Baby Wearing

Wanna know how best to get the weirdest looks from people in public?

Baby wearing.

For those who aren't aware of what baby wearing is, it's pretty simple. You wear your baby. There are lots of different ways to wear a baby. At the moment, because my little girl is just three months old, I wear her on my front. I have this amazing sling from Breeze Baby (light weight, breathe holes in it so you can take baby in the pool or shower with you), and I place her on my chest (like she's cuddling me like a monkey) and I tighten the sling around her so she doesn't fall out. It's very comfortable (except sometimes I can't lift my right arm up all the way because the sling is anchored on my arm). Poppy is very safe in the sling, and she's very comfortable as well. She loves being very close to me, and usually falls asleep not long after I put her in the sling. She loves it.

What I DON'T love, is all the looks. The stares. The "what the hell is she doing?" glances I get. Yes, I have a baby, in a sling, on my chest, and we're happy with that. Got a problem? The looks are varying. Some are concerned (I've had someone ask me if my baby is about to fall out because her feet hang out the bottom), some are curious, some are shocked, and I've had a few disgusted looks (I think it was when I was eating, and trying to avoid dropping food on her head!)

I prefer the sling over a pram. Especially if I'm ducking out to the shops quickly for a few things. It leaves my hands free to carry things, and it stops her from screaming when she's tired. I'm also very paranoid about the pram. Worried I'm getting in peoples way, worried that I can't see her, so what if she's crying and I can't hear her? What if she's distressed?? I just don't like the pram all the time. I was (am?) a person who hates walking in a crowd when someone has a pram. I've always felt they push their way through crowds, they take up too much room, the "wielders" of the pram seem to be inconsiderate in where they leave the pram etc. So, I get very paranoid when I have a pram! I've had to take the pram into the Valley once, up a huge flight of stairs when my friends and I went to Yum Cha, then squash the pram into a corner so it didn't get in the way of the trolleys. I usually wouldn't have taken it, but we were going to be sitting for about an hour, and Poppy would have slept, so it was better for her to sleep in the pram, then on my while I'm trying to drink hot tea. (See? I am smart!)

I love baby wearing, and I'm looking forward to so many different ways of being able to carry her as she gets older. What I don't like, is the looks.

So if you see a mother carrying her baby in a sling, or even in one of those strappy contraptions, don't stare, it's not really that strange.

I love my sling.