The early morning hours find our king-sized bed full of children. Sometimes they are snoozing. Sometimes I awake to the chatter of tiny voices. Quite often I am reminded of the elementary school song, “Ten bears in the bed, and the little one said…roll over…I’m crowded.”

Yes, it is crowded, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

It makes me smile to see all those little faces nestled snugly in beside me. Our bed is the place where movies are watched, hot topics are discussed, and fears are calmed. Everyone, from the one year old to the 11 year old, take refuge there.

I grew up being welcome in my parent’s bed. Snuggled between my mom and my dad, I knew I was safe. Nightmares and creepy shadows couldn’t touch me there. I was warm. I was loved. There was no doubt in my mind.

I know my children feel the same way. My husband offers an armpit to the nine year old. I curl up around the toddler. Babies nurse, backs get scratched, and everyone wakes up on the right side of the bed!

Not just any old bed can do that! That, my friends, takes a very special bed…a family bed.

Yes, sometimes it feels crowded. Sometimes you get conked with a stray elbow. Sometimes you find yourself begging for just a wee bit more blanket real estate. But, it’s all worth it when your 4 year old looks up at you with sleepy eyes, smiles dreamily and says, “I wuv you, mama!”

“I wuv you too, little one.”

Amy of Raising Arrows received the greatest number of your votes for The Most Inspiring Blogger in our Blog to Inspire contest.

The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and not necessarily those of Eco Baby Steps or Parenting By Nature.

Several mainstream news stories today have said baby slings are bad—all baby slings. That is just irresponsible reporting that ignores real problems with specific baby carriers.

The real story is that bag slings—slings that carry the baby low and curled up—can constrict a baby’s airway. The U.S. CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) is preparing to issue a warning about baby slings. Bag slings. A bag sling is one particular type of sling that is not modeled on the traditional baby carriers worn around the world as long as mothers have had to carry their babies and keep working. The question is: will the warning be specific about bag slings or will the warning warn parents about all baby slings or even all baby carriers? I hope that when the warning is issued it addresses the real problems that experienced babywearing experts and teachers have continually warned about. Otherwise, that would be irresponsible regulation.

This issue is terribly important. Babies and parents benefit from the closeness of babywearing, and no responsible babywearing advocate would every recommend the positions and baby carriers that keep a baby from breathing freely.

Babywearing experts have called attention to design flaws in bag slings. Read this thorough article from May 2008 on bag slings. This article includes many photos, including photos that show the difference in safe positioning with pouch and ring slings.

The problem with today’s news stories: the average journalist does not know enough to tell one type of baby sling from another, and they rushed their stories too quickly to verify information with experts. I hope to hear follow-up retractions tomorrow from many major news outlets.

Quick Tips on Babywearing Safety:

1. Make sure Baby can breathe
2. Keep Baby upright
3. Don’t let Baby’s chin rest on their chest
4. Don’t cover Baby’s face with fabric
5. Don’t curl Baby up in a “C” position

See Babywearing International for more extensive babywearing safety guidelines.

Parenting by Nature does not sell bag-style baby slings.

“Just a minute.”

How many times a day do I put my children off? I’ve become more aware lately as I push and drag myself into parenting consciousness.

I adore my children. I want to know all about them. As I saw them acting out my failings on me, I realized that love wasn’t the message I was sending.

Listening Is Love

Listening is love, loving not just the idea of our child but the unique, quirky individual they are and the grown person they are becoming. They have thoughts and ideas that can surprise us as parents. The question is whether we are willing to hear them.

Are you interested in your child? Are you engaged?

When you listen to learn about your child, listen for the meaning in what your child says, you not only learn more about this person you love but you build a foundation. This foundation will help as they go through the emotional ups and downs of growing up, and it will help as they learn to be good listeners in their other relationships.

Ready to Listen

My children and I have been talking lately about being ready both as listener and as speaker. The listener needs to focus, and the speaker needs to be sure they have a listener. As my children get older, we establish rules of conversation together.

