Baby wearing around the world

Anytime I go out with my daughter in the sling, I get comments and stares from people. Some look perplexed, some look curiously, and others outright love it. The Chinese women at the supermarket rant and rave about it to anyone near them, and tells them how good it is to wear your child on your body everywhere you go and point at me and Dahlia.

Fastening your baby to your body, or baby wearing as it's most commonly referred to, is nothing new. It's been done for milleniums by mothers across the world. What is new are strollers, car seats, and and infant swings.

I'm glad to see baby wearing get so much attention lately on Aruba also. Since I've come into this 'world' and met so many wonderful baby wearing mamas around the world, I've gained a lot of insight from them also. Because of the Organization I work with, I have the privilege of exposing and introducing a lot of pregnant women or new mothers, to the world of baby wearing. At our monthly breastfeeding support group (where the majority of women who attend are pregnant women) I let them feel the slings, try them out, see how a baby or a toddler fits in them so that they can get an idea of which one they like the best. I recently forged a connection with a lady who owns a local business that teaches prenatal yoga and the like. She expressed great interest in having a sort of 'baby wearing workshop' and feature me as the speaker and so on. I thought it was an amazing idea that can really reach a lot more parents on Aruba. Hopefully next year we can get things moving.

A few weeks back, via a friend on FB I came across stunning pictures of women of all ethnic backgrounds, social standing, and nationalities carrying their baby or child in a carrier on their bodies. The pictures were so vivid and inspirational, drenched with color and imagination. A thank you to Dolores Garcia Rodriguez Dogaro to whom the majority of the pictures belong. Another thank you to all my FB friends who also contributed pictures. The pictures are of women from literally all over the world. From Benin to Europe. From Aruba to Peru....

Enjoy