How NOT to do the hip carry

So, you think you've got it down, do ya? Well, many mothers think they know how to do the hip carry when in actuality they are doing it wrong. Most people don't get that you have to OPEN the pouch and put your baby's bottom in it, like a bucket seat. The first women in these photos is doing it ALL wrong. Okay, I admit it, that is me. This was before I knew what was what. Elijah wasn't even really old enough for the hip carry here. Sigh, we all make mistakes. Good thing my good mommy instincts told me to always keep one hand on him. He often slid right out! What was I thinking?

Now look at Pam (Pam, I hope you don't mind me using your photo!). Pam has her two year old in a beautiful hip carry. Notice how his legs are wrapped around her waist. Way to go Pam!

Picture A: You are hands free and go about your daily activities.
Pictures B and C: you hang onto him for dear life.

Hope this has helped at least one mama avoid yet another slide and catch babywearing experience.

Part 1 of Chapter 1
So, it's pretty awesome staying home with the kiddos and still contributing to the family; however, it's not always tea parties, play time, happy kids and rolling in the moola ($)...
Oh no, quite far from it.
Every morning I have my routine that I go through... My husband leaves at 5:30 for work, I beg for a few more minutes of sleep (not happening) so I get up, get some coffee, I go check my emails, clean, get the kids up, fix breakfast and clean again. But just when I think I have everything done and I am ready to go sew, my son is squealing in his highchair and sticky from head to toe in squished bananas and oatmeal... so he needs a bath... Oh I have an email alert, it's a customer enquiry... So I am holding a naked sticky baby, trying to type with one hand and then realize, "Hello!!! You have a naked boy in your arms!!! Emails can WAIT!" So off we run to the bath, get all clean and yay, Nap time!!!! Work can finally be done!
So off I go to cut my fabric, "Wait, where are my scissors?!"
So after interrogating my daughter for 20 minutes, the scissors resurface...
I finally get the fabric precut and I am ready to sew, but what is this on my feet? The gooey bananas that fell off of his naked butt earlier!!!! So, here I go, again after scraping banana goo off of my feet and the floor
I am in my sewing room, finally
I have my machine threaded; rip, roaring and ready to go, nothing is stopping me... "CRASH!"
"What in the world? Ashlee?????!!!!" I yell.
I go in the living room and there she is in the corner, her bike, yes... bike, on top of her and all of the pictures and potpourri scattered on the floor and broken glass everywhere!
Oh where will the madness stop? Who knows, stay around for what happens after 10 A.M....

A day in the life of a babywearing photo shoot...

So have you ever noticed the photos that accompanied most baby carriers? Not too hot if you ask me. Why do they choose the worst poses in the most horrible light? Sometimes I look at a baby sling photo and I think, "That had to have been taken in the eighties." Do you know what I mean?

So I got some decent photos done for my instruction pages last week. Very interesting experience. After begging Adam to come with another time to make the baby smile we meet the photographer at a coffee shop near our house. He is a half hour late. As we are waiting Adam is getting frustrated because I am wasting his Saturday and Elijah is getting antsy. Finally, David arrives and we go across the street to the park.

He begins to take pictures as Elijah smiles and coos for the camera (thank gosh!) and then ten minutes later it is over.

"Are you sure you got enough good photos for my instructions?"

"Oh yes, of course," he replies.

Take a look at my instruction page and tell me if you think it was as successful as he thought.

