Baby Wearing

by Chris and Ashley Wilson

After being introduced to a baby sling with the birth of our second child, we realized what we had missed out on with our first born. The bonding and nurturing opportunities offered to Adam definitely resulted in a happier and more confident baby, not to mention the comfort and warmth afforded during those extremely chilly winter months - both our children are winter babies.

Having being stopped many times by current and prospective parents in search of a similar product we realized the total unavailability of anything remotely similar in South Africa. Having made several enquiries to import an affordable sling we realized that in order to provide a high quality product at a reasonable price it would have to be manufactured locally. Having looked at the options we realized that with some improvements our then baby sling would provide the best base to develop from. Coming from a zero knowledge of the textile industry proved challenging but we knew that we had a wonderful product and were determined on producing it. It took over a year and several manufactures to finally produce the quality product we were looking for. aSling is 100% cotton and 100% produced in Cape Town, and is a refinement of a centuries old concept.


We have seen first hand the ongoing benefits of using aSling. Besides being hands free for the parent from birth; you are providing the best support for your baby’s developing hips and spine. aSling has been designed to reduce stress on parents neck, back and shoulders, aids sleep and allows for discreet breast feeding. Colic and reflux reduction has been widely reported by users of aSling.

It has been fantastic to have produced something that has been so well received. Having being determined to produce a high quality product, we are continually encouraged by the extremely positive feedback we receive.

To those readers who have supported us, a huge thank you and many years of happy parenting.

http://www.babyslings.co.za/

Keeping Baby Close

From the Editor’s Desk

Baby wearing is just another one of those facets of attachment parenting that I am passionate about. It just feels so right, your baby nestled in close to your heart! After 9 months in your body what can be more natural than to nurture your baby right against it. Baby is happy and secure and mom’s hands are free to do what she needs to, it just makes everything easier, including nursing. Now don’t get me wrong baby wearing is not for moms only, my husband still carries our little one often.

Baby wearing is something that comes naturally to many cultures – just look at our African ladies wearing their babies on their backs – these babies cry less and just look so content. Westerners are finally starting to see baby wearing for the wonderful attachment tool it is. While there is loads of info overseas about baby wearing there is still sadly little knowledge about this in SA.

I have been wearing my youngest who is now a year old since birth, we have gone through different carriers in the different stages my son went through. When he was a newborn a sling worked well, but he soon started to dislike being so enclosed. I tried several of the commercially available carriers, but they just did not work for me and left my son’s legs dangling which is not healthy for hip development. I then discovered the Khanyisa African Baby carrier which till this day we can use comfortably for prolonged periods. We alternate this with a sling which, now that he can sit up in it he just loves.

While it may not always be easy to find the right carrier and some trial and error may be necessary, once you find the right carrier you will never look back. I only wish I knew about slings when my older son was small, he like most babies did not much like being in a pram and I spent a lot of time simply carrying him.

Some further reading:

There are now several slings and carriers available in South Africa that are made locally. Among these is the African Baby Carrier and aSling.

Earthbabies who we featured a short while ago have some lovely info on baby wearing and some great carriers and slings.

See Dr Aletha Solter on TV

From the Editor’s Desk


Finally something worth watching on TV!!
E-tv's television program GREAT EXPECTATIONS will air a live interview with Dr. Aletha Solter Monday, 28 May 2007, from 11:30am-12:30pm.

If you were not able to attend Aletha's lectures but would have liked to, here's one last chance to hear her speak about raising children before she leaves South Africa.

Dr Solter is a Swiss American developmental psychologist, international speaker, consultant and author of four books (The Aware Baby, Helping Young Children Flourish, Tears and Tantrums, Raising Drug-Free Kids)

The Aware Parenting Institute

Co-Sleeping in comfort

by Annie Austin

I have always been pro sharing sleep, my first son spent the first six months of his life in my bed and first year in my room - at the time I was newly widowed and spent so much time away from my son during the day while I was at work that I hated to be parted from him when I didn't have to - including while we slept.

After marrying a wonderful man and finding happiness in a marriage that I thought I would never find again, I was expecting my second child. We looked at cots and bassinets and started putting together a nursery for him, but somehow it just didn't feel right. The more I read parenting info the more the attachment parenting mindset made sense to me. I started reading forums and magazines like Mothering and realised that I agreed with the shared sleep philosophy and all it entailed. Now to convince my huband of this... unlike me he had a traditional South African upbringing and all the ideas that go with it. Anyhow I shared some of the info I had read and realised very quickly that my wonderful husband would prove to be even more wonderful, he agreed with my ideas and was happy to have our baby share our bed. I even convinced him that giving birth to our baby at home was the best option for us, even though we live on a farm and are some distance from the nearest hospital, but that is another story alltogether.

Our youngest is now a year old has slept with us from the begining and we just love having him in our bed. Though even with a king-size bed things were getting a bit cramped as he tends to stretch out across the bed. I then got the idea of putting a single bed next to our bed. We are fortunate in that we live in a really old farm house and the rooms are huge, so this is an option. I adjusted the legs of the bed so that the beds would be the same height and made a fitted sheet that fits over both beds. The single bed is now in the corner of the room, so that my son cannot fall off during the night - he learned how to get off the bed without falling off about two months ago, but I still worry he may fall off while asleep. I now sleep in the middle of the bed and no longer have a bedside table - which will take some getting used to, but there is now enough space for all of us - even my oldest (he sometimes sits on the bed with us and watches a movie) and the really great thing is that should we be fortunate enough to have another baby while this one still sleeps with us, there will be enough room for everyone to sleep safely. Now if I could just convince my body it is ready for the next one, but with Ryan still breast-feeding who knows when this will happen?

Sharing sleep or co-sleeping really is an amazing way for both parents to bond with baby, and I find nothing easier than just feeding my baby when he is hungry during the night without having to leave my bed. While this is not an option that will work for all families I stronly recommend that it is something that is considered by future parents as an option. While many may say it is not safe to sleep with your baby in your bed, there is a lot of research out there that shows, that as long as a few simple rules are followed, it is a truly safe and rewarding experience for the whole family.

After all babies have only been sleeping apart from their parents in recent history, a few hundred years ago nobody had even heard of cots...

Recommended reading:


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~Three in a Bed: the benefits of sleeping with your baby by Deborah Jackson Mothering.com article Three in a Bed by Deborah Jackson
~Safe Co-Sleeping article by Elizabeth Pantley (author of The No-Cry Sleep Solution)