I find myself frustrated by frequent interruptions and having to start the same idea over and over again. To make sure that listening and respect goes both ways, I have been working with my children to recognize whether people are ready to listen and to save up their questions to perhaps just one per minute rather than 5 per minute. If I am in the middle of a phone call, they wait unless it is an emergency. If I am in the middle of typing a sentence, they wait until I have finished. When reading, we ask, “Let me finish this paragraph.” When knitting, “Let me finish this row.”

And, I need to give them the same respect. I remind myself that I can’t interrupt just because I’m the parent and I think I’m very important.

In our new rules of conversation, once the speaker has a listener, the listener puts down what she is doing, muting any sound, and we look at one another. We look one another in the eyes. It does wonders!

That’s when the listening begins.

Open Listening

Keep yourself open to your child, and your child is more likely to continue expressing himself openly.

Don’t interrupt to express your own thoughts. Don’t interrupt your own listening to form a response, either. Hold on to your thoughts without letting yourself become the center of your own attention.

It’s tough for an excited, young child to hold on in his own words. When my son interrupts, I find myself saying, “When you interrupt, I think you aren’t listening.” I know he is listening in the way he knows how, so I try to help him find a way to hold on to his thoughts so he can share at an appropriate point in conversation.

Even with this in mind, I have to coach myself to listen patiently, not to interrupt my children. It takes a conscious effort to slow down my listening, empty myself of speeches, and just hear my child.

While you are listening, keep your attention on the other person so you really hear what is being said. Focus with openness.

The Conversation Starts

Following the quiet listening comes responding and confirming.

Confirm. Are you sure you heard correctly? Are you sure you understood what your child said? Confirm not only as a way to be sure that you heard what you think you heard but to review and remember.

Question. Do you want to know more? Ask open questions that will extend the conversation: “Can you describe that?” or “And what did you think?”

Identify. It might also help your child to identify emotions if you ask questions about how they are or were feeling. “It sounds like you were upset about that.” Maybe you get a confirmation, or maybe you start a conversation that draws your child out to articulate her own feelings and thoughts.
Clarify. Your child might be able clarify the experience as a whole when given an opportunity to explore feelings and meanings.

In families where true listening is going on, children believe that what they have to say is important. That leads to more empowered and resilient children. Children begin to trust themselves more and have a better understanding about who they are.

Reading

• Lisa Burman, “Are You Listening?: Fostering Conversations That Help Young Children Learn.” Though focused on listening to young children in the classroom, this book can be quite helpful to parents as well.
• Wendy, The Creative Relationship Coach, “How to Really Listen to Your Child, Your Spouse or Anyone.” The therapist quoted above also shared a moving experience of half-listening to her son. She didn’t slow down and focus until her son broke down.

Image © Fotandy | Dreamstime.com

Throughout March we will offer getting started guides. This is a week of Letting Go of Old Habits.

This following post was an entry in our Blog to Inspire contest. The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and not necessarily those of Eco Baby Steps or Parenting By Nature.

Blog to Inspire entrant The Cloth Diaper Report is Emi Stapler, a bit of a renaissance woman—a military wife, mother, musician, therapist, and crafter.

If I Can Do it, You Can Do it, We Can Do it!

If I could say one thing to families considering cloth diapers or currently cloth diapering it would be “if I can do it, you can do it, we can do it”. It is an effort that need not be sojourned alone, and there is a supportive and quickly growing community of cloth diapering families. Call me crazy, but as I thought about what to write for this article, those war time posters from World War II flashed through my head: the “We can do it” poster and the “I Want YOU for U.S. Army” poster with Uncle Sam pointing. They were propaganda to inspire and motivate Americans, both male and female, to join together for a cause. I guess I am calling out and rounding up families to join together for a different kind of cause, but one that can make a difference for the environment, economy and consequently, for the world our children will grow up in.

