woohoo to babywearing but...

[mrsflibble]

boo to Basildon public, and boo to one of our health visitors (yeah yeah i know)....


me and soph went to a 2nd birthday party for all the kids on our local clinic's books. it was held in our local surestart building (so happy to have found that- free playgroups!!!). Saw my HV for the first time since soph was about 15 months old.

As we were leaving I strapped soph to my back but had to ask for a little help with our two-head-hole poncho 'cos she wasn't co-operating. my own Hv was very complimentary about soph's sling and the poncho etc, but her colleague (one of the more "hitlerish" of the lot) told me I was ruining my spine, sophie's spine and that the circulation to her feet would be cut off; and she also exclaimed that soph can't possibly be happy to be carried all the way home (short bus journey, long walk at other end). Now I shall stress here soph's sling wasn't too tight, and I asked if her legs were ok before doing the final knot.
soph blew a reaspberry at her, called her a poo and i was left quite embarassed- but so incredibly impressed with soph that she got her pick of the books at our most local charity shop. so along with her latest bookstart pack, her party bag from surestart she also came home with 6 other books just for being a cheeky mare. she has no idea it's for being cheeky- don't want to encourage it lol!!!
she also fell asleep on the way home which i think is the biggest compliment for the mei tai.

I need to get a pic of us in our poncho.

[circlecross]

once when I had ds2 in the wilkinet when about a month old, and ds1 walking alongside, a lady in a shop said "I'm suprised he's not smothercated!" I almost said "Well, if that was even a word, it might have been possible" but I wasn't feeling up to an argument on ignorance, much less point out the fact that a sleeping baby shouldn't be pulled at to show that he is still breathing.
I like carrying them, ds2 is in a reinforced metal framed thing most of the time now, but I use the buggy a lot so ds1 can ride on it. I would like a mei tai...may even make one if I ever get any spare time...

[mrsflibble]

our metal frame carrier doesn't fit me. if it's done up right around the hips, the straps are about 2in above my shoulders!!! fits james though, and he'd never be seen dead in a mei tai lol!

I just hate narrow minded people. I did get some really nice comments though, especially about our poncho. and I much prefer people to come and ask me about Soph rather than just staring or commenting to their mates. I don't like the "huh. hippy" kind of sniffs one gets on the bus from certain persons of an older generation

I had a Wilkinet, (was my mum's for my little sister) i could never get the hang of the straps though... funny 'cos the mei tai is pretty similar when you look at it.

[Ali B]

It's strange that people always feel that they have a right to comment when you are carrying a baby... DH & I wore our sons in ring slings (huggababy) & then in back carriers (Ergos) & people were always full of 'funny' comments & advice. I just wish I had know about all the gorgeous mei tais that were available when we got our Ergos. I love the Ergo, but it's a bit dull..

Nice to meet some other babywearers here

[circlecross]

the wilkinet did become known by dh as "the confounded thing" or the "crazed octopus". He could never do it either. I thnk my brain was so out there from hormones, it kinda made sense...
I went to a session on slings and babywearing at bgg (shameless plug there!) and had a butchers at different types. Did like the mei tai for simplicity, and versatility and yes the funky designs you can stick on it. My old wilki looked v.drab next to it. There was a totally driven earth mother type there who ONLY advocated some tying nonsense, using one great big sheet and tying your baby on somehow, as she walked around topless, and possibly spurting.......

[Esther.R]

People said that about me when my parents carried me that way..and that was the late 1970s...I thought the world might be a bit more enlightened now! Oh and I and my parents all have normal spines and my legs are fine

Beth had a rucksack style one and also a mei tai that I made, she is out of them now as I find her far too big and heavy now (at 2) but she was in them all the time when she was smaller and it was far more convenient than a buggy.

[ina]

soph blew a reaspberry at her, called her a poo

Good on her! She obviously knows what's good for her...

[Clara]

Perhaps that HV would like to spend a day chasing my LO around!

She is 17 months we have used slings, wilkinet, wraps, ergo and rucksacks, but never once a buggy - her spine seems fine to me. In fact as she was in all the high risk groups for hip dysplasia (breech, female, first), the open leg position adopted in the wilkinet may well have helped prevent that - of course that can never be proved one way or the other, but we were told to put two nappies on her to open her hips when she was first born, the position that she was carried in was similar.

AND....how the hell does she think the vast majority of babes in the world are transported by their mamas?

On a similar note I went to buy a new baby card for a friend today - could I find one without a picture of a pram, bottle or dummy? Could I heck.

[ina]

On a similar note I went to buy a new baby card for a friend today - could I find one without a picture of a pram, bottle or dummy? Could I heck.

I find the "new baby" cards awful, too... And it's all pink and squashy - I hate that! I tend to go for a card with a nice bright picture of a flower or butterfly, something a baby can recognise early on.

[mrsflibble]

oooooo I am seeing a market opening up here clara...............

[Clara]

completely OT now.....I ended up with a sort of double doored card of a bunch of cartoon chickens watching a hatching egg, inside the egghatches to reveal a chick in moulin rouge style headress.

On another similar note! I was at Stansted airport a few months ago and saw a sign for a "nursing mothers room" (presumably for breastfeeding out of the public gaze - don´t get me started on that!), signposted with a bottle sign....despite the fact there is an international breastfeeding sign!

All of these things, and particularly Mrs F´s HV, just show how far removed society has become, when the things which are perfectly normal and sensible are considered "alternative" or "weird"

[Silver Ether]

As a childminder and mother of two grown people tell em to "go away".... I carried both of my own and over the last 20 years something in the area of 40 other children... I am 52 and can still dig holes to plant trees in no back problems ... and the kids are fine too ... If it hurts to carry them don't because you could have a weakness but if your strong and fit get on with it...


busy bodies ... I hate em

[QuakerBear]

Clara,

that's because boobies are obviousley horrible, disgusting, filthy things and to have a picture of one would obviously be obscene.

Seriously though it would sadden me when I was a librarian and mums would shyly ask if they could use the toilet to feed their baby. I wouldn't eat in a public toilet why should babies be forced to do this through shaming their mothers.

[Clara]

ooops posted twice, whilst attempting to post a picture - see below

[Clara]

Clara,

that's because boobies are obviousley horrible, disgusting, filthy things and to have a picture of one would obviously be obscene.

Seriously though it would sadden me when I was a librarian and mums would shyly ask if they could use the toilet to feed their baby. I wouldn't eat in a public toilet why should babies be forced to do this through shaming their mothers.

Damn right, when my midwife went to register the birth of her third child she was told to go breastfeed in the loo, she had the same thoughts on the subject as you and told them that she would do that only if they would eat their lunch there!

You can probably guess that I´m a self-righteous pain in the ass and I see it as my duty to bf in public, otherwise how will BFing ever become "normal" again. But just out of interest here is that sign