When looking for history on the subject of "carrying children" we find depictions that mostly show the poorer sections of the population. People were always on the move - traveling or at work - and children had to be taken along. The stroller was only invented at the end of the 19th century.
The painting by Adriaan van de Velde (1636-1672) “Three Riders in Front of the Inn” (Museum of Fine Arts Leipzig) shows that children were accompanied on journeys and carried in cloths.
When the pram was made acceptable by Queen Victoria, it quickly found its way into the better-off circles. There it had long been customary to have children looked after by wet nurses and nannies. The relationship between mothers and their children was distant. It was a sign of wealth to employ staff to look after the children, and the pram also became a sign of wealth.
Carrying the baby became less and less important. In the early 20th century, closeness and the satisfaction of needs were equated with pampering, and when powdered milk was successfully produced in 1950, even feeding and thus all care for the baby could take place outside the family.
In 1970, the biologist Bernhard Hassenstein introduced the "carrying" type of boy. Carrying is characterized by good hand and foot grasping reflexes for holding on to the mother. Humans are passive carriers, meaning that newborns are not able to hold on by themselves. They are dependent on the mother for support. Other characteristics of carrying are partially immature sensory organs and unstable temperature regulation.
In the past, people were wrongly described as nestlings and were therefore cared for as such. According to Hassenstein, babies are a special type with their own needs. They need to be close to their mother as well as warmth and physical contact in order to continue to mature and develop well. By carrying babies in a sling, we meet all of these needs. It has been popular again in our latitudes since the 1980s. Carrying is encouraged by midwives, breastfeeding groups and doctors.
Source: Bernhard Hassenstein, Evelin Kirkilionis: The human infant, nestling or carrier? In: Science and Progress 42/1992
The painting by Adriaan van de Velde (1636-1672) “Three Riders in Front of the Inn” (Museum of Fine Arts Leipzig) shows that children were accompanied on journeys and carried in cloths.
When the pram was made acceptable by Queen Victoria, it quickly found its way into the better-off circles. There it had long been customary to have children looked after by wet nurses and nannies. The relationship between mothers and their children was distant. It was a sign of wealth to employ staff to look after the children, and the pram also became a sign of wealth.
Carrying the baby became less and less important. In the early 20th century, closeness and the satisfaction of needs were equated with pampering, and when powdered milk was successfully produced in 1950, even feeding and thus all care for the baby could take place outside the family.
In 1970, the biologist Bernhard Hassenstein introduced the "carrying" type of boy. Carrying is characterized by good hand and foot grasping reflexes for holding on to the mother. Humans are passive carriers, meaning that newborns are not able to hold on by themselves. They are dependent on the mother for support. Other characteristics of carrying are partially immature sensory organs and unstable temperature regulation.
In the past, people were wrongly described as nestlings and were therefore cared for as such. According to Hassenstein, babies are a special type with their own needs. They need to be close to their mother as well as warmth and physical contact in order to continue to mature and develop well. By carrying babies in a sling, we meet all of these needs. It has been popular again in our latitudes since the 1980s. Carrying is encouraged by midwives, breastfeeding groups and doctors.
Source: Bernhard Hassenstein, Evelin Kirkilionis: The human infant, nestling or carrier? In: Science and Progress 42/1992
