This Mother’s Day help a refugee family by donating money or carriers to Carry the FutureĀ and comment on this Facebook post toĀ tell me you did. I’ll choose one random winner to receive one of my exclusive woven wraps.
Carry the Future accepts donated soft structured carriers and mei tais which are personally brought to Greece by their volunteers. Ā These volunteers are trained in the use of the carriers and meet refugees where they land in Greece or at other camps to pass out the carriers and teach the recipients how to use them. Ā Because of the language barrier and the very short amount of time they have to teach the families safe use of the carrier, they only accept SSCs (soft structured carriers or buckle carriers) and Mei Tais: carriers that can be easily and quickly demonstrated visually.
Do I spy Pumpkin spice . . . everything? Must be time for Wrap Your Baby’s annual Facebook Costume Contest!
One entry will win a free woven wrap!
Start planning your babywearing costume now. Share it on the Wrap Your Baby Facebook page anytime in October.Ā I will share some of the photos on social media or on my blog and on 3 November I will collect all entries to a contest album and voting will occur the first week of November. Ā The photo with the most likes will win a woven wrap! Read More
I donated a wool Natibaby wrap to the Babywearing Group in Augusta, Georgia, with the request that they try it out in the Summer and tell me if the rumors are true: is a wool wrap really breathable and (relatively) cool in hot weather?
“Thick but not too heavy. I had this wrap in fall and it was perfect. Not too hot at all. Loved the way it wrapped, it got me hooked on baby wearing!” Kaitlyn G.
How I became a mother, Wrap Your Baby became a business, and you got 25% off a Natibaby wrap this week – read on!
I became a mother on September 9th 2004. Ā It was a girl! Ā I had planned to name her Molly if she was a girl but once he met her, David insisted that she didn’t look like a Molly.
Does she look like a Molly?
We spent our first day together in bed (all three of us) trying out names and the first one we all really liked was Ada. Ā David’s father comes from a Jewish family and we loved that Ada is a form of the Hebrew name Adah, which is found in the bible and means “ornament” or “brightness.” Ā I didn’t find out until later that Ada means First Born Daughter in the Nigerian language Igbo, Ā and while we have no known ties to Nigeria, I love that it is appropriate in another language as well.
“I’m mom of a 22 month old and a 5 week old. I only wrap my 5 week old. What I love about wrapping is that i can keep my baby so close in an extremely comfortable and natural way. Not only does it keep baby close and free my hands, but it also keeps my baby feeling calm and secure and soothes him when he’s upset.” ~Jacqueline
Connie graciously allowed me to share her Facebook post to friends from earlier this month:
Why do we babywear?
For my child with cerebral palsy, babywearing allows him to engage with the world when he was a non-walking toddler; now he walks with orthotics, but tires easily, the carrier allows me to offer him rest and respite.
For my child with ASD, the snug hold of a carrier helps him to organize and calm down when he feels overwhelmed and in need of refuge.
Babywearing allows our children to be fully engaged in the world. We take them places that strollers cannot go, we show them the world that we see. My child who cannot walk without his braces can still go up a mountain, or down to the edge of the sea. My child who gets over-stimulated can still participate in our family and friends’ celebrations and be a part of the community.
One of the fears I have as a mother to special needs children is that their world will be smaller and dimmer than I’d hoped for them. Babywearing helps me to combat that, to write a different future for them, in a world where they know, from the beginning, that they belong.
I know you love wrapping your baby: the closeness, the connection, and the convenience!Ā AND it’s so pretty!Ā And mastering the different wrap carries is fun and makes you feel a sense of accomplishment!
Naturally, you want to share this amazingness with EVERYBODY.Ā But does everybody want to hear?Ā Are you just turning everybody off of babywearing with your enthusiasm?
Mandy is a pediatric nurse.Ā She doesn’t work in NICU so hadn’t had experience before with a baby going through withdrawal, but as a babywearing mother, when she found herself responsible for a distraught baby, she knew what she could offer him for comfort!Ā When she shared this in our local babywearing group, I felt fit to burst with emotion:Ā compassion for the baby and mother and also a deep gratitude for the ability to comfort babies with the simplicity of human touch; for the good fortune to know how important this is for babies; and for Mandy to be working when this little one needed that.Ā Mandy reported that the other nurses were continuing to wear the baby so that he was not left adrift when she went home.
