Many baby experts, especially those of the attachment parenting school, advocate using a baby sling or similar baby carrying device. Doing so allows you to keep your bay close by at all times while still allowing you to keep your hands free to do other things.
It should come as no surprise that being in a baby sling helps babies to fall asleep. After all, it not only puts them very close to you, which is comforting to them, but it also gives them some motion. If you walk around with your baby in a baby sling, you are accomplishing pretty much the same thing as you would if you put her in a car seat and went for a drive or took her for a walk in a stroller.
Motion makes us sleepy. It’s even true for adults. If we’re not actively driving, cars, buses, and airplanes are among the easiest places to catch 40 winks. It’s a well established fact that taking babies on a car or stroller ride helps them fall asleep. It only makes sense that taking them for a walk in a sling would accomplish the same thing.
With the sling, however, you have the added benefit that baby is close to you. Most parents love having baby so close, and babies certainly like it, too.
Of course, if baby is in a sling, you don’t really need to go very far to give her the motion she needs to help her doze off. It isn’t even necessary to go for a walk. Since your hands are free, you can just walk around your home or apartment and your baby will experience all the soothing motion she needs to fall asleep.
You could even do household chores. If you vacuum or run the dishwasher or clothes dryer, you get the added benefit of adding white noise, which also helps many babies fall asleep. Most experts believe the white noise reminds babies of sounds they heard while they were in the womb.
Some parents have found that slings are useful for introducing their babies to the idea of a sleep schedule. They put baby in the sling when it’s time for a nap, and keep him in there until he is in a deep sleep. Anytime it’s time to sleep, they put baby into the baby sling. Soon, baby associates the sling with relaxing and falling asleep.