I have become obsessed with baby wearing wraps. This is an obsession bordering on obscene. About two months ago I was hanging out with some mommas after an ICAN meeting when one of the ladies mentioned a babywearing group. I found the idea to be intriguing and asked her to send me an invite on facebook.
I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into. I wore Sadie in my ergo for the first two years of her life. I love my ergo. It is gray and has pretty stars on it. At the time I didn't see a lot of other moms wearing the same design. It was an easy way to carry Sadie around the streets of San Diego. Little did I know that I was a "babywearing" momma. I was actually part of an elite group of women that carried their babies. I certainly had no idea there was a facebook group specially for these women to trade wraps and become friends. Okay, I am getting ahead of myself. Wraps? What are these wraps? When I was pregnant with Sadie I began to research what I needed to buy to survive as a parent. I read the 8th edition of Baby Bargains religiously. In the book they discussed baby carriers, Ergo carriers winning their final approval. Online I began to search for baby carriers and stumbled upon the Maya wrap. It was beautiful. The wrap I swooned over was red with multiple orange lines, it was bright and daring. I decided not to purchase the wrap because I had no idea how to use it. The wrap appeared cumbersome, a monstrosity of fabric that would swallow me whole. Every once in a while I would think longingly back on the wrap and sigh, not realizing there was a whole world of wraps out in the world and people who were willing to teach me how to use them. I purchased my ergo instead, one of the few purchases I made before Sadie entered the world. Around 4 weeks postpartum I placed Sadie carefully into the ergo infant insert and wore her around the house. As they say, the rest was history. Well, until about a month ago. A friend wore a wrap to our playdate. It was pretty with green and yellow patterns. She saw my interest and offered me to try on her wrap. I was hesitant but willing. My friend and another friend who happened to be there encouraged me to use the wrap and wear my son in it. In moments he was asleep. I was intrigued. My other friend offered to add me on facebook to the Babywearing 102 group and TheBabyWearingSwap. I came home, logged on to facebook and spent the next week confused. There were so many wraps. I googled wraps and found blogs listing dozens of wrap companies. I felt like Alice in the rabbit hole. After a week of research I felt less comfortable with my wrap knowledge than when I started. The facebook wrap swap overwhelmed me. Women posted wraps for sale using strange abbreviations and terms to describe pieces of fabric. Did I mention the insane prices? Hundreds of dollars! I thought these women were nuts. Until one day I saw the most beautiful image on my facebook feed. It was a wrap for sale. My obsession began with some hearts, a few trees and two contrasting colors. I wanted this wrap. I lusted for it. (In case you're curious, here's the wrap.) All of a sudden my eyes were open to the constant "churning" (buying and selling wraps on the swap) that these women participated in. It made sense. At anywhere from $150 to $400 a pop it made sense to buy a wrap, see a wrap you wanted more, to sell the previous wrap and buy the new one. Or, as some women were prone to do, to buy multiple wraps and hoard them all like a dragon with her jewels. Soon I understood the photos of multiple wraps beautifully folded and stacked on one another on Stash Saturday. I needed to buy wraps. All of them. I needed 100% cotton wraps, linen wraps, bamboo wraps, hemp wraps and mixtures of all of these materials. I needed to buy pink wraps, green wraps, yellow wraps, starry wraps... I couldn't sleep at night. I spent hours at my computer staring at the swap admiring the many varieties of wraps. Then I stumbled upon Madame GooGoo Conversion wraps. She is a seamstress/artist in Poland who takes your beautiful wraps and converts them into Mei Teis, half buckles or full buckle carriers. After a restless night I brought up the obsession with my husband. He suggested contacting Madame GooGoo and getting a carrier made for me. I wrote the email and pressed send, my heart on my sleeve, my eyes teary with desire. The next morning I sang with joy. I had received an email from Madame GooGoo's assistant. I couldn't believe it. I was actually going to get my own carrier made by none other than Madame GooGoo. I responded immediately and waited for a response. Weeks went by, the flame of my desire slowly dying as I learned more about wraps and carriers. Yesterday morning I received an email from Madame GooGoo's assistant asking if I was still interested in having a wrap conversion made (a carrier made from a wrap of your choosing). I slept on the decision and realized this morning I was going to pass on the opportunity. Although Madame GooGoo makes the most beautiful carriers I have ever seen, there have been several wraps for sale on the swap sold by women disappointed by the size and fit of their new carrier. I can't handle that kind of upset. Also, after purchasing way too many wraps I know I need to cut back. Several attempts to sell my new wraps for what I paid for them and to cover shipping has ended poorly. Alas churning is not for me! On the upside, I have found myself lusting after a Tula wrap conversion. This is good news for me, not such good news for my husband :) Links To Encourage Your Wra The Baby Wearing Swap https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebabywearingswap/ Babywearing 102 https://www.facebook.com/groups/Babywearing102/ Tula Love https://www.facebook.com/groups/100769783399025/ Kokadi Babywearing https://www.facebook.com/groups/637271839623448/ Ocah Carriers https://www.facebook.com/groups/36623659917/ Madame GooGoo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Madame-Googoo-baby-carriers/145687608816099
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Meet the Blogger!
I'm a mom. A writer. A lover of good fantasy. A proponent of nursing when possible. A birth advocate. I am absolutely horrible at keeping my house clean or the dishes washed or the laundry done. I strongly believe in women having a positive birth. When we start to respect women's rights to birth the way they want, we can start to treat women as equal people in this world. Archives
February 2016
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