I love a good meeting of the moms! Some of the best people are moms! And babies, too, of course!
Today we got together to play with wraps. Sam videotaped Tara and I getting her charming little 10 month old wrapped up while nursing. I rarely do a cradle carry, but when my baby (or toddler) is nursing to sleep on my lap and I’m going to need to get up, the Front Wrap Cross Carry tied around cradle-position baby is my go-to! So here I am helping Tara into it for the first time. Only her baby wasn’t quite asleep, as you can see.
A Babywearing Christmas just makes sense – how else are you going to be able to do all the fun things that make the holidays so great? How else is baby going to get to be involved in so many fun things? If you want to go all out of Christmas traditions or holiday traditions, a babywearing christmas is your answer!
Meeting Santa: If your baby or toddler is intimidated by Santa this year, maybe you’ll consider introducing Santa to your little one from the safety of the wrap. The wrap will assure your baby that the whiskered man can’t get him, and Santa, being a gentleman, will probably be quite willing to stand and speak with the two of you.
Christmas Shopping: Shopping is a breeze with baby in a wrap. Keeping baby close eliminates the frustration of keeping track of the little bugger (or keeping him from destroying the wares), and also keeps babies more content for longer–meaning fewer meltdowns from too much shopping. If you’re lucky, the sound of your heart and the rocking of your steps will lull him to sleep in time to sneak a few presents from him into your basket.
Christmas Cookies and other Christmas Crafts: If your baby has older siblings, you may find yourself making Christmas cookies. The easiest way to do this with a little baby is to keep them wrapped up and out of trouble! This also makes more of your attention available for big brother and sister. Get more tips for making Christmas cookies with kids here!
Picking out a Christmas Tree:Â I can’t tell you how much easier it is to pick out a Christmas tree with baby wrapped up!
Decorating the Christmas Tree: Perfect for decorating the tree, too–keep baby out of the breakables and away from the Christmas lights (why is it so hard to find lights that don’t contain lead?!) but still in the middle of all the action.
Play in the Snow: Wrapped up may be the only way you’re going to get out in the snow for a walk to enjoy the crystal encrusted beauty; to play with kids; or get around your neighborhood!
I have a limited number of last year’s Deluxe Kindercoats ON SALE to clear out the old inventory and make room for the new 2012 coats! $30 off for the next five days! Wednesday through Sunday, December 12 through 16th. Plus FREE domestic shipping in time for Christmas!
Just about any carrier, whether a wrap, Ergo, ring sling, etc.
You can even wear two babies at once!
Inner lining can be removed to become a lighter Autumn babywearing jacket.
Hoods for parent and baby in all positions.
Drawstrings to keep cold weather from sneaking into the coat from any of the opening.
Wear without baby (in case you ever get to leave the house solo) as a regular non-babywearing coat.
Can you think of how often this coat will be used this winter? How about next winter–it works with toddlers, too. And maybe another baby is in the future? Ask a loved one to buy this coat for you NOW so that you can wring every last ounce of use out of the wonderful thing!
Storchenwiege released three new Leo colors in October. Named after flowers, and representing soft and lovely colors like dusky petals in the garden, these wraps are just in time to keep us remembering those lovely blooms during the winter!
Leo Flieder (German for Lilac)
Leo Rose
Leo Violett
Storchenwiege continues to come out with new Leo colors. Here are some more that you may have missed:
Leo Bordeaux
Leo Black and White
Leo Cafe
Leo Grun
There are now many color choices in a weave that has long been beloved to many a babywearer. Leos are known for being soft and flluffy, and the weave–when you get close enough to see it–is striking!
How will wearing your baby affect the little guy’s (or girl’s) relationship with older siblings?
Wearing your baby is likely to minimize sibling rivalry because it makes you, the mommy (or daddy), more available for your toddler or older child. You can still tie shoes, turn the pages of books. prepare snacks, and life kiddo onto the potty seat.
A wrap helps you to better see to everyone’s needs: baby’s needs to be close, older brother or sister’s needs for help and attention. And it will make your life easier, which means you will be less likely to snap, cry, or otherwise turn into an emotional mess in front of your kids.
It will also help you keep your kids safe: wrap up baby and hold brother’s hand in the parking lot, at the zoo, or while balancing at the playground.
What’s more, cozy in the baby wrap is a safe place for baby to stay while big brother or sister is getting to know how to interact. The less you warn your older child to “be careful” and the less you deny him access to his baby sibling, the more loving he will be towards “his baby.” By keeping baby in a wrap, you minimize the amount of danger he is in from an over-exuberant sibling, and you can take him out at times when you are prepared for close supervision and sibling hugs.
