International Babywearing Week is Oct. 6th-12th, 2010. You may have heard about the warning the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently issued about the dangers of using baby slings. Unfortunately they are placing all slings in the same category of danger and a lot of my favorite sling making mommy businesses (like
Hotslings) have gone out of business because of it. The "bag sling" type is the sling in question here, not all slings! Here is a post about
"bag slings" that all should read if unaware of the difference. Since the CPSC has issued their warning it has unfortunately caused unwarranted widespread panic and misinformation to circulate and now rumors are that they might actually try to do a
mass recall of all sling carriers!
Safety of the sling is all in the positioning of the baby in it. There are correct ways of positioning and there are wrong ways of positioning. Here is a great
PDF article about the positioning in different slings and holds. Here is
more about the subject to read about.
I am a big advocate of babywearing. I have carried all of my children in various carriers, slings and wraps until they got too big for me to. I am petite so it is difficult for me to carry them after a certain point, but my husband has also enjoyed the benefits to babywearing and since he is more robust than I he can carry the child for longer.
I love the bond I get with my babies and children when I carry them. I also love how easy and convenient it is to breastfeed on the go while babywearing. I am very fortunate that I can give my baby the best nutrition around and babywearing also lets me do this discreetly and modestly. I also can give my other children the one on one time they need with me and be hands free to do my multi-tasking.
Babywearing reminds the infant of the womb and soothes them. The rhythmic motion of the mother's walk and heartbeat is a familiarity that the baby knows. Baby is also more involved in the mother or father's world, cries less, and can take in more of the new world around them in a comfortable state of quiet awareness.
I believe that babywearing is beautiful! What more can I say? Please tell me of your favorite carrier, sling, or wrap and how you like to babywear your baby.
