Babywearing, What Do You Know?

By Catherine Bartholomew and Jennifer Rosenberg

Babywearing is a term that is used most often to refer to the practice of carrying a baby on your body in a soft carrier. Many people who hear this wonder why this practice would be important, and why they should learn about it. Many advocates feel it is a lost art in our modern society where we have come to depend on all sorts of other devices that are marketed to hold and contain your baby.

In a modern culture of "hands off" parenting, carrying babies is more important than ever before. Numerous reliable studies have proven that carrying babies helps babies regulate their internal systems, facilitates nursing and bonding, and reduces crying.

For new mothers who feel as if they are tied to the sofa or rocking chair with hungry newborns, a baby carrier can allow her to use both of her hands to go to the bathroom, prepare a quick lunch, or go on errands. A baby carrier can also keep a baby safe from curious strangers, especially during the cold and flu season. Baby carriers can help reconcile the ideal “hands on” parenting with the practical need for hands-free parenting. It is appealing to parents, this idea that they can meet their babies needs while also continuing to function in other ways.

This last summer during the first weekend of August, the first Babywearing Conference was held in Portland, Oregon. Attendees, vendors, and speakers came from all over the United States and the World to learn more about babywearing, look at popular carriers, and meet those who are known in the babywearing community. The conference was put on by Nine In, Nine Out (NINO) an international non-profit organization that is dedicated to promoting babywearing. This was a big step to all those who are dedicated to advocating babywearing.

So why should a doula or midwife be actively looking for information about babywearing? Quite simply, babywearing has changed. How many methods do you know for wearing a baby? How many kinds of carriers are you familiar with? Do you know what brands are available on the market today? Do you see slings as gear, or clothing? If your client is having trouble with a carrier, do you know how to help her improve with it, or find something better?

Why does it matter? It matters because the right carrier, used correctly, can make the difference between attachment and detachment parenting. It matters because the right help early on can change the whole flavor of the parent-child relationship. It matters most for those most at risk, where the difference between safety and hazard can simply be how close a mother can keep her child and still feel capable of functioning. 10 years ago, there were less than a dozen “well known” brands, and most people were only really confident with one or two specific brands of carrier. While for many parents, the options were adequate, many parents ended up arm carrying or using buckets and strollers more than they wanted to simply because what they could find was not quite sufficient for the kind of long use they wanted.

There are now close to 1000 different brands of carrier in close to a dozen categories. 10 years ago, mei tais were a curiosity of traditional babywearing not taken seriously by most western babywearers. They are now an essential part of most babywearer’s wardrobes. And carriers have moved firmly away from the realm of “baby gear” and solidly into the realm of ‘clothing”. Interest in traditional babywearing has surged, and combinations of wearing methods now make babywearing more comfortable and attractive than it has ever been. We've gone beyond adequate into the realm of comfortable, gorgeous and truly hands-free.

One of the most telling moments of the conference came when longtime babywearing advocate Barbara Wishingrad of The Rebozo Way project, who has been wearing babies since the mid 1980’s, commented, “You know, this weekend I learned so much about babywearing!” Even for midwives with decades of babywearing experience, there is still something new to be learned, and the babywearing renaissance is just beginning. Go to www.thebabywearer.com. Read the articles. Read the reviews. Join the forums. And look up your local NINO chapter.

Imagine a library of carriers that mamas can try on in order to figure out which carrier might work best for them, before they buy. Imagine a group of mamas comfortable and confident with many styles of carrier, ready and willing to help parents new to the concept or interested in expanding their skills. Tap into the expertise of your local babywearers. Have a client with special needs? Or someone who just isn’t comfortable with your favorite brand? NINO meetings provide a friendly, helpful venue where you and your clients can find help, explore new carriers both modern and traditional, and improve skills.