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.