Does anyone else live in an "what's that?" area?

[InglesideMomma]

I guess I really never noticed it before. We had ds in his baby bijorn, so no one really asked us. Now that I have found out where to get, and how to make my own slings (thank you) and I can carry him a lot more, I have people coming up to me all the time. They ask anywhere from what it is, to where did you get it. Now I have people telling me I'm a genious :hunh Does anyone else go through this? It's not like the sling is a new piece of modern technology or anything. I remember seeing a few mommas with diddys at the hopital ds was in, but that's about it. I knew about them, but never really knew where we could get one. Are other areas like this? Just wondering :shrug

[SouthPaw]

:yes I had an old redneck at a gun show tell me what a remarkable invention that was and it was so amazing and he needed one for his daughter who was about to have a baby. I gave him a business card w/ the sling-maker's website on it :mrgreen

[Mama Rophe]

I've heard all of that. I've only seen one other person with their baby in a sling and I've lived in this state for 23 years. I guess I'll just go against the grain like always. :grin

[Radosny Matka]

:yes I always get, "they didn't have those things when my kids were little." Uh, yay they did. I just smile tho.

[Vipers_Princess]

:yes I always get, "they didn't have those things when my kids were little." Uh, yay they did. I just smile tho.


same here

[Katherine]

Well, they didn't "have" them in the circles that my parents/grandparents moved in, so I just agree with them. :) then I talk about how fantastic they are and how thrilled I am to have them. :tu

After all, there was no internet. :giggle Seriously, I have found every important piece of parenting information I have through the internet. Natural birth info, breastfeeding stuff, AP, slings... now gentle discipline and natural health stuff. :shrug I cringe to think about how I might be parenting if I had nothing but "common knowledge" and my pediatrician's advice to go on. :shifty


ETA: I just saw this quote on the mamatoto babywearing site and it reminded me of this thread:

"It is astounding that a 1000 generations of knowledge and experience can be wiped out by a single generation of ignorance."
~~ S. M. Richards

[salt_light]

ditto Palil, My thoughts exactly.

Its neat around here. I get a lot of "whats that?" But I've had people who have been slingers come right up and remenisce (sp?) about when they were slinging :rockon Its soo encouraging. Its like an instant bond :mrgreen

[CrazyChick]

Yep!! I'm in north england and i am the only person i have ever seen here with a sling (although i do know other people here do have them :giggle - somewhere!! :P~) and have had loads of comments about the maya sling when out - where did i get it etc - it gets called alsorts of funny things - a papoose, a baby bag, a kaftan being the most funny to me! :)

[mommy2abigail]

Yeah, we get that alot here too (Orlando) although most of the time I am taken for a tourist! People have commented that I was "so smart for inventing that!" (I just :rolleyes2) but I have found it is usually a nnice way to share AP with other mama's. Like we were at the mall with dd happily in her wrap, and walked by a frustrated mama tryinng to juggle a stroller, shopping bags, and a screaming infant that wanted to be held. I almost gave her my sling! We did sit down and start talking and I shared some AP stuff with her. Dont know if she thought I was a nut, but she did comment on how happy dd seemed in her wrap. Now, when I go out, I do try and keep an extra sling with me. I figure I can make one for a few dollars if I shop smart at the bargain bins, so I can surely give one away once in a while! (Plus dh is getting a bit frustrated with my obsessive fabric buying! :O I gotta get rid of the evidence somehow!)

[arwen_tiw]

Sometimes I think I live in a "what's that" country! :giggle

I've only ever seen a couple of people with slings other than the odd hard carrier, but we are *always* having people come and tell us how comfy she looks and how clever it is. Walking with my friend Kim, recently converted to wrapping and very evangelistic about it, we were stopped by two women wanting to know where we got our slings - they said something along the lines of it being a "wonderful modern way to carry a baby". :laughtears She told them that actually they were used all over the world and were "invented" long before silly modern things like prams and cots. :heart

On another note, I was stopped in town this week by an older woman who said that the sling was lovely. Then she said "I'm not being funny but..." which is another way of saying that what is coming next is going to make me MAD, "don't you think that those foreign babies you see on the telly in things like that always look like they can't breathe?" :rolleyes2 What so it's OK because it's a white baby? Ugh. :mad

Sarah

[Wonder Woman]

I live in the least crunchy part of a very crunchy state, so in my area there aren't a *lot* of slinging mothers - but it's becoming more prevelant thanks to the nursing support group and gentle parenting group that I'm involved in :tu

The sling was the ONE item I was sure I would need - my aunt purchased my first as a baby gift. It arrived when ds was about 4 weeks old. Whe he was 6 weeks old, I was walking through the mall, and ds was still SOOOOO little - you know that newborn phase where they are just kind of swallowed up in it? And my mother kept stopping every 2 feet to see if he was breathing, and strangers kept stopping me questioning what I was doing to my kid, and I was MAJORLY hormonal...you all know ;)

So finally this one little old lady stopped me and started chewing me out for "squishing your baby - he can't breathe like that - what do you think you're doing?" I smiled sweetly and said "He just spent 37 weeks and 3 days squished in my uterus. He likes this best because it feels like my womb, only drier."

