Yes, please wear footed pajamas on baby to keep legs/feet/toes warm and protected from cold or heat and any other extremes.
If the footies are pulled tight against the bottom of baby's feet, baby's step reflex can be activated and she will begin walking in the carrier. The step reflex is present from birth to about six weeks and then begins as a voluntary behavior around eight months to one year old. Too tight footies can also make baby uncomfortable and squirmy.
Some fixes are:
1. pull down the legs of baby's footies after securing her in the baby carrier ~ this is a good thing to check with any device that you "secure" baby into
2. make sure baby hasn't outgrown her footies ~ if baby's feet, when extended out, pull the pajamas taut from neck to toes, baby is ready for the next size up
3. use baby legs or knee high socks to close the gap between toes and non-footed pants ~ baby legs can also be pulled down over foot/toes to form "socks"
This is a list of many of the resources that I share on a regular basis with clients and that I consult on a regular basis to help answer babywearing and kangaroo care questions. Here, I share it with you. Mixed in are some favorite babywearing pics.
Fall/Winter 2011: My very first back carry!!! I dove right in with a Santa toss with a 20 mo.
This was back in 2011, when Santa Toss was a pretty popular back loading method.
Look at those flipped shoulders to keep the carry from sagging!
And look at the digital quality of this pic from back then!
6/5/12: Look at that yummy 3 month old in a high back carry!
He used to play with my hair and developed incredible fine motor schools early on;
he could pincer anything.
You may need to do a bosom scoop to lock baby into place; Have baby straddle his own cross pass. Once baby is straddling pass, lift your breast up and trap baby's knees beneath it, then aim your nipple at baby's belly button, then release the weight of your breast, then have baby's torso lie on the top, outer section of your breast. Trap baby in place with top half of cross pass. Repeat.
PWCC in a stretchy wrap begins to become saggy when total baby weight reaches 15-20 lbs. At which point you can move on to a woven, which will provide you with several double hip options, like
October 2016: This is my first back carry with our beloved dog, Bryce,
on one of his last days. He just wanted to be held and
I'm thankful that I could do that for him. Those fluffy ears!
Singleton Woven Wrap carries to start with (carries in parenthesis are the tandem sister carries and can be found in the files section)
-FWCC/PWCC (this can be turned into 3 different tandem FWCC carries)
3/29/12: 25 mo + 1 mo ~ front / back slings is how I often got us
from point A to B. Slip knots were more comfortable and
easier to adjust than rings or full knots
Christmas tree shopping 2014: 15 mo in back in fleece lined
Connecta buckle carrier + 21 mo in front in pretied Wrapsody hybrid stretch,
all of us covered in a DIY Tandem Babywearing Coat
There's basically 4 stages to the first year of twin babywearing.
1. Babies are in your belly and you need something to support your belly: woven wrap is the best answer to this, tho a few other carriers will work too.
2. Babies are tiny and both fit on your front: see post above for this
3. Babies are small, but not small enough to both fit on your front, but not big enough yet to fit into a structured carrier: my favorite for this stage is two smallish mei tais because if you can do two mei tais on front or on hips, you have the skills to do two mei tais front/back; a woven or hybrid wrap are also good answers.
4. One Baby fits well in your structured carrier without modification: the world is your oyster!
Tandem non-newborn, non-sitting twins: favorites
1. 2 mei tais front off center or on hip (this is my fav because you can work your way up to a front/back carry pretty quickly with it) or
2. A thin wrap + sling rings for jasmines tandem hip carry (this gives you the most options long term, but has a trickier learning curve) or
3. Vija twin cami set (this will only last you until babies reach 15 lbs each, and is a shorter term solution like the weego)
2014ish: DHTAS + FCC (used as a double sling for a cradle carry)
Werewolf family...
Summer 2016: Tandem MTs front off center with Babylonia doll carrier &
pre-carrier standards mei tai; Jasmine's tandem hip carry with size 3 Vatanai Teesta
& M sling rings; RRR + FCC with size 3 Vatanai Tintagel
Babywearing Tutorials (BT) : selecting tutorials/videos/pictures that match the description; here the answer will be given and you will play the question
Babywearing Dates (BD) : defining what happened on babywearing dates
Each day of International Babywearing Week I will be posting on both my website and Facebook page a new question for our IBW16 card. All correct answers will be added to the game card. The first person to answer the question correctly will be added in parentheses after the winning answer on the game card; let me know if you want to remain anonymous. All responses to the question on FB or by email will be entered to win a prize (free for shipping); winner will be chosen by woobox.
Here is a Babywearing Balderdash Sample card:
BWQ: Tandem Babywearing
BPQ: Sacagawea
BIQ: BCIA
BTQ: Babywearing Bosom Scoop
BDQ: 11 February 1805
BWA: Using baby carriers to get more than one baby from point A to B
BPA: A woman from the Lemhi Shoshone tribe who helped Lewis and Clark survey the western US, while tending to her baby born on the trip (likely America’s best known babywearer)
Do you have ideas for babywearing questions and answers for Babywearing Balderdash cards? Please share them and I’ll add them to my list. I plan to post your name in parentheses after the question, so let me know if you want to remain anonymous.
