reduced risk of SIDS requires further study.

The annual analysis of the national health service of the United Kingdom shows that premature babies have learned to suck on a pacifier, quickly get used to the bottle and suck it more efficiently, getting the necessary nutrition. Using a pacifier can reduce the duration of hospital stay in preterm infants.

Specialists American Academy of Pediatrics acknowledged nipples a means to relieve pain in newborn infants aged up to six months. During vaccination, blood sampling from the finger and veins and other small medical interventions nipple can be a great help for the baby.

Parents need to decide to give or not to give the baby a pacifier, for reasons of good for the child, but certainly not for their own convenience and peace of mind. However, the nipple may be useful only in the first six months of baby's life. From 6 to 10 months, the risks begin to outweigh the benefits of its use, and after two years, it has the benefits of not going.