Although women were still responsible for the bulk of the child rearing tasks, gone were the days of schlepping laundry to the river or cooking over a huge, outdoor open flame, thanks to the invention of creature comforts like the oven, washing machine and icebox. As a result, the baby sling sort of lost its appeal. Later in the 50s and 60s, when formula feeding virtually replaced breast feeding, baby wearing sort of became a thing of the past. But now, thanks to the resurgence of nursing and all the buzz about parent-child bonding, baby wearing is making a strong comeback, much to the delight of experts in the field of infant development. Although Klaus and Kennel emphasized the importance of such contact during the first few days of the baby's life, additional research has shown that the feelings of love that a parent feels for his or her child develop over time as the parent and child get to know each other, not only in the first few moments or hours after birth.
Science seems to say that it is.
A study done in early 1997 suggests that infants who were held a minimum of three hours a day cried considerably less than children in the study who were not held as long, as often or nearly at all. The carried babies not only cried less when they were in the arms of or worn by a caregiver, they also cried less when they were put down. Other studies, like those done by Dr. George Engle in Rochester, New York, show that if interaction with an infant is limited during feeding, he or she will not digest food properly. But, when a child is held, and talked to and played with while feeding, nutrients will be better absorbed by the body. The most convincing argument about the need for human contact by babies began in 1997 at the St. Christopher Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.