When I began cloth diapering I felt relatively alone and isolated in my efforts. I knew a couple of moms in my area who cloth diapered, but they used a lot of prefolds and hand-me-down diapers. They knew a lot more than I did and served as my initial support group, but there was a whole world of brands, styles, patterns and terms I had yet to explore. I live in a rural area, so I did not have the luxury at the time of visiting a cloth diaper shop or finding a community of moms like there is available in some parts of the country. That is how I found my online resources and cloth diapering family.

There are cloth diapering bloggers, websites, forums and Twitter chat groups filled with families at all stages of cloth diapering and who cloth diaper for a wide range of reasons. Have a question about a different fit or material? Laundry advice? Or maybe you have been cloth diapering for quite a while now, but come across a new issue or stump along the way. You have hundreds, even thousands of cloth diapering veterans at your fingertips eager to help you in your cloth diapering journey. Their support and passion are really expressing the message “you can do it, we can do it”, and over time you will come to realize “I can do it”.

I can cloth diaper my child and have a successful, even enjoyable experience in doing so.

I can do the extra loads of laundry and a whiff of Rockin’ Green or Crunchy Clean will brighten my mood as I do it.

I can support the economy with my cloth diaper purchases by supporting WAHMs and small businesses retailing and manufacturing cloth diapers.

I can make a difference for the environment and preserve it for my children and their children.

I can save hundreds, even thousands of dollars compared to disposable diapers, leaving money in the budget for savings and other expenses.

I can do it.

And you’ll be surprised the attention you’ll get, although both positive and negative, from friends and family around you:

“Will you be OK if I buy a pack of disposables while I watch her?”
“You wash them even after they…..?”
“Oh my gosh, that is so cute. Is that her diaper?”

These are all opportunities to educate friends and family on the different options available, such as hybrid diapers with disposable liners, and laundry routines (I love washing my cloth diapers. The rest of my laundry, not so much). And you will never get tired of showing off your little one’s cute fluff. I have so many brands, styles and patterns that even my good friends are always interested in the latest fluff my daughter is wearing.

You may be lucky enough as I have to convert some other families to cloth diapering too! This way you can build your own local, more personal support group to share brands, stories and advice with each other. Inspiring them and each other with that same unifying, message “if I can do it, you can do it, we can do it”…together.

Read about the Blog to Inspire contest and read posts by the finalists and by the rest of the entrants. Forty-four bloggers reached out to inspire on the topics of cloth diapers, babywearing, breastfeeding, and natural parenting.

We don’t think too much about habits. That is what makes them habits. Becoming more conscious of our choices wakes us up to new possibilities. Maybe some of our habits are good for us, like running up and down the stairs. Maybe some of our habits are not so good for us or our children.

On my mind often is air pollution and the clear health effects that result from our collective bad habits. Air pollution is on my mind as every person in my family has trouble breathing or speaking, gets red eyes, or has other not-so-subtle problems when our air pollution is at its worst. Not all of the effects are so obvious, though. When you find out not only that air pollution can cause breathing problems for children, such as increased infections for newborn babies exposed to air pollution, but that air pollution harms cognition for all of us, causing particular problems in the growing brain, it becomes more urgent to address our role in creating that air pollution.

We know where air pollution comes from: industrial sources, energy, and transportation. According to the U.S. EPA, vehicles on the road contribute 25% of air pollution. A lot of this is industrial transportation, but we make some contribution to that air pollution every time we drive. And, air pollution may start local, but as it flows through the airshed, it becomes the problem of everyone.

The good news is, we can easily change some of our ingrained driving habits as we put ourselves on the on-ramp to bigger changes.

As my children are well into the age of activities, I think about driving habits a lot. As I’ve worked on air pollution issues, I’ve heard some very articulate citizens ask to be given accurate information but not to be pressured through guilt. Yes, we should make big changes, like planning and development that doesn’t make us so dependent on individual vehicles, and I hope we will make those changes. If you want to make a small change today, try these suggestions. If you make another change tomorrow and the day after that and you find out it wasn’t so difficult, maybe you will be ready to make bigger changes that have bigger impacts. It all adds up.

