with a complete stranger. I shared a history of babywearing so how about the history of strollers!
Here is a cool picture history of strollers over at The Bird Feed NYC. And I also came across this written history by Gary Edwards, the owner of EveryDayStrollers.com which is a stroller review website. The thing that is interesting to me about strollers is that they originally started as a status item designed to mimic a horse and carriage. Strollers were built as a wealth symbol where traditional babywearing has been seen as a poverty symbol yet they both provide a form of transport for our little ones. Do, I prefer one over the other, most of the time but NOT all of the time. Gasp, I know!
Using a stroller is more than just a wealth versus poverty thing nowadays, it's a cultural thing. In America it is the accepted way to transport your baby. Accepted along with toting your child around in one of those infant carseats that are so stinking heavy. Yes, I own one of those too and will probably use my snap and go stroller with baby #2 if it fits into our lifestyle. It's so accepted in the US that most people don't even know about babywearing until they actually have a baby. It's completely normal to put your child in a contraption where they look at everyone's knees and have absolutely no contact with their care takers as someone pushes them around from behind. They actually tried to market strollers in Africa not too long ago and here is how far they got: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/African-mothers-see-baby-strollers-as-abhorrent-2757589.phpMy History of Strollers
I grew up in rural Michigan where you used a stroller or carried you baby in arms (or made someone else carry your baby in arms). It's still very much that way which is odd because you can get so much more done outside and in the rugged terrain without a stroller but it is what it is. As I have mentioned before, there is always a stroller option when we visit even though we never use it. We were the ONLY babywearers at a wedding this past summer with several other babies who wore cloth diapers (baby steps right). I'm not saying they go hand in hand but both are viewed as hippie actions so they often do go together. At the wedding I was told that people kept asking if I was trying some new contraption out for a company or something. I laughed and responded, sure, and I paid a lot of money to try this out for a company!
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| The Bumble Ride Queen B lived here for about 6 months |
I started as a stroller fanatic too! When I was pregnant I was obsessed with strollers. I had to find the exact right one for each situation and I for sure wanted an awesome deal on something amazing so I scoured craigslist for the perfect stroller. My parents bought us a BOB jogging stroller as a baby shower gift and because I was bound determine to start running post postpartum...hahahaha. That didn't happen. I also wanted something where I could actually see my tiny little baby when pushing them so I opted for this HUGE carraige/pram type stroller that I got used. We also got a snap and go stroller to use when out and about with our car seat because we had been warned about the dangers of putting your car seat on top of a shopping cart and I was not about to do that. Word to the wise, DO NOT PUT YOUR CAR SEATS ON TOP OF CARTS! It's very dangerous. Literally, babies have died this way. It is not safe. If you must bring your carseat with you put it inside the cart. Loosing room in your cart is much better than loosing your baby! That's my PSA for the day.  |
| I did not enjoy using this stroller when she was newborn but Will insisted, hence the blankets! |
Anyway, Hannah came along and I had my beginner babywearing stash and my awesome strollers. I was ready to take on the world. Except that I couldn't walk very far for weeks after giving birth so I'm super glad for the strollers because they offered me something to lean on while walking. We did mostly use the huge stroller at first because she could lay comfortably in it and I could see exactly what she was doing. When we went anywhere we would just take the car seat out and put it in the snap and go and off we went! It was easy and pretty awesome but do you know what I remember? I actually remember being super high anxiety when we used the stroller out and about because she would get fussy and we would have to do all these things to make her stop being fussy and it just ended up being a lot of stress! The non stressful times for us were when I was able to put her in the moby and she would sleep through our entire shopping trip. I still wasn't a full on convert though. Once she had a little more body and head control we did use the BOB more to walk the neighborhood because, well, it's amazing. That meant we used the huge carriage less and less because it didn't steer very well and it was super heavy so it really was only good for walking the neighborhood and the BOB was better. Then we decided to tell the big stroller. And then she outgrew her snap and go which made me very sad. We found a more toddler friendly stroller on Target on clearance and jumped on it cause it is a great brand. It mostly just sits in our garage now. It got used quite a bit at first because Will was still more comfortable with the stroller. Hannah got more and more unhappy being forced to ground level so we slowly made the transition to full on babywearing probably around 9 months or so.
So when do we actually use our strollers you might ask since clearly you know we typically babywear when shopping. When it gets hot down here, we use our strollers more for sure. Not a lot compared to the typical parent but when it's over 100 degrees, the last thing you want is another body attached directly to you. Trust me, I have done it in the middle of Texas summmer with no shade because we forgot the stroller. Man did I wish we hadn't! We also love our BOB jogging stroller for walks around the neighborhood and for actual jogging when it does happen. You cannot jog and babywear, it's just not safe. That's pretty much it for us though. I had having my hands confined and when I want to try on clothes Hannah just goes with me into the fitting room and plays. I love being able to be hands free and take a super small cross body bag with my essentials and I'm good to go. I love being able to walk into the store and easily open the door, take the escalator and browse through tight areas. All these things would be made impossible with a stroller. But that takes us into the next post so I will stop there!
What Have We Been Up To
Well, we have been busy busy busy. You are probably tired of seeing Will's backside with a child hanging on. I mean, I never get tired of seeing his backside but I'm not assuming everyone feels the same. Lots of working and quite a bit of sewing going on. I finally finished my new ring sling which I haven't had the chance to try out because Hannah actually told me no when I asked if she wanted to go up the other day. I said ok and we moved on because I didn't actually want to carry her for more than just trying it out. With my back continuing to be a problem I just haven't been babywearing that much but I did try a torso carry. I will say that I randomly tried to tie something and it totally didn't work. I took a picture anyway. And then we proceeded to take the dogs out for their evening pee. Will wore Hannah yesterday before I got home because she just wanted to cuddle so I walked in to daddy with baby on his back. Always love that sight. We went to the store and came back for the evening where I took a short minute for snuggles in our Micah's Rainbow. It was Zachary and Micah's birthday yesterday so we wanted to honor that and feel the sun shining down on us as the weather got cold outside. This wrap is probably going to be Hannah's legacy wrap because it's so special to us and if you want to know more about the story behind this wrap head over to elephant ears.
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