As the game grows, each category will have its own page that gets added to each week.
To Prepare for International Babywearing Week, I’ll be on WTAJTV’s Central PA Live talking about babywearing!
Wednesday, October 5th, throughout the day
The Babywearing Games
Come join me on my website, on my FB page, and in my FB client group for games and prizes. Games will run throughout International Babywearing Week: October 5th - 10th. Each day will feature a new babywearing related prize.
Find Rafflecopter entry here: https://wrapsodybaby.com/international-babywearing-week/
Thursday, October 6th, 5:30-7 pm
Make One; Give One DIY Babywearing Poncho at the Mommy Shoppe
It’s the 1 year anniversary of Rachel Gaston-Pifer, Certified Babywearing Consultant, CBWS!!! Help me celebrate!
I will help you to make a babywearing poncho that you can use on front, side, back, and tandem. Then, with your new poncho making skills and with the rest of your fabric, you can make a babywearing poncho to donate to the Mommy Shoppe.
The following numbers are based on fleece fabric that is 58-60 inches wide. Bring along 1 2/3 yards of fleece to create a babywearing poncho for yourself OR bring along 3 1/3 yards to make a second poncho to donate to the Mommy Shoppe. Every 5 yards you bring will create 3 ponchos!
Joann Fabric’s fleece-tastic deal: all fleece is 50% goes through October 5th. Sign up for text messages from Joann's to receive an extra 20% off your entire purchase.
Here's a video of how to make a DIY Babywearing Poncho:
Now through Cyber Monday deliver your carrier to Jezebel’s Boutique or an event that Rachel Gaston-Pifer, Certified Babywearing Consultant, CBWS is hosting. Email me, rachelgaston@hotmail.com, your name, email address, and the carrier that you donated and you will be entered to win a prize. We’ll then send a care package to TCOP after Cyber Monday in November.
From The Carrying On Project: "For TCOP we prefer new or gently used carriers so we can pass them on to families, but any carrier will be accepted with the understanding that it may be sold for funds if needed. We serve active duty, veteran, and wounded warrior families of the U.S. Armed Services, and SSCs [especially buckle carriers rated to higher than 25 lbs] are our most popular carrier request, but we do get plenty of the other carrier types requested so anything that can be passed forward we would love to have and would be happy to help it find a home." Paypal donations can be sent to: Carryingonproject@gmail.com
Did you miss the Baby Carrier Fit Clinic at Just Kids Resale? Here’s a new opportunity to get the most comfortable fit in your carrier for you and your baby. You too can say, “Wow! That feels so much better!!!”
Saturday and Sunday, October 8th & 9th, throughout the day
I will be live answering questions and I will have threads where you can post your pic to get a virtual fit check. Let me help you say, “Wow! That feels so much better!!!”
Join me for pizza and gift making. Let’s create some happy baby gifts to send to refugee camps in Greece.
Calling all sewists, knitters, crocheters and makers!
An important part of #CarrytheFuture’s mission is empowering our supporters to make a personal difference in the lives of refugees. This winter we are encouraging you to make handmade baby hats, blankets, jackets, sweater and toys.
I’ll be collecting items at events through 12/31/16
Joann Fabric’s fleece-tastic deal: all fleece is 50% goes through October 5th. Sign up for text messages from Joann's to receive an extra 20% off your entire purchase. A super easy blanket; all you need are scissors and fleece: https://snapguide.com/guides/make-a-no-sew-fleece-blanket-wout-bulky-knots/
My first born came on Valentine’s Day in 2010, 4 weeks later I purchased a locally made ring sling that I would use daily. Then I needed to launder it...after a few washings where I did not have a carrier, I purchased a second ring sling, and now I had two ring slings that I could use daily. Over the next several months, I picked up a buckle carrier, a pouch, a mei tai, and a stretchy wrap. There were so many options and I wanted to try them all!
2010: The Valentine baby who started it all!
In 2011, now that I had mastered the stretchy wrap, I wanted to tackle that complicated carrier - the woven wrap. At the time our community had one local In Real Life “wrapper”, but she worked and her kids were pretty much grown out of baby carriers, so she was a rare sighting. I spent months discussing what I should get with members of thebabywear.com (TBW). Finally in September, I bought a used Didymos Cologrown Waves, size 7, from a fellow TBW member, a super sweet mama in Southeast PA. Then in October, I bought a used Vatanai Teesta, size 3, and I was HOOKED!!! These carriers were so beautifully versatile! I joined Carry of the Week (COTW) challenges on TBW to learn how to use the wraps. I talked my husband into buying me a mystery box from Birdie’s Room - three wraps picked for you by your description of what you like. Now I had wraps made from different fibers and in different sizes.