Obviously, if you are fortunate enough to live in area with great public transportation, your choice to leave the car behind will be a lot easier. If you can walk or ride bikes, even better. If you haven’t yet figured out how to leave the car behind, try a few of these ideas to change your overall air impact. The first step in change is reducing the need. There is always something you can do.

• Trip chain. Combine your trips out. Map out the route that will mean fewer stops, less time waiting at lights, less stop-and-go driving, and fewer cold starts. The bonus is: you will use your time more efficiently this way, too.
• Idling. Don’t idle more than 10-30 seconds. Experts disagree on when it is best to turn the car off and back on, but they don’t disagree that you shouldn’t sit in a car with the engine running. Avoiding the drive-through window at the bank or for food may requires some planning. If you have a car full of kids and dog, you can probably just turn your engine off while you do business at the bank. You should not, however, turn off your engine while at a traffic light. The risks in that situation are greater than the benefits.
• Tune up. A well-maintained car pollutes less than a poorly maintained car. Regularly change air filter, oil, and fluids. Check that the tires are at proper pressure. It also costs less to keep a car in good shape than to fix it after major breakdowns.
• Fill up cool. On warm days, don’t fill your gas tank midday. When fuel expands and evaporates in the heat, it contributes to air pollution. This may take some planning ahead to be sure that you fill the tank in the evening or early morning.

Also check with local clean air advocates to see if there is anything you can do that is specific to your area. See Clean Air in Canada or Air Now in the U.S. for more tips to reduce your family’s contribution to air pollution.

Little things we can change do add up when many of us make the change.

Throughout March we will offer getting started guides. This is a week of Letting Go of Old Habits.

Image © Arne9001 | Dreamstime.com

“It’s still a disposable diaper, correct?” asks Tamara Champion, an Orillia mom of two who runs www.parentingbynature.com a company that sells cloth diapers and other natural baby products. “A throwaway product is a throwaway product, no matter what you call it. If it’s going to end up in our landfills after one use, it’s garbage just the same.”

• Brandie Weikle, “Bottom line not green,” Toronto Star, March 5, 2010.

Baby carriers, like cloth diapers, can seem overwhelming when new parents find more information than they can comfortably sort through. I have chosen a few of my favorite resources for babywearing just as a start.

Online Resources

Babywearing International

Babywearing International Inc. is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote babywearing as a universally accepted practice, with benefits for both child and caregiver, through education and support.

The Babywearer

Active forums, reviews, and other support services.

Babywearing 101

Parenting by Nature offers our own beginner’s guide to babywearing and baby carriers. Includes “How to Choose a Baby Carrier” and “Baby Carriers - Compare the Differences” as well as a short history of babywearing.

Books

Emery Bernhard, A Ride on Mother’s Back: A Day of Baby Carrying around the World. Illustrated by Durga Bernhard (1996).

A child’s-eye view of cultures around the world, showing caregivers carrying babies as they go about their daily work.

Maria Blois, Babywearing (2005).

Maria Blois, MD, is both a medical professional and a babywearing parent. She often wears her own baby as she lectures and teaches other healthcare professionals about the benefits of babywearing. This book is a parent-to-parent guide to benefits, history, baby carrier styles, and even how to make your own baby carrier.

Itie van Hout, Beloved Burden: Baby Carriers in Different Countries (forthcoming).

This gorgeous book is a translation from the Dutch original (2008) published by the Tropenmuseum, an anthropological museum that is part of the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) in Amsterdam. The author is the Curator of Textiles for the museum, specializing in the role of textiles in culture. First half of the book is articles on babywearing; second half describes babywearing around the world.

More General Book

William and Martha Sears, The Baby Book: Everything you Need to Know about your Baby from Birth to Age Two (1993, updated 2003).

I include this because this was the book I first read to learn about babywearing and other aspects of attachment parenting. It was recommended to me by another homebirth parent in my town, and I have recommended and gifted it to many parents since.