A safe place for some sisterly attention...
Older siblings love wrapping up their dolls, too. There are child wraps available, but you can easily use a scarf for play-wrapping. And what a lovely practice to model for your little ones. What a benefit to your one-day grandchildren! See pictures of children wearing dolls on this beautiful page.
Is it a good idea to wrap up someone else’s baby when you are caring for them? What about when your baby or toddler is with grandma, the babysitter, or at daycare–should you encourage those people to wrap your baby?
Yes!
A baby wrap is a safe, warm, known refuge for a small person from all the confusion and excitement of the wide world. Being able to provide that safe place for your baby when mommy is away is one of the great boons of babywearing and it is a lucky baby or toddler who has alternate caregivers that wear him or her until mommy’s return.
* Wrapping up a baby that is not yours will keep him more content.
* A wrap will make it easier for you to provide loving care.
* It will provide the baby with a familiar and trusted environment, like a favorite teddy or security blanket.
* It tells the baby that he or she is safe and loved.
* Wrapping up baby will most likely put the baby to sleep.
Teach your babysitters, daycare, and extended family about wrapping. Show them it’s not so hard. Let them find out for themselves how rewarding and wonderful it is, both in keeping baby content and in the way it will warm their own hearts to be wrapped up with such a cuddly bundle.
You should always talk to your care provider, but most women who are accustomed to wrapping their toddlers, can continue to do so safely throughout pregnancy.
Pregnancy is not a good time to start a new activity that may be strenuous on your body. But it is generally agreed that if your body is used to the sport, then it is safe to continue as long as there is no discomfort. So if you wear your toddler every day, there is no reason to stop just because you are pregnant!
In fact, for women who will otherwise be carrying their toddlers in-arms, babywearing provides a safer option, that is easier on the pregnant body.
If your body is protesting the wrapping, stop. Find help to care for your toddler if doing so yourself is causing stress on yourself or your growing baby.
Let’s do it again! My âbabyâ is 18 months, and as I’m not planning to have any more, this may be my last babywearing Halloween!
Last year he and I were a two-headed monster. It was an easy and fun costume. We were supposed to be wearing our kinderjacket to make us look like one creature and hide the wrap, but the weather didn’t cooperate. It was too hot! So the guitar t-shirt was not meant to be part of the picture!
What should we be this year? Kangaroos? King Kong and the Empire State Building? Frodo climbing Mount Doom? Butterfly perched on a flower? I haven’t decided. It’s going to have to be pretty simple to create though, because this mama be busy!
What will you and your little one be? Post your photo on the Facebook Page or email it to me by the 4th of November, and we’ll have a Facebook vote and choose a winner to receive a new wrap! diana @ wrapyourbaby. com
I donate a wrap every month to a babywearing group around the globe to add to their lending library so that their local members can try out new carriers and learn about wrapping.
Now I’ve had another idea. Everyone who buys a personal wrap from my woven wrap store, will get $10 credit towards a wrap for their group’s lending library. If you are not a member of a group, this will not apply.
If Susie buys a wrap from me, then her local group, The Rentburg Wrappers, can buy a wrap from me at a $10 discount. If Susie gets four other members from her group to buy wraps from me, then The Rentburg Wrappers can buy a wrap from me at a $50 discount. If eight members of their group purchase wraps from me, they could get an $80 wrap for free. The wrap must be for the lending library and available for community use.
Follow?
I don’t have any kind of system in place to track these credits; only good intentions đ So if you are a member of a group and order from me, send me a note to let me know what your local group is, and have someone from the group mention your name when they email me about getting a discount on a wrap.
No one is obligated to use these credits. I am going to put a one year limit on the discount–the group must use the credit within a year or it is no longer offered.  This discount applies only to new purchases, not purchases made by group members prior to this blog post.
Thanks for working with me. I hope we can help each other out!
I often hear (or see, on internet discussions), people say they like their wrap but need a carrier that is easier for fast carries. With wraps, a carry is as fast as you’ve practiced it. I’d say the rucksack back carry is the quickest, and it doesn’t take long to get it down. Do the same carry every day (or several times a day) and in a couple of weeks, it will be fast and easy.
NOTE: Learn it slow and easy. Speed comes after the movements are already smooth and precise!
Here is a Rucksack Carry with my one year old, in front of a waterfall, in under 30 seconds. How long does your carry of choice take you?
Or, you can tell all your friends to buy wraps from me so I’ve got plenty of cash for wrap donations đ
I’d like to give October’s wrap to another group that has no woven wraps. I may give a gauze Bali Breeze (which is generally categorized as a woven) or a truly woven wrap. That is up to me! I have started another thread for the October giveaway. If your group has no woven wraps, please comment on this thread.
