How I Discovered Babywearing
Looking back, I think it’s safe to say that my love of babywearing began roughly seven years ago, a long time before my son was born last year. Before that, I had never even heard of babywearing. Well… I take that back… growing up my mom had given my sister and I some of our baby things to play with for our dolls and among those things was a “baby backpack.” Looking back I would describe it as an ancestor of today’s soft structured carriers. My mom had told us that she absolutely hated the thing and that my dad had used it occasionally. After I grew out of playing with dolls I forgot about it and never really gave it much thought. That is until I met one of my best friends.
I met Ireane a few years before I got married. She was the wife of a guy that my husband worked with and we hit it off pretty much immediately. Turns out… Ireane is a babywearing guru and self-proclaimed “hippy mama.” The first time I saw her wrap her son (her first and only at the time although she is now mom of three!) I was intrigued but too shy to ask her much about it. As we got to know each other better I started to ask questions and she was eager to answer them. When she found out that she was expecting her second son she showed me the new carriers that she was shopping for and explained to me how they were different. We also discussed breastfeeding which is another story but she opened my mind up to a mindset and world completely different from the vision that I had imagined motherhood to be like.
When the baby arrived I was lucky enough to be her first choice of babysitter and I was eager to help because her oldest (who was seven at the time) was a joy to spend time with and well, who doesn’t want to hold a baby! The first time she dropped her littles off at my house she also brought over one of her carriers. “Just in case David gets a little fussy,” she said. She showed me how to use it and explained why she had chosen this particular carrier for me: It was a soft structured carrier and the most intuitive to use. Sure enough… her exclusively breastfed infant got hungry while she was gone and was not impressed with my nonfunctional boobs. He kept trying to lick my shirt and was not amused when I tried explaining to him that mine did not work like his mom’s – surprise, surprise. My older charge was also unimpressed because his brother’s cries were hindering his ability to hear the movie he was watching so I put on the carrier, like Ireane had showed me, and let it work its magic. Baby settled within a minute or two and promptly fell asleep. You could say I was hooked.
I wanted to know more. I liked the concept of the carrier that I tried but I loved the way that Ireane looked so elegant and comfortable carrying her son in a wrap. One day while on a peach picking/wildflower excursion she let me try it. I was so excited. She wrapped me up with her son in his beautiful green Wrapsody baby wrap and let me snuggle her little one as we walked around. The wrap was much more supportive for me than the other carrier had been and it felt as if the baby were just a part of me. “This is what motherhood is about,” I thought to myself. Talk about baby fever!
Fast forward to 2015 when I found out I was pregnant. One of the very first things I did was start researching baby carriers! I knew that it would be something that I really wanted. However I had so many questions! I had no idea how many options there were and once I started researching there were so many choices and they came with terms that I couldn’t make heads or tails out of. I must have messaged Ireane a million times asking questions. Lucky for me she has the patience of a saint (probably from being the mom of three lovely boys) and didn’t seem to mind – at least not that she let on.
I pretty much had my heart set on a wrap but couldn’t decide which one. While researching I discovered a local babywearing group close to where I live and after a little hesitation decided to ask if I could attend a meeting while I was still pregnant. I wanted to have my carrier picked out before my son arrived. I had this vision in my head of wearing my newborn around while breastfeeding and wearing a wrap as a top (note: this was WAY harder than I had pictured it in my head and I never really figured out how to do it.) Luckily the babywearing group welcomed me with open arms and the moms there allowed me to try on their wraps and answered more questions for me. I was able to get a good idea about what size I needed and ask some questions about brands and places to purchase. As luck had it… turns out the group is run by two ladies who happen to own a babywearing STORE. That’s right… a store devoted to baby carriers and cloth diapers. So cool and helpful because I was able to go and TRY ON a couple of wraps before I purchased one. Why try before you buy? Because a baby carrier is like a piece of clothing – every carrier fits every body differently and the fit can be a very personal thing.
Two visits to the store later – because indecisive is my middle name- and I had picked out and purchased my first carrier: a Babylonia baby wrap in the color grape.
Photo courtesy of Babylonia.com