Blogs

Adventures in Babywearing. Stephanie Precourt’s blog Adventures in Babywearing is the big babywearing blog, but there are many, many more blogs where parents (mostly mothers) share their personal experiences and specific reviews.

Every Parent a Resource

There are so many babywearing ambassadors. Every one of us becomes a babywearing ambassador when we meet other people while carrying our babies. We don’t just need to see advice of experts on this and other attachment parenting subjects. Every experienced parent becomes a valuable resource.

So, if you are looking for advice, look around you for parents you can meet face to face. As a mother at the park whips her baby right into a sling so fast that you aren’t sure what happened, you can ask, “How did you do that?” and “Will you teach me?”

Throughout March we will offer guides to getting started with some of the basic practices of attachment parenting. This is Babywearing Week with coverage of benefits, products, resources, and personal experiences.

This following post was an entry in our Blog to Inspire contest. The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and not necessarily those of Eco Baby Steps or Parenting By Nature.

Blog to Inspire entrant Hobo Mama is Lauren Wayne, writer and mother. Riding the rails with her husband, Crackerdog Sam, and her hobo baby, Mikko Lint Picker, and their trampin’ kitty, Mrs. Pim. Trying every day to parent intentionally and with grace.

When my son was born, babywearing was a necessity. Mikko emerged weighing an astonishing 12 pounds, and he was not amused at being ousted from his soft, liquid home. The one thing that made him feel better? Snuggling close to a warm body, feeling loving arms around him, and hearing a gently beating heart — and bouncing. Parents have instinctively known for centuries that newborns respond well to the rhythms of a mama’s walk, because of course that’s what the baby’s been experiencing these long nine months within.

But our little guy hit 20 pounds at nine weeks, and we couldn’t manage the continual walking and bouncing he demanded without something to hold him up and give our arms a break!

I was glad I had invested so heavily in a babywearing stash during pregnancy. Out came the ring slings, the stretchy and gauze wraps, the structured carriers, and each had its place in our babywearing repertoire, depending on task (long walk? chores around the house?) and mood (do I feel like green butterflies or fuzzy brown?).

What didn’t change was the give-and-take at the heart of babywearing. We poured out love and security into Mikko, we offered the lovely memory of those free-floating days in the womb, we wrapped him warm and close and spoke into his ear. Mikko in turn gave us his trust, and before we knew it he could reach out his arms to us to signal that now, again, was the time to pick him up and hold him close.

Sometimes, as babies turn into toddlers, babywearing falls by the wayside or is given over to the next sibling to arrive on the scene. Once a baby can walk, it seems that we as parents are not needed as much for transportation, and we give our young a chance to stretch their legs and their freedom.

This autumn, we moved house. Since our new digs were just down the street, we frequently took advantage of the short distance by walking back and forth between the two places, to look for something we couldn’t find, to transport a bulky object that didn’t fit in the cargo van we rented, to free up more passenger space in our tiny car to fit that many more boxes for a trip.

I needed a way to accomplish all the tasks that come with moving, but our 2-year-old whirlwind was making getting anything done a bit of a challenge. I plucked the Ergo off the coat tree and turned to Mikko. “Want a ride on Mama’s back?”

His eyes lit up, his arms shot out, and once again he was lifted up close to me. At this vantage point, as we walked along the beach toward our new home, he could see from our perspective, he could feel snuggled against a loving body, and I could hear his voice chirping sweetly in my ear and reach back to give his feet a squeeze.

I’ve made an effort to put babywearing back into our everyday lives, even though Mikko is a hefty 35 pounds and change, and even though he sometimes prefers to walk on his own. There’s a lot more up and down than when he was a newborn, but babywearing is adaptable. If he wants to walk, he can, and if he wants a piggyback ride, I’m available.

Even once your child is too big or too heavy or too old for you to babywear, there are still ways to carry forward the spirit and intention of babywearing.

You might not have the kangaroo-care skin-to-skin bonding of those first few days, but you keep that contact alive by giving regular, nurturing touch: holding your child’s hand, cuddling him close for nursing, giving a back rub as she falls asleep, and pooting that tempting soft belly.

