Celebrity Babywearing

        More and more, media is beginning to include photos of celebrity moms and dads babywearing alongside their usual gossip banter in their magazines. As babywearing becomes more mainstream, even entertainment television news features the celebrities of modern day using the same carriers as us common folk. And maybe that's the problem.... many of the pictures I found of such well-known faces wearing their baby in, what the majority of mothers conclude to be, unsafe positions and in outdated carrier designs.

        I refuse to post the majority of celebrity babywearing photos, because the majority of them are using carriers improperly or front facing at what I consider to be too young of an age. I found that most of the photos that depicted a baby being worn correctly, were being worn by their dads! Now, if that means they did it themselves or had help from a more experienced mom, I still say kudos! As I always say, any babywearing is better than no babywearing. Here are some of my favorite celebrity babywearing dads:

Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka kept twins Harper and Gideon close their hearts — and away from prying eyes — in wraps covered by a jacket and an Aden + Anais blanket, respectively.

Channing Tatum may have won over the hearts of moms everywhere when he was spotted carrying 5-week-old Everly in a baby wrap, covered with an Aden + Anais muslin swaddle.

Gwen Stefani babywearing with a ring sling.

Peter Dinklage, an actor on HBO's Game of Thrones, carried his daughter Zelig in a Baby Bjorn carrier back in early 2012.

A rather hilarious depiction of Angelina Jolie, carrying probably only one of her children safely.

Wordless Wednesday's: Beauty in the Red Rocks

        A few of the other bloggers that I keep up with participate in a weekly post called "Wordless Wednesday's", so I thought I'd join in. Here is the full photo shoot for my Courage Sling Diaries Audition with Sakura Bloom, of which I only used the first four you see. All photos are by my wonderful husband and myself!

Largest Supermarket Chain in the World puts Babywearing on the Map

        Let me start by saying that this will not be a discussion on the ethics of Walmart and its' owners. I have always gone to Walmart to shop due to ease, regardless of how I feel about the other shoppers I surround myself with.

         Now, Walmart is getting attention for a whole new reason. Babywearing parents are lifting the supermarket chain up in celebration for taking on Chimparoo, a French Canadian baby carrier design and manufacturing company. Their shelves are now stocked with cross-twill woven wraps by Chimparoo, which have been revered as being lovely and worth the investment by the babywearing community for years.

        Despite the positive attention babywearing has received in the recent decades, many parents still claim to be stared at and even approached by strangers who believe that babywearing must be for lower class families and that wraps are "cuts of tablecloth". As an avid babywearer myself, I always try to answer questioning looks and questions about babywearing when I am out in public, because knowledge is power. There will come a day when no one questions or stares because it will be a societal norm, and that day will come much sooner with the help of this marriage of Walmart and Chimparoo woven wraps.

        I truly believe that Walmart, yes Walmart, is doing a noble a good thing here by giving access of the art of babywearing to such a broad range of people, and I hope to see more mothers and fathers wrapping their baby close enough to kiss.

        My favorite part of the listing is this "Woven in cross twill certified free from toxic chemicals- The woven wrap is the preferred choice for those who want to wear their child from birth until about 34 years of age, and who plan to carry their baby frequently for long periods of time". Legitimately laughing out loud over here! 

Favorite typo ever.

        This typo (or is it?) gives truth to the favorite babywearing meme of the moment:

       

Babywearing at the Natural Parenting Expo and Great Cloth Diaper Change in Denver

Guest Speaker Jill Krause (Baby Rabies) is one of my all-time favorite female bloggers, and this past weekend at the Kangacare Natural Parenting Expo and Great Cloth Diaper Change in Denver, Colorado, she asked the crowd of parents: "Are you the parent you thought you'd be before you had children?" Needless to say, she was answered with the giggles a telling laughter of about a hundred parents who knew all too well the answer.

Jill Krause (Baby Rabies) with her son, Lowell on the left and Rachel Gullett (Babywearing It Out) with my daughter, Lily on the right.

I am most definitely a different person now that I have a child. Even though my child may not be able to speak or walk yet, or even express happiness when she was a newborn, she has changed me and changed how I go about living. For instance, I just drug both her and my husband out to a parenting expo when we've been parenting for only four months (and I'm sure he thought I already knew everything there is to know about natural parenting), mostly just to hear my favorite blogger speak. Maybe having a baby has made me crazy, or maybe she's made me care about someone other than myself. However you choose to see it.

  Regardless, I entirely enjoyed everything the expo had to offer, from the raffles (which many deserving women and men won) to the vendors (of which my favorites were Boba carriers and The Babywearing Workout), to the loot bags (they even included baby sunglasses). I'd have to say about three-quarters of the crowd was babywearing, which was wonderful to see! There was even lots of toddler-wearing! For me, it was a day of firsts. It was my first time participating in a world record, as well as my first time using the restroom with a baby strapped to me. These are learning experiences, folks!

My first Great Cloth Diaper Change.

Forcing my husband to take a picture of us waiting in line.

Lily and I were diaper change number ninety-nine.

The simultaneous cry of 187 babies being held in the air against their will.