2011: First back carry
in my first woven wrap ~ taken with an old school digital camera
In 2012, I continued to participate in COTW challenges on TBW. In February, I gained a squishy new wrappee. I started experimenting with ways to use carriers to get both my 2 year old and new baby up and down stairs and in and out of the house. While playing around with wraps and sharing experiences with fellow babywearers on TBW, I developed the Tied at Shoulder Front Cross Carry tie off from a Ruck (or RRR) Tied at Shoulder...I was officially a babywearing geek. I became the local IN REAL LIFE “wrapper” in my community and began having people over to play with my growing variety of carriers and began teaching what I knew. I wanted more.
2012: A Tandem Carry with one wrap
and introduction of the TASFCC ~ Tied At Shoulder Front Cross Carry
At the end of 2012, the leaders of our local Babywearing Group felt that they and their children had aged out of the group, and they were ready to pass leadership on. And this was my opportunity for more! In the beginning of 2013, I became co-leader of our local group and resident specialist in wraps and mei ties (I still had much to learn about mei ties!). Because I was now teaching in a formal setting, I felt that I should have liability insurance; Babywearing International (BWI) was a good fit for these needs. I passed the written assessment in May and the skills assessment in June. At my skills assessment I learned several new tricks, especially with pouches. Our group became an official BWI chapter in August. On August 30, 2013, I became mother to a newborn...18 month old, and 3 year old. We live(d) in a house with 15 (fifteen) sets of stairs and my oldest was starting preschool, so we needed to get in and out of the house through sunshine, or rain, or snow... And so the luxurious fun of using carriers to carry two children in 2012, became a minute necessity in 2013. As I continued to develop ways to get everybody where we needed to be, I began to share videos of these ways and help others across the world in the Tandem* Babywearing Facebook group and thebabywearer.com forum style website. By the end of 2013, I was helping in a more official capacity as an administrator with the Tandem Babywearing Facebook group and a moderator with thebabywearer.com.
*Tandem is carrying more than one child
2013: Our new sweet baby!
2014 brought me the opportunity to work with Babywearing International’s Babywearing Education Committee to set in place a standard of guidelines for tandem babywearing for BWI educators to follow. And the opportunity to attend and present at the 2014 International Babywearing Conference in Tempe, AZ. I presented "Topics in Tandem Wearing", and "The Woven Repairs Toolkit". I also gained a great deal of knowledge (and baby carriers) that I was able to bring back to my group. I felt a bit like an explorer! The carrier that had the most lasting effect for both my local community and me was the mei tai; I had attended several sessions on how to use it and I purchased a BBTie mei tai as my conference souvenir (I love that carrier so much that I now sell it!).
2014: Speaking at the International Babywearing Conference '14
2015 brought me the opportunity to train without children! In May I took a bus to NYC and attended the Center for Babywearing Studies Foundations training, my first professional training. I made friends. I learned. I must have said: OH and AHA fifty times each day of training. I learned how to teach the large variety of carriers that are on the market. I learned how to meet caregivers where they are. I learned the tiniest tweak can make a huge difference in comfort. I learned that in person training is my ideal way to learn. I passed my CBWS exams straight away and obtained American Heart Association CPR certification and liability insurance in October, and I became a CERTIFIED CBWS Babywearing Consultant launching my current consulting business during International Babywearing Week!!! On October 6th I launched my business website and Facebook page and updated my YouTube channel.
2015: My website is live!
I was selling personal baby carriers at every consultation, and I needed to have a greater variety of carriers available for my clients, so the first month of 2016, I applied for a PA sales tax license, was approved, and began selling baby carriers. As my professional services became more in demand, I realized that I had to choose where to dedicate my time. I decided to leave my local babywearing group that I had co-founded, so that I could offer more complete services through my fast-growing business. Besides carrier sales and consultations, I am now offering free services weekly and working with a variety of local, regional, and national non-profits to provide services, education, and baby carriers. One of my favorite parts of making money in my beloved profession is…I can reinvest that money into training! In May at Mommycon’sWEAR conference I was able to attend innovative workshops that helped me to work more efficiently and affect more people AND I had the opportunity to do another one of my favorite things - teach. I taught in the Babywearing Lounge, and the classes: "Wrap Geekery", "Teaching Back Wrapping”, and approved for 1.5 IBLCE L-CERPs and 1.5 CBWS CEUs “Precautions and Special Considerations for Tandem Babywearing”. I have been able to continue learning and growing as a babywearing educator by training and certifying with the USIKC Kangaroo Care in June and completing the 6 Hour Rebozo Training with Gena Kirby in September. I’ve also become a member of the BCIA - Baby Carrier Industry Alliance, so that I can keep current with the baby carrier industry. Stay tuned for International Babywearing Week 2016, as I celebrate my business anniversary with giveaways, classes, and some exciting outreach opportunities! I’m so excited to see where this journey next takes me!