For September, I’d like to send one wrap to the new Big Island Babywearers Group to start their lending library. I am sending Bali Breeze Ada, a perfect tropical weather wrap (also appropriate in Winter, since it is not bulky and is easy to layer winter gear over).
I’ll send a wrap to Victoria Babywearers, hopefully in time for their Woven Wrap Workshop on 12 October. They are also just beginning a lending library.
And one to Kentuckiana Babywearers, who are planning a Wrap Intensive as a fundraiser for building their library and who currently have no woven wraps.
And here’s wishing Happy Wrapping to the members of those groups, and all of you!
We’ve talked about all the benefits of babywearing. Benefits to baby’s growth and happiness, benefits to parents’ taking care of themselves, their homes, their other commitments, and their own happiness.
What about other kids? If your baby is not baby #1, then you can add these benefits to the list:
You can dance with your son on the beach with your baby, so they can always hear the music.
Your baby’s needs are met AND you can open a popsicle wrapper at the same time.
You are able to check your daughter’s math homework without the distraction of a fussy baby.
Everyone has a hand to hold in the parking lot.
You can hold two of your “babies” at once without breaking your back.
Naptime doesn’t keep you from going to a playdate, out to eat, or to your 8 year old’s soccer game.
Your older kids get to go hiking with you in the woods to see waterfalls, or wade through a creek.
Your arms are free for hugging.
Make that transition to “big brother” a little easier on the little guy đ
We took our baby, toddler, and 7 year old to the Grand Canyon last Winter. Here's my husband wearing our toddler. Guess where the baby was!
We couldn't have made it out onto these beautiful rocks at the end of a forest trail on the coast of Maine if our baby and toddler were confined to strollers.
The layaway program is designed to hold a wrap for you while you make payments towards it. In this way, a big ticket item becomes more affordable. It can also help prevent unreasonable credit card bills after an extravagant Christmas season!
I’ve put a lot of thought into these terms. I want to make it easy for you, but I want to protect myself from having to do a lot of extra work without compensation. This is what I’ve come up with:
A 25% down payment is required on any layaway purchase. This down payment is non refundable. When your down payment is received, the wrap will be taken out of inventory and reserved for you so that it is not available for other customers to purchase.
You must pay at least 25% of the full price each month for the next three months. If a payment is not received, I reserve the right to refund any amount paid minus 25%. If there is any problem with this, please contact me as I may be able to accommodate special needs.
You must pay for your layaway item in full within 3 months. If not paid in full, any amount paid toward the item will be refunded you, minus the 25% which will be applied as a restocking fee, and the item will be returned to inventory and made available to other customers.
You will be responsible for all shipping costs on international orders (free in the United States).
You will be responsible for fully paying any sales tax payment. Only orders from Florida will be charged sales tax (the sales tax amount will be 7% of the full price of the wrap, although the shopping cart will only reflect 25% of the full amount).
Your wrap will normally be shipped one business day after the item is paid in full. I ship USPS Priority Mail (3-5 day delivery in the US) and Priority Mail International for international orders.
Layaway may be used for wraps or babywearing coats, or any item over $75.
To get started, select your wrap and add it to the shopping cart. Next enter LAYAWAY in the coupon code field at checkout. This will subtract 75% from your total. Enter your correct shipping address and your shipping payment will be added to your total (free in the US). You will then use the shopping cart to pay for the 25% down payment plus any shipping fees.
Please make sure to enter correct contact info, including an email address that you check frequently. You will receive an email from me by the next business day confirming that your payment was received and letting you know the remaining balance on your item.
You will receive a courtesy email once a month for the next three months to let you know your balance, and the amount of the next payment. When you receive the email (or anytime before that), you can select LAYAWAY PAYMENT from my shopping cart to make a payment. You are expected to pay another 25% of the full price in each of the next three months, at which time your item will be paid in full and will be shipped to you. You may pay a greater amount, or more frequently if you wish to receive the item sooner.
If you are using layaway for a Christmas present, be sure to pay for your wrap in full by the 14th of December at the very latest to ensure timely delivery.
If you have any questions about this, please email me at diana@wrapyourbaby.com for clarification. I hope this makes your life easier!
About 3 weeks ago I decided to night wean my 17 month old son. I decided in the middle of the night and I began immediately. I had been sitting up, nursing him for about two hours. I’m not even kidding. He wouldn’t stop. He didn’t fall asleep. It was 5am by this point and I suddenly knew I was done. It was a surprisingly easy decision to make. I said, âSweetie, we are not going to nurse at night anymore because I need to sleep, but you can nurse all you want in the morning.â
This isn’t a how-to-night-wean post because he’s the only baby I’ve night weaned, I have no idea how your baby would do with my method, and I am in no position to recommend whether it’s the right move for you. And most moms are happily sleeping through those night nursings by nursing in bed, lying down.
