Blog
November 07, 2014
International Babywearing Week was October 5-11, 2014 and we definitely kicked it off with a bang; Shannon and I. The sun was blazing, it was super hot inside my house, you know the one that my dad refuses to turn on the central air in? (yeah that one), and I couldn’t have been any more relieved to hurry and rush to Gracefull Birth for their Nurture event – A Celebration of Pregnancy, Childbirth & 4th Trimester. MY KIND OF PARTY!
I knew exactly what I wanted to wear and how I wanted to dress Shannon, but I struggled a bit with styling my hair. However, what I didn’t struggle with was my selection of a soft-structured baby carrier (SSC) to complement my vibe and that was my Ergobaby Organic Baby Carrier – Zen. It definitely matched the natural style
October 13, 2014
I love teaching Infant Massage. It's such a wonderful way to introduce new parents to the concept of mindfulness, being fully present with your baby and learning their uniqueness. Many parents don't realize until they are learning the strokes, that their infants (some as young as 4-6 weeks) have been communicating their personalities and preferences from the moment of birth! We teach parents to ask for permission before they start the massage by rubbing their hands together to warm up the oil, show the baby their hands and say "May I massage your legs and feet?" Some parents chuckle, thinking this is a little silly, that a baby can't possibly understand, but after massaging their babies for only a few days, they start to observe their baby's cues...do they look them in the eyes with interest? Give them a smile? Maybe show excitement by kicking their feet? Or do they turn away, yawn, or even pout or cry? This early respectful interchange is wiring our baby's brain for the capacity for
October 10, 2014
To celebrate babywearing week, we reached out to our friends at Babywearing International. BWI is a non-profit group that helps all the parents wear all the babies! We love the work they do promoting babywearing as a universally accepted practice (thank you!), with benefits for both child and caregiver. They provide education and support to parents, caregivers, and educators through outreach activities (check out some activities in your area). At the heart of BWI is their network of chapters run by Volunteer Babywearing Educators serving their local communities, these educators can help you with everything from which carrier is best for you to how to do a back carry.
So, when we were looking for babywearing tips to share, naturally we reached out to this amazing
October 10, 2014
For as long as I could remember, I was a traveller. Transatlantic flights to visit grandparents bookended our summers and the romantic sound of the night train clattering through stations remains a vivid memory from my childhood. The trips of my 20’s were those I took alone, to places where I knew no one and could be anyone. It was me and my camera and conversations with locals about everything and anything. And then came motherhood and baby Henri. My husband and I didn’t have the option to stay put those first years. Our family was still everywhere in the world but here (Brooklyn) and so off we went as soon as we got the pediatrician’s green light. Henri was 3 months old.
He’s now three years old and travels the globe like a seasoned business man. Little Henri has frequent flyer miles on multiple airlines, prefers
October 08, 2014
To celebrate babywearing week, we reached out to our friends at Babywearing International. BWI is a non-profit group that helps all the parents wear all the babies! We love the work they do promoting babywearing as a universally accepted practice (thank you!), with benefits for both child and caregiver. They provide education and support to parents, caregivers, and educators through outreach activities (check out some activities in your area). At the heart of BWI is their network of chapters run by Volunteer Babywearing Educators serving their local communities, these educators can help you with everything from which carrier is best for you to how to do a back carry.
So, when we were looking for babywearing tips to share, naturally we reached out to
October 07, 2014
To celebrate babywearing week, we reached out to our friends at Babywearing International. BWI is a non-profit group that helps all the parents wear all the babies! We love the work they do promoting babywearing as a universally accepted practice (thank you!), with benefits for both child and caregiver. They provide education and support to parents, caregivers, and educators through outreach activities (check out some activities in your area). At the heart of BWI is their network of chapters run by Volunteer Babywearing Educators serving their local communities, these educators can help you with everything from which carrier is best for you to how to do a back carry.
So, when we were looking
October 03, 2014
“Bonding is a loving experience. The absence of bonding is fear.”
~Barbara Findeisen, Lifelong Patterns of Fear & Wholeness
This past weekend, we had the opportunity to celebrate 20 years of Attachment Parenting International at the Pathways to Child Flourishing Conference. Since 1994, Attachment Parenting International (API) has brought experts, parents and families together for mutual support, education and empathy. Their commitment and actions are providing guidance and community strength to transform and heal the suffering from inherited patterns of parenting that do not serve healthy connection and trust in our children. The API founders, Lysa Parker and Barbara Nicholson, their Board of Directors, parenting support groups, and members all bring their experience to API. They learn together, through their collective insight, success, and clear scientific research to share and
October 02, 2014
Safe sleep is an issue that regularly makes the news, and something parents may experience anxiety about. If your child is sleeping in your room, their own room or bed sharing we want to reduce the risk of SIDS, we can do this when we put our child down to sleep in a safe environment. Here are some safe sleep tips.
Always place your child on their back to sleep. If they can roll over onto their tummy you do not need to worry about them sleeping on their side or tummy.
Do not let your child have a pillow or any stuffed animals in their sleep space until they are at least 12 months old.
Do not use a crib bumper, these can be a suffocation risk.
If bed sharing, make sure that there is no gap between the mattress and headboard or wall.
The ideal
September 02, 2014
Whether it’s your first venture into motherhood or you’ve walked this journey before, bringing a life into the world is a task unlike any other. From having your days filled with diaper duty and sleepless nights to getting in as much cuddle time as possible and being lost in your little love’s eyes, the one thing we can all agree on as new moms is that we’re much shorter on time for ourselves than we used to be. You are your best self when you take some quality time. And because we know how hard that is to come by for the first few months, Ergobaby and I have teamed up to create yoga sequences for you that allow you to incorporate your babe right into your practice, safely nestled into your Ergobaby Wrap.
We’ll be offering a practice for each quarter of the first year, to take you through the newborn phase all the way up until your little one has their first birthday. You can do the practice pose
August 01, 2014
Babywearing and breastfeeding often go hand in hand; breastfeeding encouraged and even made easier by babywearing and babywearing encouraged and even made easier by breastfeeding. There can be a learning curve to figuring that out though but worth taking the time to see if it is something that would work for you. Once I got the hang of breastfeeding in a carrier it made it so much easier to chase around my other children (I have 6 total, keeping up is a big job!) and meet my baby's needs too. Whatever carrier you have or prefer, breastfeeding is likely possible while babywearing.
Feeding a baby in a carrier is totally doable. It may not be easy at first, but with a little patience and practice, you and your baby will get the hang of it in no time.