Wear All The Babies! – International Babywearing Week 2014

By Ashley Wright | October 9, 2014 3 Comments

It’s International Babywearing Week 2014 and I decided it was time to write a blog post about how and why I got into babywearing. Other than the main fact that ain’t nobody got time to be assembling a stroller and pushing it around, getting stuck in between clothing aisles in stores, while carrying your baby in one arm because he/she starts fussing and wants to be breastfed. O_O

HA! That made me laugh.
It all started when I was rocking my baby shower gift, crotch-dangler type, carrier thinking I was cool, and a “crunchy” mama who took the oath (which many of us have). You know the one that says, “to project our parenting styles and pertinent safety information that we believe is right and the best onto every mother we see (cus we are experts), so that no baby will suffer ever all in the name of world peace and natural parenting.” Yeah, that one. Well she told me that my carrier could cause hip dysplasia in my beautiful Baby Shannon. According to Medical City Kids Orthopedics, hip dysplasia is a “deformity of the hip joint” which “often occurs as a result of either over- or undertoned muscles around the hip that cause the joint to become misaligned”. O_o

Immediately, I was like “OMG! Oh No! Show me your ways Ms. Wise One…” It was at that moment, she made me take the oath and I was inducted into my first level of crunchiness and I never rocked a crotch-dangler ever again. I actually hid them somewhere too.

Nonetheless, I became an avid babywearer after acquiring my first ergonomically correct soft structured carrier (SSC), which was a Beco Soleil Baby Carrier. I absolutely fell in love with it as it allowed me to be completely hands free and navigate everywhere with ease. From then on I became addicted and now have multiple carriers. That might sound expensive but there’s always the option of second hand baby equipment from places like Shoppok if you want to do the same for less. It really is such a convenient way to transport your baby so I’d highly recommend taking a look.

Shannon is happy on me.

I am happy she is on me.

And we are happy to be together. Plus she’s the best doubles partner.

However, Babywearing is not just about having your baby tethered to your body so you can be hands free. I believe it to be a sacred practice that strengthens the physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual bond between mother and child.

As a mother wears her baby, she provides comfort and peace to her baby and herself (as child remains in sight), all while stimulating great breastmilk production (skin to skin), releasing “feel-good” bonding (oxytocin) hormones, attributing to her child’s independence and sense of security, building child’s social skills as they are close to mom to study her interactions, facial expressions and body language and allowing mom to be more aware of their cues so child feels no need, nor is taught to scream to get mother’s attention.

Not to forget to mention, Babywearing is also an art form and I am most definitely an artist; as I am a creator of Godseeds! Us women are creators of Godseeds.

So wear all the babies and be merry! I would love to show you how and help you connect to your child in every way possible.

A FB babywearing group that I am a member of is: SoCal Babywearers

Baby carriers come in five types: wraps, ring slings, pouch slings, Mei Tais and soft structured carriers, also called buckle carriers. All of the designs allow babies to be worn on the parent’s chest, side or back.

Now if only I could get my hands on some more wraps…

Links to Carriers Pictured: Tula Baby Carrier

Sakura Bloom ; Onya Baby Carrier ; Girasol Woven Wraps ; Tekhni Wovens