You see them everywhere – at the park, in stores and in restaurants. Baby carriers have become a baby shower staple, with moms-to-be from all walks of life discussing the merits of particular brands and styles.

Kristy Powers from Frostburg, Md., loved hers. "We used a [baby carrier] we [got] from birth to right about now – our son is a year old," Powers says. "We loved it because he was always content and comfortable in it. I didn't think about it as bonding, maybe because we couldn't have eye contact with him, but he certainly felt safe and happy in it. In his stroller, he tends to squirm and want to get out after a while. He never wanted to get out of [the carrier]."

Other moms, like Jennifer Lewy, from Watertown, Mass., swear by them. "My daughter was cranky and cried a lot when she was very little," Lewy says. "From birth until about 3 months, there was only one sure thing that soothed her: putting her into a sling that I wore. She would fuss for a minute or two, and then relax. Crying and fussing would stop completely. She became calm and looked around at the world from the safety of her perch on my chest. Most often she would doze and I could carry her around the house, or around the block, while she napped. We used the sling every day, sometimes for several hours."

Lewy says the sling helped her calm down and sleep and helped her rest during the day. She believes that being in the sling soothed her daughter because she could feel her mother's heartbeat and hear her voice vibrate.

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