Where to Start in the Online Babywearing World

In my opinion, the best way to get started in the babywearing world is to join some facebook groups focused on babywearing and start learning what works for you.  The first groups I joined were Babywearing 102 and Babywearing Love and Support.  These groups are huge and have members ranging from newbie through experienced, veteran babywearers.  Babywearing 102 has lots of helpful files, including different carries you can do with each size of wrap, babywearing terminology, safety tips and lists of vendors and websites related to babywearing.  To join these groups, just search for them on facebook and request to join the group.

When I first joined the facebook groups and started reading about babywearing in woven wraps, I have to admit I found it overwhelming.  I felt like I was reading a secret code that no one had shared with me at times!  But don’t despair, once you hang around the groups for a few days it all starts to click and you suddenly find yourself writing in these abbreviations that used to seem like a secret code.  For example, one of the easiest carries to learn when using a woven wrap is FWCC (front wrap cross carry).  Another easy carry to learn is FCC (front cross carry).  When asking what carry you should try first with a base size wrap, these are common answers you may receive.

This is a FWCC in a Pavo Sparkleberry, which is a size 6 woven wrap.

This is a FCC in the same wrap.

There are lots and lots of options for babywearing:  stretchy wraps, ring slings (RSs), soft-structured carriers (SSCs), which are divided into full-buckles (FB) and half-buckles (HB), Mei Tais, woven wraps, etc.  I am mainly going to focus on woven wraps because those are what work best for me.  I do have a few SSCs.  I have a full-buckle that stays in the car for quick trips in the grocery store and a half buckle that gets used around the house some.  Personally, I love the diversity of the woven wrap and so those make up the majority of my babywearing stash.

When shopping for a wrap, you can buy new or you can buy used.  My stash has been split about 50/50 between new and used.  Let’s start with new because that is easier to explain.  Some of my favorite vendors to shop with are Marsupial Mamas (www.marsupial-mamas.com), Hip Mommy (www.hipmommy.com), and Heart Hugs (www.heart-hugs.com).  In my opinion, Marsupial Mamas probably has the best selection out of these vendors.  They all three have great sales from time to time.  I highly recommend liking them on facebook and joining their mailing lists to find great deals.  These sites will have in stock wraps available.  They sell brands such as Natibaby, Kokadi, Oscha, Girasol, and Didymos.

You can also buy directly from the wrap companies, but for some popular companies this may require stalking their facebook page and/or website to know when they will release.  My favorite US wrap companies are Pavo, Tekhni and KokoSkaa.  These companies are all very popular and their wraps sell out quickly at release.  Pavo (www.pavotextiles.com) has been around the longest of these three and now has some of their Form line of wraps in stock on their page, but most of their releases sell out in a matter of minutes and will not be restocked.  They sometimes do timed releases, where they will announce a few days ahead of time the date and time a wrap will be released.  More often they will post a preview on their facebook page and then sometime in the next business day or so they will release the wrap.  Scoring a Pavo at release can be a challenge for their most highly sought after (HSA) releases, but it is so worth it!  Tekhni (www.tekhniwovens.com) and KokoSkaa (www.kokoskaa.com) are newer companies.  So far their releases have been timed releases that are announced in advance on their facebook pages.  They are also selling out very quickly.  

If you miss out on these wraps at release, then the facebook swaps is the best place to look for these wraps. I’ll post more on buying used wraps from the facebook swaps in my next post.

My First Woven Wrap

 

After a few days of wrapping with my stretchy wrap, I was able to attend a local babywearing group meeting and learned about woven wraps.  As babies get bigger, woven wraps are a great option.  Wovens are more supportive than the stretchy wraps and can be used safely for back carries, unlike the stretchy wraps.  So shortly after the babywearing meeting, I found myself on the hunt for my first woven wrap.  There are so many choices out there!

The first question I had was what size wrap should I buy for my first woven wrap.  Woven wraps come in a variety of sizes, typically ranging from size 2 – size 7.  A size 2 is 2.7 meters, size 3 is 3.1 meters, size 4 is 3.6 meters, size 5 is 4.2 meters, size 6 is 4.6 meters and a size 7 is 5.2 meters.  I asked on my local babywearing group’s facebook page and in a very helpful, large facebook group called Babywearing 102.  The general consensus was that for my body build I should start with either a size 5 or 6, which would be my base size.  The majority recommended a 6, so that’s what I decided to search for.

So now I knew what size I was going to buy, the next big question was what brand.  There is no right or wrong answer to this question.  I was given several pieces of advice on this, but one that has really stuck with me and that I now share with beginners is find a wrap you love.  If it is beautiful to you and you absolutely love it, you will learn to use it.  I considered several brands such as Natibaby, Girasol, Kokadi, and Oscha.  I ended up going with a Kokadi Erna Im Wunderland.  It was beautiful turquoise and pink colors and had a whimsical pattern that I loved.

After deciding what I wanted to buy, the next step was to figure out how exactly to buy it.  There are several facebook groups called Babywearing Swaps, where you can buy, sell or trade wraps.  I perused some of these, but at the time this seemed really overwhelming (more on buy, sell and trading in the swaps in later posts).  So while lots of people recommended buying a used wrap for your first woven wrap, since it would already be broken in, I decided this wasn’t the right choice to for me.  Luckily, Erna was still in production by Kokadi and I could purchase it new from a vendor.  It took a bit of searching to find a vendor with a size 6 in stock, but I finally did.  Then I ordered it and anxiously awaited the arrival of my beautiful new woven wrap.

My first wrap job was a little sloppy.  See first picture, but I posted this picture to the babywearing facebook groups and was given helpful critiques to help me improve my wrap job.  The second picture was taken just hours after the first.  I improved dramatically between these two attempts, if I do say so myself!  I am so grateful for the kind women in the babywearing community who have answered the “How does this wrap job look?”  “Did I do this right?”  “What should I buy for my first wrap?”  and “What size should I get for my first wrap?” questions of us beginners dozens of times.

The carry in these pictures is called Front Wrap Cross Carry (abbreviated FWCC).  This is one of the easiest carries to learn and a great place for a beginner to start.  In fact, it was my go to carry for the first few months of my babywearing journey.

My rails are not properly tightened here in my first attempt and Zoey was too low.  She should be high enough that I can easily kiss the top of her head while she is wrapped.

In the next picture, my rails are much tighter and she is much more secure.  She could have still been a little higher, but overall this was a much better more comfortable carry.