The point is that I no longer nurse at night, but sometimes, teeth come in at night. How could I help my son without undoing the night-weaning I was enjoying so much (it has been a long time since I’ve been so rested)?
We had a couple of long nights after I first decided to night wean and I told my son that I would hold him, or sing to him, or bounce him, or lie down with him, or rub his back, or wrap him up. So, when he woke crying in pain, I offered him the same choices. He screamed for a few minutes, thrashing in my arms, and then he said, âWrap!â
I wrapped him in a Front Wrap Cross Carry. He laid his head down against me and rested, and rested, and fell asleep. It made me reflect on the similarities between wrapping and nursing. Both constitute a safe, warm, and loving place in a world that is sometimes painful or scary. They supply a âhappy placeâ and in this case, wrapping allowed my toddler to relax into sleep .
I don’t want to replace night nursing with night wrapping. That wouldn’t get me any more sleep. But it is absolutely lovely to know that I have this safe place to offer him that can make him feel better on the occasional difficult night without reverting to nursing again.
I recently asked the Facebook crowd what they liked best about wraps compared to other baby carriers. You can read the full thread here.
The popular points can be summed up in a bullet list:
Versatility: can be used with an infant or toddler, with mom or with dad, or the babysitter, without needing adjustment. Can also be used in countless carries so you can find one that works for the ever changing baby.
Custom fit every time: in different situations, with different wearers or different children, using different carry styles, it is customized to fit you perfectly each time you put it on. Also customizable to fit special needs (shoulder injury, medical condition, baby with a cast, etc).
Feels more snugly and cozy and keeps baby closest to mom.
Comfort: versatile, customizable, and cozy means greater comfort for mom and baby.
Gorgeous!
Budget: one wrap can fill all your babywearing needs from infant through preschool and for future babies, too!
I’ve been asked if I have any data comparing the wraps I sell to the carriers that are widely available in stores like Babies R Us, Walmart, and Target. The ones everyone has heard of.
These are front packs like the Baby Bjorn and the Snuggli which are widely popular but within the babywearing community are considered inferior. This is not mere snobbishness. The fact is that if you wear your baby in one of those carriers, you will be experiencing many of the benefits of babywearing: you will stay closer to your baby, you will have your hands free, you can ditch the stroller, etc. Doing so is fantastic! You are babywearing.
But, you and your baby will be more comfortable in a carrier that is better designed with ergonomics in mind. The giant corporations are great at marketing. That’s why you’ve heard of the products. But the mama pioneers in the babywearing industry have a vested interest–themselves and their babies. They have poured over the studies, they have field tested the designs, they have consulted doctors, and they have studied the successful actions of babywearers throughout history and across the globe.
As a result, the carriers they have produced–including ring slings, pouches, mei tais, and wraps–are more comfortable for mother; are more ergonomically supportive, providing a better developmental position for baby that does not stress the base of his spine or other points on his body; and because these women continued to have a need to babywear as their babies grew into toddlers (and beyond) the carriers usually can be used comfortably even with a 35 lb 3 year old!
So if a friend recommends you check out one of these carriers, she is not being snobby. She’s hooking you up! You don’t have to get one to be a loving and attached parent. But you might be glad you did đ
I love local babywearing groups! Want to know which lending library will be receiving a new woven wrap donation? Scroll down. Want to submit your group as a contender for the September giveaway?Post to this Facebook thread and one group will be chosen to receive a woven wrap donation.
Here are just a few of the pictures that were submitted to me from groups around the US, and UK. There were many more beautiful group shots, and individual shots, and action shots. There were adorable babies and there were children wearing their babies gazing into the camera with serious eyes. I loved them all. I will be adding some of them to the babywearing groups pages, and others you’ll see me posting on facebook or using to illustrate a blog post. Thank you to all. Here are 3 that I picked out which were unique or particularly aesthetic compositions, that demonstrate babywearing in action, babywearing teaching and learning, and a sense of fun:
Babywearing International of Fayetteville NC (gorgeous photo by Anglea Roper)
San Diego Babywearing Group
Sheffield UK Babywearing Group
I wish I could donate a wrap to all three groups. Oh wait, I can! Let’s do it. Contact me with addresses đ
A Mama on the Facebook Page asked for advice from moms who use woven wraps with back or shoulder pain. The answers she got were not uniform. Different things worked for different moms, which is one reason why woven wraps shine as a babycarrier for a parent with a physical condition to consider. Your back, spine, bones and muscles are not the same as anyone else’s, so customize the carrier to make YOU comfortable!
