Meet a Leader: Pamm

Our series on our Volunteer Babywearing Educators continues...

Name: Pamm

Name/Age of Child/ren: I have two boys. V is three and E is 19 months.

What jobs, activities, hobbies, volunteer work, etc. did you do before kids?  Do you still do that thing?
I have been the Director of Children’s Worship at Fairfax Community Church since 2007. I direct three creative teaching & musical worship environments as part of a team that mobilizes 150 volunteers to serve nearly 600 kids each weekend. Before my call to vocational ministry, I worked in corporate writing and editing. I channel those skills into helping our BWI chapter and blogging at More Green for Less Green. I also am an accredited Attached at the Heart Parent Educator.

When did you start babywearing?
 I practiced wrapping while pregnant and I started wearing my oldest a day after he was born. Although I had a woven wrap, I brought a Moby to the hospital and used that. Did you know you were going to wear before you had kids, or what prompted you to try it? Based on raves in the blog of an Australian woman I met in an online forum, I decided that I wanted to use woven wraps well before I was even pregnant with V.  I’d never seen anything so beautiful as a Girasol rainbow wrapped around a baby. Before V was born I received a Neobulle cotton wrap in Simon (blue and brown stripes). I registered for it because of the gender-neutral look and lower price point, but I lucked into something amazing. It was soft right out of the package and had contrasting rails which are great for learning with.

Who was the person who most influenced your babywearing and what did they do that was so influential?
Can I have two?
#1 Ann Marie Rodgerson – I showed up to my first BWI meeting with 5 week old V who wanted to nurse and snuggle 24/7. Because of extreme pelvic instability, I couldn’t hold baby in my arms and walk without excruciating pain. I also couldn’t push a stroller. It was wear him or nothing, but the Moby wasn’t cutting it for comfort. I wasn’t able to eat, drink, or use the bathroom without my little snuggle bug losing it, which meant I was losing it. Ann Marie showed me how to use my woven wrap and how to nurse in it. I left the meeting, went home, and ate food while my baby ate (again). I cried tears of joy and came to as many meetings as I could from them on.
#2 Lindsay Killick who worked with me over and over again on a symmetrical-starting double hammock (DH) as my first back carry. DH is a tricky first back carry, let alone having a different way to start it, but it was a must for my special support needs. DH revolutionized my life! I was able to do so much more with baby a back carry. Since my kids regularly come to work with me, mobility is key.

If someone took away all of your carriers and said they were handing you a newborn and you could only choose ONE carrier from birth until the end of wearing, what would you choose? A woven wrap, for sure. More specifically, I’ll go with Didymos Fire Fish, size 5. I have a buttery size 6 one now that I love, but it is a tad long.

Which carrier do you find you return to time and again, whether it be for each newborn, or just a consistent workhorse?
Girasol Amitola yellow weft, size 5. It is such a cheerful rainbow that it perks up any day, and the cotton does well year-round. It’s my deserted island wrap: breathable, beautiful, hides dirt, would make a lovely hammock, is comfortable from newborn to toddler.

Tell me a story of a time that babywearing made a huge difference in the outcome of a family outing.
Cruising while babywearing has been great. Read about it here and here.

What is your favorite thing to do while wearing?
Working and/or nursing! I love that I get to bring my kids to work with some of the time. Babywearing makes productivity and nursing while on-the-go possible.

 

What is your least favorite thing to do while wearing?
Bending over. Even in a back carry and bending with my knees, my little guy just hates it. He always has. I recently got a grabber to help me pick things up from the floor.

Why did you decide to become a VBE?
 I love babywearing; I love connecting people to resources; I love teaching in large group settings. I think it is important to do volunteer work at every stage of life, and this fits the kid-friendly bill. I suppose the better question is how could I NOT be a VBE?

What is your favorite thing about being a VBE for BWI of DC-MD-VA?
I love those moments when caregiver and child click with the right carrier for them. I can look at them and tell it just clicks. If baby falls asleep out of the perfection of the moment—great! Sometimes these magic moments happen with a carrier the family brought with them that just needed some tweaks and other times it is connecting with an eye-opening library carrier.

What is a VBE?

Hopefully you’ve been enjoying our Meet a Leader series. Maybe you’ve been wondering what exactly it means to be a leader for Babywearing International (BWI).

BWI certifies leaders to be a Volunteer Babywearing Educator (VBE), Advanced Babywearing Educator (ABE), or Master Babywearing Educator (MBE). For simplicity’s sake, we’ll refer to everyone as a VBE in this article.

All of our VBEs are well versed in all kinds of babywearing: one shouldered carriers like pouches and ring slings, Asian-inspired carriers like mei tais, soft-structured (or buckle) carriers, and wraps. While we each have our favorites and our strong suits, each leaders has trained to help you with any type of carrier and is versed in front, back, and hip carries and breastfeeding in each type of carrier.

During a meeting, VBEs may teach in a variety of forms. Many meetings start with a Babywearing 101 session modeling the major types of carriers and safety basics. After that, we like to work in small groups if people with similar questions. It’s a great way to learn through listening, seeing, and doing, and to start to meet others in the group. When one-on-one assistance is needed, we do our best to be available for that.

Only BWI certified educators can instruct at a meeting, but we welcome other volunteers in supporting roles like greeter, librarian, membership sign-up, and behind-the-scenes things like marketing and web support. Having volunteers in these supporting roles is key to allowing VBEs as much time to teach at a meeting as possible.