You might not always be carrying their full weight against your body, but you can still find chances to physically interact: saving a seat on your lap, wrestling on the floor, twirling around the room, and squeezing in a great big hug.

At some point, you might not be able to pick up your child anymore. It’s an observable truth that most kids eventually outgrow their parents’ ability to haul them around, even in a really sturdy back carry! But we can still respond as attached parents when they lift up their arms, either literally or emotionally, and ask for our help, our connection, or our awareness.

If you keep in mind the reasons you chose babywearing in the first place, you will always find ways to hold your kids close to your heartbeat.

I’m curious: What’s the heaviest or oldest child you’ve worn in a sling or other carrier, and do you have carrier recommendations? How do you physically connect with your children?

Read about the Blog to Inspire contest and read posts by the finalists and by the rest of the entrants. Forty-four bloggers reached out to inspire on the topics of cloth diapers, babywearing, breastfeeding, and natural parenting.

The art of babywearing is very old, but, through new products and innovations, baby carriers are made new over and over again.

Ancient Art of Babywearing

Mothers have always had the same reasons for keeping their babies close: baby is happy and mother is free to move.

Wearing a baby carrier made of cloth or leather is an ancient tradition that is still widespread throughout the world.

The Rebozo from Mexico and Guatemala is made from a length of colorful, woven cotton tied around baby and mother. The baby can be worn in a front, back, or side carry. The Kanga from Kenya is a large, printed cotton scarf that is tied in the front with the baby on the back. Many Native Americans carried babies on their backs, either on a leather-covered wooden cradleboard or in a carrier more closely resembling today’s baby slings or rebozos.

Sacagawea, Lewis and Clark’s early 19th-century Shoshone guide to their exploration of North America, was six months pregnant when she set off. She gave birth along the way and carried her baby for the rest of the journey. When the U.S. Mint researched Sacagawea for their Golden Dollar coin, in production since 2000, they determined that “she could reasonably have learned to carry Jean Baptiste slung from her shoulder, as was the Hidatsa custom.” The final design of the coin shows the infant nuzzled into the back of her neck as she looks back over her shoulder at the viewer, the baby sling a prominent part of the design.

Baby Slings, a Popular Style of Baby Carrier

Ease and simplicity make the sling a popular baby carrier. Slings, baby carriers that go over over the shoulder and the opposite hip, change traditional knotted designs like the rebozo very little. A ring sling takes that simple shape and makes it more convenient by making adjustable the overall size and the snugness.

When the length of fabric is threaded through two large rings, a pouch is formed where your baby will sit. Baby can be worn snuggled in, facing out in front like a kangaroo, on the hip, or on the back looking over your shoulder.

Sakura Bloom Baby Ring Sling

One of the newest baby carriers Parenting by Nature has added to our line up is the Sakura Bloom Pure Linen collection.

These rings slings are adjustable to any size baby and to most parents. They come in beautiful colors that are interesting yet neutral enough that either a mother or a father would be happy to wear the Sakura Bloom baby carrier.

These finest Irish linens are breathable, wicking moisture away from a hot baby and a hot adult to ensure that the sling stays cool even in tropical climates.

The Sakura Bloom sling is machine washable on cold and hangs to dry very quickly. Flax linen is a strong fiber that becomes softer and stronger over time.

Each sling comes with a detailed booklet of instructions, tips, and many photos. Whether a special treat for yourself or a gift for a friend or loved one, each Sakura Bloom baby sling is beautifully packaged and sent with care.

Ancient Art Is New Again

The reason Sacagawea wore her baby was the same reason you and I wear our babies.

Mothers strap their babies on their backs so they can have their hands free to work and play. It’s simple! Baby is safe and happy, and mother has freedom of movement.

Throughout March we will offer guides to getting started with some of the basic practices of attachment parenting. This is Babywearing Week with coverage of benefits, products, resources, and personal experiences.