In Mandy’s own words, “I’m a pediatric nurse and had a baby going through withdrawal. I made a makeshift sling out of some baby blankets and “wore” him as much as I could. It was the only thing that consistently calmed him down! Wear ALL the babies, even the ones who aren’t our own!”
Summer babywearing in Florida means knowing how to keep everyone comfortable in a baby carrier in hot weather.Ā
Let me show you some cooler carries to use with your wraps and give you tips for surviving hot weather wrapping so you donāt have to stay in-doors all Summer!
Walking Mums offers Intro to Babywearing Walks for trying out different kinds of carriers
Motherhood is an experience that is unique to each of us yet there are certain experiences that many of us have in common.Ā That’s why other moms can be the best allies and friends and help to keep us sane and make us happy.
Jay (founder of the organization) understood that because she felt the absence of that “village” of moms when her baby was born and out of necessity Walking Mums was born.
Sometimes I hear that wrapping is too hard.Ā It has a steep learning curve.Ā There is even a popular meme circulating that begins with “Dear New Wrapper” and promises that as terrible and frustrating as it is to learn to wrap, it will all be so worth it.
I disagree.Ā Wrapping doesn’t have to be hard.
I get emails all the time from parents who just received their wrap, tried it on and LOVED IT.Ā And that’s what I want to happen every time I ship a wrap.
But it is not uncommon for a parent to try a wrap for the first time and end up with a big mess.Ā Baby crying, wrap not supporting them, back hurting . . . what went wrong? Read More
Tatyana relates her experiences with farm babywearing – wrapping her babies and toddlers as she and her husband Frank, always adventurous, embark on the adventure of farming:
With two babies 13 months apart, babywearing has saved my sanity way too many times! Me and my husband met hiking the Appalachian Trail, so backpacking is what we love the best. Only when babywearing your load is much more precious than a load of camping equipment. Read More
Do you know that there are NO benefits to babywearing? It’s the biological norm and being carried and kept close is the minimum babies expect at birth. When we use language like “benefits”, we establish babywearing as a nice extra (like a university fund or tennis lessons) instead of the normal behaviour that carrying is. Change our language, change the world!
How can you say there are no benefits to babywearing?
Wrapping moms know that life can carry on (pun intended) with baby in tow and that the experiences had in a wrap enrich baby’s physical and cognitive growth far more than sitting on the sidelines.
Wrapping your baby is a great way to keep both mother and baby in fine physical fettle and any gentle activity will be comfortable and soothing to your wrapped baby. Bonus points for a fun activity that gives mom an opportunity to build community and engage with grown-up friends!
Ballet Instructor describing how the mothers in the babywearing ballet class should point their feet as they arabesque across the room.
Folding chair were used when the standing bars were all filled up.
You can use any safe and ergonomic carrier for a babywearing dance or fitness class, although wraps are the most flexible both in terms of lack-of-structure and ability to customize the carry to compliment your activity and body preferences!
Babies are soothed by being wrapped against you during the motion of your day, so why not do something fun and artistic as well as active while your baby snoozes?
Mothers and babies practicing ballet walks across the room. Wrapsody Breeze wraps are light and cool, perfect for active families with babies.
Baby watches the class from mama's back in a Double Hammock Carry as she demonstrates a Second Arabesque.
A snug wrap job in Wrapsody Breeze Ada keeps baby secure while practicing curtseys.
Most of the wraps used in this class were Wrapsody Breeze wraps which are so light and thin that they are much appreciated here in Florida, and also lend themselves expertly to work out activities.
Most of the mothers have their babies wrapped in either a Double Hammock Back Carry or a Front Wrap Cross Carry variation.Ā Any secure carry will work.Ā A back carry is most convenient for bending and raising legs but front carries should be used by anyone not already a competent back wrapper and it is easy for a babyweaing instructor to adjust the class to fit the needs of the moms.Ā A knowledgeable instructor will keep the motions of the class gentle and smooth, and advise mothers not to overreach while doing the double workout of ballet and babywearing.