I’ll let you know when the rest come in ☺

Here is Laura

Hi ya’ll! I am Laura! I am a WAHM (Work At Home Mom) to Ashlee (March 2001) and Thomas, AKA Bubba (December 2004). I am married to the most wonderful husband who is proudly serving our country in the United States Navy Seabees. We have been married over 5 years now!
Our life is as different as they come! We move often, deal with politics on a daily basis, go through long periods of deployments and still manage to raise our children in a loving and moral environment.
I used to work outside of the home for years! I managed a loan office and even assisted with personal and business accounting. I have also been an aerobics instructor, home care provider for the elderly and I was a preschool teacher. All of these jobs were very rewarding and enjoyable, but not nearly as enjoyable as being a Mom!
I wanted to find a way to be a full time Mom and still contribute financially to my family. I was an artist under the name of ChicKen ScRatch and enjoyed painting, but as you can imagine, painting does not pay the bills.
I saw another mom wearing a ring sling and was immediately intrigued! It was so different, so pretty and so convenient!
I did some research on baby carriers and I was immediately overwhelmed! I was so lost in what I thought to be some kind of underground world of fabrics, rings and straps! I had no clue where to start.
I did not have much money, so I decided to make one. My sister had a beginner sewing machine and gave me tips on how to make a seam and how to sew. So I jumped right in and voila, my first ring sling (pictured above)! It was far from perfect and still needed a lot of tweaking, but hey, it worked!!
I wore it constantly, even wrong, but I learned how to use it and how to utilize it for many purposes. I was finally able to come up with a perfect design that fit my body and was comfortable!
I made some for friends and family, and then the word quickly spread! I started having people come over, stopping me in the stores, and everywhere asking me “Where did you find this ‘contraption’?” Thus, Laura Jane's ChicKen ScRatch Baby Slings was started! (Wow, that is a mouthful!!)
I started making very basic slings with a band of ribbon or trim at the shoulder to hide the stitching as I found it to be unattractive, which later became my signature to every sling! I now offer slings that are very unique, slings that are elegant and with flair!
I look forward to contributing here and telling my side of the Work At Home Mom!
Thanks!!!
Laura

Babywearing And Eating: Safety first, cleanliness second.

We all do it. We have to do it. When you wear your baby as much as we do you will be having many meals a day with your little one tucked inside your sling. Inevitably, a piece of hot pizza or a string of spaghetti will fall on your sleeping baby's head. Its okay. Your baby won't be traumatized.

Yeah, we all feel bad about the big stain on his forehead, but what can you do? We need to eat sometime, and that sometime often comes when baby falls asleep.

Some tips:
~A carefully placed napkin can make all the difference. Lightly drape it over the sling and your breasts. This will create a nice little tent for baby.
~If this isn't working, try eating with the opposite hand. Yeah, this can be messier, but you will be surprised at how quickly you can master it.
~As a last resort, pull the fabric of the sling over your baby's head. I personally don't do this. My carriers are just way too pretty to stain.
And remember, a little salad dressing on his forehead is not going to hurt him.

Happy eating!
*Photo: Adam is wearing Elijah in his Karma Baby pouch sling. Note how careful he is being as he brings the fork to his mouth. Also, notice the napkin tucked inside his shirt. Nice thinking Daddy.

What the heck is babywearing? That was my first thought when I entered this sub-culture of parenting practices. I was on a search to make my life easier when I stumbled across the term.

Here's what started it all...I was a second time mom (advanced maternal age at that!) with a very active (read: I-can't-keep-up-with-you-COME-HERE!) 3 yo boy. I could not, for the LIFE of me, handle a newborn and a toddler/pre-schooler. I took the Baby Bjorn out of the attic because I needed to eat lunch! I didn't want to put the newborn down because I was afraid that first son would be a little too loving once my back was turned. And I couldn't open a jar of peanut butter with one hand. So, on went the Bjorn. A few minutes later (yeah, I said minutes), baby is buckled up and snapped in. I make lunch. Mmmmm, food never tasted so good!

Then I remembered why I wasn't too fond of the Bjorn with first son. My back started to ache. And it's an old back, too. And, I didn't like the feeling of baby just hanging in front of me. Legs hanging, arms hanging, baby suspended by his crotch. BY HIS CROTCH? Wait a minute, that can't be right! Those boy parts aren't supposed to be smooshed with every last eight pounds of him. I HAD to find anther way. So I googled "baby carriers." WHOA! YIKES! HUH? (Try it, and see what you come up with!) Soon enough, that initial shock turned into "OH, I get it!" and "Oh, I WANT it!"

I got my first Ring Sling in a matter of days and fell in love. It was a Snuggle Gear Traveler. Small rings, closed tail and worked just perfectly for me. I was hands free, baby snuggled up to me, and loving every minute of it. That's the picture of it, taken the minute it got out of the package. Second son wanted to try it out. I wasn't too good with the ring placment at that time (they should be higher up; in a sort of corsage position and the fabric should be cupping the shoulder), I've gotten much better at it! I'll tell you about that later...