The V in VBE is key. Each one of us is a volunteer. From the Board of Directors on down, BWI is completely volunteer-run. Our leaders have kids that range from newborns to 12 year olds. Some are stay-at-home-parents, others work part-time or full-time. We volunteer our time because we want you to love babywearing and to be successful with it.  We all look forward to meeting you at a local event soon.

Meet a Leader: Kit

Name: Kit

How old are your kids?
D. 3.5 (7/22/2010)
P. 19m (7/20/2012)

What jobs, activities, hobbies, volunteer work, etc. did you do before kids? Do you still do that thing?
Before kids I danced, nannied, and was in the Marine Corps. We still dance, but it's usually around the house.
When did you start babywearing?
August of 2010!

Did you know you were going to wear before you had kids, or what prompted you to try it?
I knew I wanted to learn more about it after seeing it at a Bradley Class while pregnant, but what really lit the fire to do it was after my husband deployed and D was sooooo clingy (and had food allergies, so her tummy was miserable!).

Who was the person who most influenced your babywearing and what did they do that was so influential?
There have been a few. The moms running the Colorado Springs babywearing group when we first started had a huge impact. I learned all my basics from them, and a lot of other things about how I wanted to parent.

If someone took away all of your carriers and said they were handing you a newborn and you could only choose ONE carrier from birth until the end of wearing, what would you choose?
My Natibaby Warrior's Creed. It's the right width and length to be useful, without being too huge for a newborn or too small for a toddler.

If you had to choose ONE carrier from what you already own to be the only one you had to use from now forward, what would it be?
My Kokadi Melody (old version)- It is super wide, thick, blankety, long enough to tandem but not SOO LONG and has been with us most of our babywearing journey.

Which carrier do you find you return to time and again, whether it be for each newborn, or just a consistent workhorse?
For each newborn it's been a lila ecru indio. I actually sold it when D was 15m old, but bought it back so I could wear P in it as well. We have since sold part of it but kept a wearable scrap.

Tell me a story of a time that babywearing made a huge difference in the outcome of a family outing.
We went to Europe last summer, and T (husband) was still deployed, so the girls and I left without him and had him meet us there. I looked pretty ridiculous on the London tube system wearing two kids and hauling a suitcase with enough clothes for four people for three weeks, a carseat, and a diaper/travel bag, but it got us through! I can't imagine trying to push a double stroller and haul the carseat and suitcase!

If you were stranded on a desert island, which carrier would you want?
A wrap! Blanket, sunshade, carrier, use it to haul things.. all kinds of stuff!

What is your favorite thing to do while wearing?
Dance. We do a lot of dancing

What is your least favorite thing to do while wearing?
Shovel snow! (hmm, aren't you unlucky this winter?)Why did you decide to become a VBE?
To help start the Richmond (Central VA) chapter. They needed more and I thought "Eh, I know a little.."

What is your favorite things about being a VBE for BWI of DC-MD-VA?
The sense of community. It's kind of like insta-family, and as a family that moves around a lot for the military, that is amazing to us.

And since she didn't include this info about herself:
Kit was the driving force behind starting The Carrying On Project.  This amazing organization (which is really Kit and Rachel - another of our local VBEs) provides carriers free of charge to military and veteran families who might otherwise not be able to afford them.  If you are able to skip a coffee or two out this month, perhaps you can donate a little to help out their worthy cause.  You can read more about The Carrying On Project and see this amazing piece that was recently on Fox5 News here.  To date they have provided carriers to more than 1000 military families. 

 

 

 

Carry of the Week: Front Cross Carry (FCC)

We've recently started some virtual meetings in our Facebook chatter group.  We invite you to join us for our weekly series on wrap carries, as well as our conversations on day to day wearing.  You can learn more about our regular meetings and join the meeting events on our Facebook page.  Our two Facebook homes give us the opportunity to connect with you between meetings.  You can also use the chatter page to plan informal playdates to meet other families.

 

This week our Carry of the Week (COTW) continues on from last week's emphasis on FWCC. Once parents move from a stretchy wrap to a woven wrap, one of the things they often lament is the inability to pre-tie their FWCC as they could with the stretchy wrap.  A great pre-tied option in a woven is the Front Cross Carry (FCC).  This can be done with your base size or sometimes base -1.  This is also a great carry for wearing under a coat while winter babywearing.  Follow along with this photo tutorial.

Find the middle marker

Middle marker starts in the middle of your back

Bring one side around and cross up to opposite shoulder, be careful not to twist

Bring other side across body to opposite shoulder, be careful not to twist

You should have an X in front of you at this point

In the back, you should have a straight piece across, with the 2 tails hanging over your shoulders

Reach behind you for the opposite tail

Cross these tails

Bring back around front

Tie in a square knot

Find the pass of the X closest to your body.  This should be the first piece you crossed in front of you.

Hold baby on shoulder like you are going to burp her.  Guide the foot closest to the working side through the pass

Help her to sit on this pass

Then spread this pass from one crook of the knee to the other and across baby's back

Now find the outside pass of the X, guide baby's foot through here

Spread this pass from one knee to the other and across baby's back

Adjust your shoulders and the passes around baby's head for comfort and clear airway

And you're ready to hit the store!

And although it isn't my favorite, this can even work for a big kid who needs some front snuggles.

 Hopefully this was clear.  For those who prefer video tutorials, try this one.  A variation on this carry can also be helpful for parents who have children who always want to be held in burp hold.  These instructions are in Greek, but the photos are self explanatory.

When you try this out, share your photos in our Facebook group to show us your successes!  Happy wrapping!