Snuggle Mama

November 12-18 is International Babywearing Week. Something near and dear to my heart. All my babies where sling-babies. Someone bought me a Snugli carrier, I could not wear it comfortably. No matter how I adjusted it and Faith just screamed in the thing. At the time I was just stumbling on a term for what my heart was telling me to do. Attatchment Parenting. I was breastfeeding on demand, co-sleeping, holding my sweet firstborn constantly, not starting solids, etc. and Silly Goose was 6 months old. I had gotten a lot of grief for these decisions. It was terrible. I was brought to tears on more then one occasion. They would never leave my bed, I could count on that (they all sleep alone now and have since age 2, though that transition was harder for Vance), they would never wean and how could a child possibly survive without a bottle? What if something happened to me? (well, nothing did, they all transitioned from breast to cup in their own time and at different ages, none of them are still breastfeeding!) They need to cry, it makes their lungs healthy and they need to be independent (what the heck? Here, you are a few months old, cry, scream, become independent...truly weird in my opinion, I cannot imagine it...my heart would have exploded and I would have required a sedative to get through something like that, and they are all independent, happy, healthy, well-adjusted children now!) Here I was at 21 with a baby, scared out of my wits, and being questioned constantly on my choices (now, the best part of that is the proof is in the pudding! They later apologized and told me how great my kids are and how wrong they where. It was lovely to have my hard work and dedication recognized in that way!) . It was incredibly defining for me. I stumbled upon Dr. Sears and my confidence grew. Finally someone to back me up! I bought The Baby Book and my convictions grew even stronger. To leave a baby to cry? To not feed them when they cried. To leave them in a crib at night? None of that worked for me. It did not feel right. I've learned in my years of parenting that my golden rules are two things:
1. if it feels right to you, it IS right for you!!!
2. if you start to ask yourself if it is time to call/go in to see a doctor, then it IS time to call or see them.
Babywearing just made sense too. I hated to put any of them down, the time where they are tiny and want to be held all the time is incredibly short. I don't regret for a minute sitting on the couch snuggling my babies, nursing, and nurturing them. I cannot remember what we ate or how neat the house was or if everyone had clean socks but I DO know that I cherrished every moment with them and that is reflected back to me even now. In how loving and nurturing and caring they are. To see them reflect back the gentleness I've shown them is the greatest gift of parenting. All those hard times when I questioned myself, to know that for my children I truly made the right choice. Priceless. (yes, there are days they drive each other nuts and are unkind but they are never, ever malicous and they do try to be loving to each other).
9 years ago the selection of slings was small.
I knew about Maya wraps and I knew about NOJO's. I chose the NOJO and that thing was worth it's weight in gold. It helped me calm fussy babies, do dishes, kept strangers hands off my babies, kept them warm next to me on cold outtings, kept breastfeeding more private, kept the sun, wind, rain, and snow off my precious cargo. When V-man was a baby my friend Bronwen had a party and a friend of hers sold Moby Wraps, I bought one and LOVED it! V-man was in it a ton and it was my favorite thing, to snuggle him up, put him to sleep, and go about my day with 2 toddlers at my feet needing everything from milk cups to bums wiped. It saved my sanity!
I used it with him until he was 2. I still miss being able to scoop him up and calm him in that way.

The last one is my favorite pic I have of babywearing. So very sweet. Tender moments locked in time that I will never forget.

Babywearers, past and present, share your stories and pics here.