Ever Wonder?
Ever wonder how to pronounce the word Mei tai? It is actually not like the infamous drink, but May-Tie.
Mei Tai is a Chinese term meaning "To Carry the Beautiful."
What a fabulous name.

Current TV Take 1
Join us as we begin our journey into our first documentary on Current TV. We are in the beginning stages right now of making a short piece for them and are so excited.

How the idea got started:
Jacob (aka Cubby-my brother-in-law) was watching Current TV one day and got a brilliant idea. "What if we showed the rest of the world what Karma Baby is?" If I get one chance to do this, what would I really like to inform everyone about?

Attachment parenting, babywearing, and natural birth. So, we have brainstormed some ideas and researched how to make it happen.

We are going to show shots of Elijah's water birth (watch out-I am totally naked!), people babywearing, we are going to interview mother's who do attachment parenting and who put their babies in slings. We are going to get a few shots of our life and Karma Baby and see what evolves. We are really excited about this.

We'll update you as production starts and we get moving.

21 hours and counting...

Could it be possible? My first non-babywearing day in 10 1/2 months? How on Earth could that happen? Elijah has lived in my sling his whole life. He has been my velcro child, the baby that is happiest close to my belly. And today he was passed around from uncle to aunt to Grandma. Adam did put him to sleep in HIS sling, but Elijah was happy the rest of the day pushing around his new radio flyer and snuggling into his favorite uncle's chest. Sigh...babyhood went by so fast.
Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve-the craziest shopping day of the year. Everyone scurrying through the mall trying desperately trying to find last minute gifts. I throw Elijah in his stretchy wrap. and weave my way through the crowds. Mothers pushing bulky strollers stop me and pleadingly ask me where I got such a contraption. They are sorely disappointed when I tell them "online". When are these things gonna hit the stores?

Babywearing and parties: Yea or nay?
Having a social life is hard when you are a new mother. Is there really such a thing? Can we still hang out with friends AND mother well? My good friends just disappeared the moment they had their little girl. We worried about them for awhile and then they slowly faded from our minds. Nick and Monica...Who?

So we made an effort to have a social life. "Yeah, we can still go out" we told them as we struggled to keep our eyes open and wiped the layers of spit up off our shirts.

The best solution we found was to have people over and carry the baby in our sling. He would sleep, we would talk with people about things other than the cute widely doggy and the yummy-ummy bananas, and all would be normal again.

Well, Elijah was passed around in the sling as he slept. The dancing did not stop and even the men got into it.

Yeah, babywearing let me party one night. Life is good

Introducing...me!

To follow the lead of the ladies, I am going to let you sneak in my life a little (and then a whole lot in the months to come!)
My name is Stacey and I created The Babywearing Blog.
I put together this site because Babywearing is officially a movement and we need to spread the babywearing love. We have an incredible collection of writers who are just waiting to share everything with you from the latest trends in baby carriers to the scoop on celebrity babywearing sightings.

A little about me:
I am mama to Elijah Sirius Potter. This kid is amazing. He came out of the womb, sliding into the water (water birth) and into my arms, looking around at the world like "I'm here again! Alright!" He is my good karma baby.

I always knew I wanted to wear him. I got my first pouch sling too when I was pregnant and it was perfect! An Annasling pouch. When my husband was gone I would put the sling on and stick a 10 lb bag of flour in it. I was one of those women who could not wait to have a baby :)

Soon after Elijah was born I combined my love for babywearing with my love for designing and created Karma Baby. Now we are a certified obsessed babywearing family. We wear our babies, we talk about babywearing incessantly, and we have even made babywearing our occupations. Really, nothing makes me happier than wearing Elijah in his sling as I help other mothers wear their babies in their slings.

This blog is just going to be so great! Check in every few hours for the newest articles. See you around!

Who are the babywearing bloggers?
We are mothers (fathers are allowed too!) who *love* to wear our babies in carriers.
We have 20 different slings, mei tais, wraps, and other great Asian contraptions (at least 20!)
We talk about wearing our babies, we get together to wear our babies, we even plan babywearing conventions. This is just how much we love to have our babies close to us.

You may ask yourself: "Why?"
The first prize answer: "Because it just feels so right."
The second: "Because the carriers are way too cute."
Third: "Because we need to look good too."

Join us as we share all of our thoughts, stories, pictures, and love of babywearing!