One mama related that it was how high or low she carried her now-two-year-old that affected her back pain and shoulder issues. Kangaroo and Front Cross Carry worked for front carries when he was little, and now she is using a Rucksack back carry but Double Hammock was out for her.
Another mama with 7 ruptured discs and a torn rotator cuff likes a Reinforced Rucksack because it doesn’t hurt her back, and she ties it Tibetan style to take pressure off her shoulders. Her son is almost 2 years old now, and 25 lbs.
A mom with a bad back and a separated shoulder that healed badly in college claims long woven wraps as her favorite carriers by far. Not for her are rucksack straps, so she modifies a carry when need be to use straps that are more comfortable and she is still wearing her 2 and 4 year old. She likes two-shouldered back carries for even weight distribution.
One mom has multiple subluxations in her neck, was born with stage 1 spina bifida (which has since closed on its own) and lordosis. For her it is the fabric of the wrap more than the choice of carry that makes a different to her comfort. She gets the support she needs from linen, hemp, and dense cotton weaves which she says also offer better weight distribution than thinner or looser weaves. Double Hammock and Reinforced Rucksack tied Tibetan style are her back carries of choice. She says a Front Wrap Cross Carry is the only front carry that works for her for more than a few minutes.
A lass on the Facebook page asked for a comparison between the Colimacon et Cie and an Ellaroo. This was Savannah’s response. Since this relatively new-on-the-market wrap doesn’t have many reviews, I asked her permission to copy it here:
I LOVE my C&C M&M. It’s been my go-to wrap this past week or so.
It was pretty stiff right out of the box, but after a wash or two (and a machine dry!) it has softened up beautifully. I fee confident treating it as a workhorse because it’s practically pull-proof and can take machine washing and drying.
M&M is a very dense weave, but it’s not unbearably thick. I think the knot is a little smaller than Didymos Aqua Waves, but it feels a tad warmer because of the weave. M&M is the widest wrap I own, too; it has at least 3 inches on the Waves.
The closest thing I can compare it to is a pair of thin, really broken in blue jeans. I’ve heard it compared to a Storch Leo, too. I have an Ellaroo, as well, and they are two completely different animals. The Ellaroo is incredibly thin (shirt weight), where the M&M is thicker (skirt/pants weight). Ellaroo has blunt ends with fringe and has selvedge rails instead of hemmed, while M&M has a 6 inch or so taper and is hemmed with contrasting thread. They are probably about the same in terms of grippyness.
These Miel et Malice wraps come in a rainbow of vivid colors from the bold Tangerine Orange, Leaf Green, and Ripe Raspberry hues to the earthier Chocolate, Natural, and White. I love that they are available in so many sizes–every half meter between 2.5 meter and 6 meter lengths!
Inspired by Ada, my 8 year old daughter, who informed us–as soon as she was old enough to do so–that she is a fairy, and who sees fairies everywhere, and shares them with us by pointing them out, or the traces of them, their fairy homes, or other telltale signs, this newest Bali Breeze wrap is a deep forest green with bright fairies batiked across the greenery in a dance of light.
The yellow to goldenrod hue of the fairy design is perfectly mottled to suggest shimmer and movement. This wrap does have a bottom and a top. The fairies are all oriented in the same direction so that they will either be right side up or upside down when wrapped. The bottom edge of the wrap is bordered with thick flowering foliage in the same pale yellow to deep gold. Having the border on only one edge makes it easy to make sure you are orienting the wrap correctly, and also makes it easy to keep track of your rails (the edges of the wrap) so that you know you have not twisted the wrap as it comes around your baby or behind your back. One rail is deep green, the other is flamboyantly bright with branches and blooms.
A delightful effect of the single border design is that when wrapped with the border on the bottom, the wrap can have an overall green appearance and then when straps cross over it, those straps can be bunched to show the gorgeous golden design that contrasts beautifully over the dark green. Alternately, one can bunch the straps to hide the yellow if a more uniformly green look is preferred.
You might also choose to wrap with the print upside down if you are wanting to show off the striking contrast of yellow leaves on green, as having that border at the top makes it much more visually evident.
Ada and I are so happy with how the wrap turned out. Green is my faerie daughter’s favorite color, and the design of the wrap perfectly captures the lighthearted magic of fairies, and sunlight, and deep woods. We didn’t know it until after we named her, and we couldn’t have known at the time that she would grow up to be so thick with the elven folk, but her very name is a Spanish word for fairy. So there was no question what to name this light and magical wrap!
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