Back carries wrapped a little lower rather than super-high on mom’s back may be more convenient for an activity such as this and keep you better balanced.
The best wrapping times involve baby in family traditions while freeing up enough of mama’s attention for the other children to get full mileage out of all the holiday fun!
So without further ado . . .
Tips:
Don’t get over-ambitious; make the dough in advance, cut and bake the cookies with kids one day and wait until the next day for cookie decorating.
Don’t stress fitting as many cookies as possible on one piece of rolled out dough – let them stick them anywhere and be willing to roll it out new more often!
Use squeeze bottles so even very young kids can work them.
Put sprinkles in bowls with spoons to keep sticky fingers out (as much as possible).
Give each child a plate with a rim to decorate on to catch excess sprinkles.Ā It will keep your floor from getting quite as messy, and give you more sprinkles you can use for cookies.
Don’t try to control the creative process.Ā Young children might paint the Christmas Tree cookie red instead of green but trying to control how they decorate will take the fun out of it for everyone.Ā Do, however, feel free to demonstrate the art of “less is more” as often kids can understand and follow that while still making their own decorating decisions.
Let everyone sample the cookies!
When you’re done with the project, but the cookies out of sight and out of reach, have a bathroom or wet rags ready to wash everyone’s hands thoroughly and have a next activity ready to engage them and keep them out of the kitchen while you clean up!
Remember this is about fun with your kids - not efficiency!
Picking which cookie to decorate is part of the fun!
If you make your own frosting, you can get squeeze bottles at arts and craft stores in the cake decorating aisle or tie-dye section.
Definitely re-use the excess sprinkles or you'll go through your sprinkles in no time!
Plan to let them have one right away!
Of course it is better to give than to receive so encourage generosity, too!
Speaking as someone who birthed a baby girl in my living room in front of a decorated tree on Christmas Day 5 years ago, I can tell you that some gifts are better than others. Ā Nothing trumps a sweet, apple-cheeked baby!
And while you don’t have to have a wrap to find a way to keep your baby close, the gift of making it easier to fill baby’s needs and giving a mother back the use of her arms, hands, and legs is very real and valuable.
I feel so strongly about what wrapping can do for families that I have created a very specific plan to ensure that I can provide the most help possible to families getting wraps for themselves or others during the busy holiday season, and I am going to do my best to help families get the most out of their wraps during the many activities and concerns that are frequently engaged in at this time of year including shopping, family gatherings, extra housework, cold weather, consumerism, and too-common cases of over-scheduling and stress.
Serve your fellow mom by sharing your tips for happy, stress free, wrapping holidays.Ā Just comment below with your holiday tips and I’ll add your tips to my Inspiration for Stress Free Holidays.
Keep an eye out for special promotions, giveaways and deals this season. Signing up for my newsletter is the best way to make sure you don’t miss these.
Watch for some great wraps that I will be stocking in the next month that can be had for less cash but are just as cuddly, convenient and comfortable!
And expect to see more blog posts to help you get the most out of wrapping while you navigate shopping, baking, parties, family, and fun.
2014 Wrap Your Baby Holiday Schedule:
Thursday, 27 November THANKSGIVING – post offices are closed so wraps will ship on Friday, 28 November. Ā US customers who order on 26 or 27 November can expect to receive their wraps by Tuesday, 2 December. As always, fast US shipping is free in the US, and international shipping is discounted. Ā International customers should receive them about 2 weeks after placing your order.
Friday, 28 November BLACK FRIDAY – the day after Thanksgiving is traditionally a big Christmas shopping day and a big sale day. Ā Other than shipping orders, I will not be working on Black Friday so I have decided to set up a Black Friday sale that will go into effect automatically from 12am (midnight) EST on 28 Nov to 12am (midnight) EST on Saturday 29 Nov.
BecauseĀ I will be spending Thursday and Friday with my children, some emails will not be answered until the weekend when I will carve out some time specifically for responding to Wrap Your Baby business. Ā I know, just because it’s a United States holiday does not mean that moms’ needs and demands get a break andĀ I don’t want to leave you hanging long with wrapping questions that may make the holidays go smoother for you!
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