This following post was an entry in our Blog to Inspire contest. The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and not necessarily those of Eco Baby Steps or Parenting By Nature.

Blog to Inspire entrant Arts & Lit Interrupted is Gillian Young. She is figuring it out as she goes.

Yes, it is an art, I believe. Straps, buckles and clips, twisted and fastened to carry a little one just begging endlessly to be “up”. It can be a bit intimidating for a beginner. For me, it all started with a Hotsling, a pocket of cloth draped over my shoulder. This was such a fabulous tool, I wish I had it sooner than 3 weeks into Mommydom. I could nurse in it, and go about my day-to-day with my little sugarplum nestled at my bosom. Such a wonderful feeling for both of us. The Hotsling had a gentle learning curve, really easy to use.

I then graduated, yes, I think that is appropriate, to the stretchy wrap. It is more complicated, but more comfortable and versatile—and hark, I could nurse in it as well! I have worn my babe out to dinner in this, and no one was any the wiser, greatly impressing my parents who were skeptical of the merits of babywearing. I still use this when I don’t feel like bundling the little one up, I just zip him into my coat and go.

As the days grew on, I quickly learned that what I had envisioned myself doing with baby wasn’t going to be a reality—so naive!! I pictured my babe and I stroller-hopping through our small lakeside town endlessly this summer. WRONG! He hated the stroller, loathed it, screamed as soon as his back hit the padding. I was beside myself as I really craved the outdoors and wanted to instill this same passion in him. He was quickly outgrowing the sling (which btw I think will be great again once he is sitting upright) and I wasn’t loving the disc-crushing discomfort that I endured just to get out of the house. I had bought a Baby Bjorn, and thankfully I managed to sell it, as it is absolutely uncomfortable and impossible to nurse in.

I purchased the Balboa Baby sling (recommended by Dr. Sears) which saved the day for a while. My little guy would calm right down in it (still does on a crazy day), and the way the strap worked (ring sling style with padded shoulder) seemed to be the ticket for me. At almost 20 pounds I still use it when he is teething, having a growth spurt, or just an “up” day (you know those days where the only time they are out of arms is when you make food or visit the loo!)

Furthering my quest to find comfort, I turned to the internet. I regularly peruse the website of Parenting by Nature, a terrific site for the discerning parent wanting eco-friendly choices, and I happened upon a carrier called the Pikkolo, by Catbird Baby. I loved my stretchy wrap-style carrier, but didn’t want to be dragging straps of a mei-tai through snowy slush that is coming soon - ick! The Pikkolo is a miracle-worker. I can nurse in it, no problem. My little guy loves facing out in it too, something hard to find in a soft structured carrier. My husband wears it around town, much to the delight of the little old ladies that beam when they see my two guys coming toward them. It is funny that he will wear this carrier, as we specifically purchased the Bjorn for him, and he just wasn’t willing to withstand the discomfort, despite the more masculine appearance.

I had read in my research on attachment parenting that regularly wearing your baby, aside from all the other wonderful benefits (outlined by Dr. Sears), was that if babies hate their stroller, they will eventually become familiar with your babywearing route and take to sitting in the stroller for the same route. I have to say it has worked for us. The babe will now, at 6 months, tolerate the stroller for our usual path. Though we both now love wearing him so much that it just seems so much easier and cuddly to just pop him in his Pikkolo or stretchy wrap instead. Who wants to stick to the same route anyway!

Now that the babe is almost 20 lbs, babywearing allows me to be hands-free for chores (oh what fun!) A surprising bonus of being a babywearer? Walks on the beach, yes, ON the beach. There is no way my strollers’ stubborn wheels would have allowed for this! The sound of waves always makes the little one go limp with relaxation.

For further info on what carrier will work for you, check out reviews and instructions at The Babywearer.

Read about the Blog to Inspire contest and read posts by the finalists and by the rest of the entrants. Forty-four bloggers reached out to inspire on the topics of cloth diapers, babywearing, breastfeeding, and natural parenting.