Why should I come to a babywearing meeting before the baby is born?

Congrats on the impending new addition to your family! There is so much for you to research and prepare before the baby is here. We know you have a lot to do before the baby comes and scheduling one more “class” before the big day can be stressful. It would be easy to push a babywearing meeting off until your new bundle of joy is in your arms, but you don’t have to wait. Here are a few reasons why you should get out to one of our meetings before the baby arrives.

1. The babywearing world is full of terminology and brand names. SSC, ring sling, stretchy, FWCC, Tula, Lillebaby, water carrier…. All these new words can be confusing to someone just getting their feet wet in the world of babies and baby carriers. We do a babywearing 101 demo at the beginning of each meeting demonstrating the main types of carriers and how to wear them with a younger baby. This part of our meeting will give you a basic understanding of the terminology used and can help you assess what type of carrier will be right for your family. If you’ve worn before, just like everything else with caring for a young child, the terms and best practices do change. Coming out to a meeting to refresh your skills and check out what is currently on the market wouldn’t hurt!
2. It costs nothing, but can save you a ton! All our meetings are free to attend. You can try on the different carriers we have in our lending library to get a feel for what you may want to add to your registry. We often say that baby carriers are like a pair of jeans, what might fit and look great on your best friend may not be the best option for you. Coming to a meeting gives you a chance to give a carrier a try before your Aunt buys it from your registry and you figure out later that it just was not the right fit for you.
3. While you are trying on the carriers you can practice with one of our weighted demo dolls. This will give you a chance to get the mechanics of using the carrier down before you start using the carrier with a real baby. Using a baby carrier will be a new experience for both you and your baby. Using one of our demo dolls will let you get some experience using the carrier before adding a new wiggly participant to the mix. This will increase your confidence so your baby will hopefully be the only one a bit nervous the first time you wear them.
4. Coming to a meeting allows you to meet some other caregivers. You will meet other attendees and may learn a lot from their experiences or from watching them learn something new. If coming into a group of people you do not know is not in your comfort level, feel free to bring someone else with you. Partners often attend the meetings together and other caregivers (grandparents, nannies, other family members, friends, etc…) are also more than welcome. If you have older kids you also don’t have to find a babysitter to come to one of our meetings. A lot of our volunteers and attendees bring their kids and we are used to conducting our meetings with kids of all ages around.
5. You can get hands on help from our educators. Our volunteers are here to help and offer a lot of varied experiences. Our educators must pass a written and in person test demonstrating that they know how to use, teach, and troubleshoot the main types of carriers. Our educators also talk to each other frequently about their teaching techniques and experiences to help give our meeting attendees and chatter group posters the best advice they can. YouTube is a great tool, but there are also a lot of outdated videos out there. Our educators can point you to good online resources that you can reference after the meeting to help you continue to practice before the baby comes. You may also find after practicing a few times that it’s still not clicking. Sometimes it just takes that in person assistance and a new way of explaining things to grasp a skill. Our volunteers are here to help you through the learning curve.
6. Life will be different once the baby arrives. You’ll have to adjust to your new life and it may take a while for everyone to feel up to getting out in public after the birth. We want you to have this parenting tool at your disposal as early as possible. Attending a meeting and practicing prior to the arrival of your baby will let you use this tool as soon as you’re ready instead of feeling like you need to wait for the next meeting.
7. Babies have a mind of their own. Let’s be honest, even if you do all your homework and pick the perfect carrier for you, baby may have a different opinion. Coming to a meeting gives you options, especially if baby proves to be picky about the carrier. It is easy to say “baby doesn’t like being worn” if you only try one carrier and you could easily write off babywearing from that one experience. Coming to a meeting before baby arrives helps you see what other possibilities there are for you if you are determined to use this parenting tool. Oh, and don’t write off that perfectly researched carrier, babies go through stages and they might like it in a few months. Feel free to come back again with baby and the carrier, our Educators can help you troubleshoot any potential issues with your carrier and give you suggestions for other things to try for a while if baby is being opinionated.

We want you to be successful in your parenting journey. We are here to help you clear up any confusion and learn the skills needed to use a carrier with your newborn. There are so many options available and we love to see a caregiver who has done their research. That research can be daunting, but our educators are geeks about carriers and will happily share our knowledge with you! Congratulations once more, we hope to see you at a meeting soon.

An expectant Mom uses a demo doll to practice at a meeting.