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Saturday, January 11, 2014

It's All About Saftey

I get questions all the time about safe babywearing. My non-babywearing friends especially like to question if carriers are safe. I'll admit, it can look pretty scary at times if you don't understand what is going on. You will find that most carriers are rated up to at least 35lbs and woven wraps can actually carry a full size adult safely! There are certain rules that we follow by. The best way to remember the basics of babywearing saftey is TICKS.

Tight
In view at all times
Close enough to kiss
Keep chin off chest
Supported back

These are all super important, especially when wearing a newborn because they are more prone to potentially dangerous breathing positions when in carriers. Also, as a side note some carriers are just downright dangerous. One that I will point out are the bag slings. These can be found often on craigslist and if you have purchased the infantino brand you can actually send it in to be exhanged for another type of safe carrier. Because of the baby laying in the cradle position in the carrier babies airways may become restricted and cause them to stop breathing. THESE ARE DANGEROUS, PLEASE DO NOT USE THEM! If you want to read more about these carriers or want to make sure your sling is safe head over to one of my favorite ring sling companies, Sleeping Baby Productions and read away. As a babywearing educator, we do not recommend carrying a baby in a cradle hold regardless of the carrier because of potential dangers that come along with this position. The only time that cradle carrying is ok is while breastfeeding and the baby should be moved into an upright position immediately after they are finished. If you are breastfeeding in a cradle position please keep an eye on your baby at all times. 

The babywearing industry has been making additional strides at really regulating baby carriers so they are as safe as possible for the consumer. Baby carriers are only as safe as the person doing the wearing chooses to be however so please keep this in mind. You should not do anything while babywearing that you would not do while pregnant. These kind of activities include jumping on a trampoline, running, riding a bike, riding horses, and so on. Use your imagination and you can probably think of a few more. This may go without saying but you should also not babywear while driving a car. All babies are required to be in car seats in the US. Please follow this law. Car seats is a whole other topic we can tackle if you want, just not now. 

What Have We Been Up To

Yesterday was a heavy babywearing day for me. Hannah has decided that she still does not like her naps and I ended up carrying her for several hours throughout the day including while she napped. She also hung out on  my back while I roasted chicken and made lunch. 

A quick note about cooking and babywearing since we are discussing saftey. Some people have a pretty strict no babywearing and cooking rule. Babywearing while cooking does open your child up to things like splatter from hot liquids, grabbing height of things like knives, etc. We babywearing while cooking because my child is running around the kitchen while I'm cooking anyway and has a stretch armstrong reach while on the floor so regardless we have to be concerned about these things. I just proceed with caution and if I'm cooking bacon she gets to hang out with daddy far far away.









It was a pretty gorgeous day yesterday with temps in the 60's at least if not in the 70's. Our neighbor invited Hannah and I on a walk so we walked the neighborhood while babywearing and ended at the park so Hannah could get dirty and play. While we were on our walk we passed the local elementary and had a dad mention our babywearing and how he loved to wear his baby when they were little. I love comments like these. In top of that we got a pretty decent workout so I can't complain. 

As soon as we got home, Will decided he wanted to go shopping so we headed out for blackout curtains in hope that would solve our napping issue (it hasn't by the way). Since Will brought his carrier in the house and forgot to grab it for the trip, I actually ended up wearing while shopping which is fairly abnormal for us. We enjoyed our nice quiet trip and finished off the day eating dinner at Mama Fu's. If you one of these by you and you haven't went yet I highly recommend them. Not only is their food delicious and not too badly priced they are so amazingly child friendly. We had at least three staff stop by just to interact with little stinker and they gave us an extra fortune cookie for unborn baby. This all makes this mama super happy.

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About Me

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My husband, William and I moved to Austin in July of 2008. We own two chihuahuas and a sickly cat that will never die. We are proud homeowners in a very stepwives looking neighborhood and are friendly with almost all the neighbors (the ones we like at least). We have been blessed with one beautiful baby girl and have another baby on the way of yet to be determined gender.