Wearing Your Baby

Stop feeling guilty, Moms; you DO know what’s best for your baby!

2011-03-18T04:02:00.000-07:00

There’s a strange thing I’ve come across on my baby wearing research travels on the internet, and that is the level of fanaticism displayed by the baby wearing community.

Problem is, that people tend to become fanatical about the things they’re passionate about, and baby wearing is no exception! Why is this a problem? (I can almost hear the myriad voices of the baby wearing community echoing down the corridors of cyberspace) Well, in many ways it’s not a problem at all; there are many reasons to wear your baby, it is extremely beneficial to both mommies and babas, and you are all doing a brilliant job at promoting this age-old concept.

You probably heard the BUT coming, huh? Well, here it is…The problem is that some babies just don’t want to be worn in ANYTHING! These babas like their strollers and their little seats and that’s the only place they are happy. I had one of those babies; my eldest son would scream blue murder as soon as I tried to wear him. He loved to be carried in Mommy’s aching arms, but worn? Never. I couldn’t swaddle him either, much to the disgust of a couple of swaddling-fanatic clinic nurses, who really made me feel as if I was a bad parent for not making my child miserable by pinning his little arms to his sides against his will.

And that is the bottom line. If something makes your child miserable, don’t do it! Here at Rhubarb and Custard, our mission is to help mommies have happy, secure and loved babies. We will never, ever recommend that you make your baby miserable just because we believe strongly in the benefits of our product, and the concept surrounding it.

And we do believe strongly in what we’re doing and why. The scientific research shows us that our product is a good one that helps people, and that’s why we love our business so much. But, we never want a mom to feel guilty for not being able to toe the ‘party line’ when it comes to what everyone says is best. A guilt-ridden mother, I think, is worse for baby than not being worn. Much, much worse!

Trust you instincts, Moms; you’re usually right when it comes to what’s best for your little individual.

Recalled Infantino Pouch Sling; Are all pouch slings dangerous?

2011-03-09T06:02:00.000-08:00

A recent South African magazine article about the 2010 recall of the American-produced Infantino 'pouch sling', has caused widepread fear and panic amongst South African babywearers. Mothers are questioning their decision to wear their babies, in the face of what seems to be evidence that pouch slings cause babies to suffocate while they are being worn.

Are they right? Should the recall of these slings due to the death by suffocation of two babies be enough to make South African parents re-think the whole babywearing thing?

In my opinion, if your fears for the safety of your baby prompt you to question yourself about how you do things, it's a good thing! It means you're a good parent, and that you won't be caught out by advertising which encourages you to blindly follow what someone else says is good for your child.

The bottom line here is education. Because of the internet, we no longer have to rely solely on the word of someone who's trying to sell us something, because we have the power to research and look at a wide range of opinions. So... the purpose of this blog post is to provide you, the parent and consumer with the tools you need to make an educated decision on the question of babywearing. And hopefully, to lay the Infantino debacle to rest once and for all.

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/safety/2009/10/baby-deaths-raise-concerns-about-infantino-slings.html

The link above is to an article that, on the surface, seems damning to the whole concept of babywearing, as the writer has adopted a 'throw the baby out with the bathwater' (excuse the awful pun!) attitude. There is a whole swathe of comments about the article underneath, including an official comment from Infantino themselves, which makes for some enlightening reading.

http://babywearinginternational.org/pages/safety.php

This one is absolutely essential for any prospective babywearer to read! All parents must act in a responsible manner when caring for a baby, and certain things are very obvious. Like the fact that your pouch sling must leave enough space for your baby to breathe, and that you need to be able to see your baby at al times! One of the major problems with the recalled Infantino sling was that it was sort of like a handbag, and the baby's face was covered. The parents whose babies died hadn't checked on them for a period of time, up to an hour or more, because the baby was 'óut of sight and out of mind'. If you can't see baba's face, don't buy the sling!

http://www.thebabywearer.com/articles/WhatTo/PouchesAndSlings.htm

For an easy to read and understand unbiased comparison of different types of slings, complete with pros and cons, please go to the link above. Of course, we'd love you to buy an Rhubarb and Custard sling, but we also want you to be educated enough to make your own choice about what's best for you. Above all else, we believe we are providing a service, and putting the needs of mommies and babies first is part of that.

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/5/t051100.asp#T051101

Last, but not least, click on the link above to read the story of Dr Sears, probably the biggest proponent of babywearing at the moment, to get an idea of why wearing your baby is a GOOD thing!

Hope this helps; please feel free to leave comments. I think that discussion around this topic can only be a good thing, and we want to hear your opinion!

Why Wear Your Baby?

2010-11-03T00:16:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the first blog from Rhubarb & Custard. To all those who saw us at the Baby Expo in Cape Town this weekend, we would like to extend a warm thank-you for your support. It’s always great to know that there are so many parents & caregivers out there who love to wear their babies!

Many of you reading this might be wondering; ‘Is it a good thing to wear my baby? Will he develop properly like that?’ The answer to these very pertinent questions is unreservedly yes. A huge amount of research has been done, and there have been found to be so many benefits to wearing your baby that it’s going to take me several blog posts to tell you all about it.

Of course, mothers have been wearing their babies for hundreds of thousands of years; probably since humans discovered their opposable thumbs and realised that it would be nice to still be able to use their hands while carrying an infant.

It was not until the late 1970s, however, that modern research into the benefits of baby wearing really started. Dr Edgar Ray Sanabria became concerned about the high rate of neonatal deaths in his home city of Bogota, Columbia. The problem was, that there were not enough incubators for all the premature babies, and the power supply was intermittent, so the few incubators they had were unreliable. Dr Sanabria started the ‘Kangaroo Care’ therapy for premature babies, in which the baby is placed skin to skin with his mother and tied onto her for several hours every day.

He found that the infants experienced more normalised temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate. They gained weight more quickly than their incubated counterparts, and had less chance of infections. More studies revealed that the infants who received kangaroo care had improved cognitive development, lower stress levels, reduced pain response, normalised growth and better motor development. Often, a prem baby in kangaroo care can be released from hospital sooner than an incubated baby.

For an older child, or a healthy, full-term newborn these benefits can be extended by using a pouch sling. But, more about that next time.