She walked off and shut up :shifty

[Aisling]

Almost no one in our area has seen a sling before, although they're mostly familiar with Bjorns. But, overwhelmingly, the response I get is, "How neat it that? How'd you make it! My (wife/daughter/girlfriend/sister/mom) needs one of those!!" :rockon

[Katherine]

And my mother kept stopping every 2 feet to see if he was breathing,

:laughtears I KNOW!!! I get that all the time!

My next door neighbor asks me EVERY time he sees me with a child in a sling if it is cutting off the circulation in ds's legs. (he's done this through 3 babies!!) The answer is always the same, so I'm not sure why he keeps asking, unless he's just wanting to make sure I'm paying attention. :shrug They are from Pakistan, so I'm sort of surprised that he's not more used to that sort of thing. :scratch Maybe he's been in the states too long. :giggle

[InglesideMomma]

This is so great, to hear all the stories... :grin
I totally know about the "your squishing your baby" thing, in the NICU the nurses would put a beanie frog on ds, and I thought it was hurting him, but they told me he needs the pressure to feel like he's still in my belly, so I would super swaddle him when we brought him home, taught be all the nurses, very technical mind you :giggle, and everyone would just give me a look, and walk away mumbling.
I've made slings for all my girlfriends now, and I am totally hooked on making them! People keep on bringing me fabric to make them for gifts and what not, so when my girlfriends and I go out together, dh pokes fun and calls us the "sling gang" :laughtears

Yeah, we get that alot here too (Orlando) although most of the time I am taken for a tourist! People have commented that I was "so smart for inventing that!" (I just :rolleyes2) but I have found it is usually a nnice way to share AP with other mama's. Like we were at the mall with dd happily in her wrap, and walked by a frustrated mama tryinng to juggle a stroller, shopping bags, and a screaming infant that wanted to be held. I almost gave her my sling! We did sit down and start talking and I shared some AP stuff with her. Dont know if she thought I was a nut, but she did comment on how happy dd seemed in her wrap. Now, when I go out, I do try and keep an extra sling with me. I figure I can make one for a few dollars if I shop smart at the bargain bins, so I can surely give one away once in a while! (Plus dh is getting a bit frustrated with my obsessive fabric buying! :O I gotta get rid of the evidence somehow!)

How good of you. :tu What a great way to share slinging!

[Thankful]

I always have to fight off the urge to RUN to another mama using a sling! I saw one in the parking lot a few weeks ago, and I just loved her beautiful purple, hand-dyed sling...... But they were busy putting their kids in the car and I was busy taking mine out, and I'm horrible w/ going up to strangers....Anyway, I am so dissappointed I didn't talk to her.

Another time I saw a mama using a wrap w/ her itty bitty baby, and I was so shocked! I didn't end up talking to her either b/c we were at the zoo and it was....well....a ZOO!!! Tip: Don't go to the National Zoo in DC on the first nice Saturday of spring! Yikes!

Would you think I was a nut to come up to tell you how much I love your sling/wrap/ABC??? :)

w/ Lily, I used a fleece pouch w/ adjustable zippers and velcro that covered them up, and people would ask me if I was worried they'd come undone. Uh, NO! And even if it did, I'd be able to react and pull her in before anything happened. I'd get the "smothering" thing too, but I'd put the fabric up to my face and breathe through it and show them it's really not a big deal. She's got plenty of space, and her face isn't actually all smooshed like you think.

I like the PP reply about being in the womb, but it's dry--so true!!!

[InglesideMomma]

Would you think I was a nut to come up to tell you how much I love your sling/wrap/ABC??? :)


Umm, no. It would be great! :highfive I have mommas coming up to me who have never "heard" of them, and asking me this and that. Other than the slings I have made for my friends, and random strangers, I've only personally seen a few, in the city (chicago) and honestly, I loved them (they all had diddys) but had other things on my mind. If I saw another sling momma out there, I would definately say hi (wow, that sounds scary, now I could show her my collection of niel diamond cds and tin foil hats :grin ). It would be great to meet some more ap mommas though! :tu

[abbiroads]

I smiled sweetly and said "He just spent 37 weeks and 3 days squished in my uterus. He likes this best because it feels like my womb, only drier."


I have to remember this one b/c I'm sure I will need it, especially at church. We live in the middle of nowhere (it seems) and sometimes you'd think people had never even heard of breastfeeding, let alone babywearing. :rolleyes

[cdmaze]

I live in a rural area and I get a mix of reactions....alot of people do the "What is that? They didn't have those when I had kids." But my kids music class teacher saw my Storch and said, "I could never do the back carries with mine!" Her kids are in High School! She watched me put it on and seemed to be familiar with what I was doing. I was really surprised! I didn't get a chance to ask her exactly what she used.

When both my dc where tiny, people alway criticized that the baby looked squished or that they couldn't breathe. "Wouldn't they rather be in one of those nice new carseat carriers?" You mean in a bucket? Cold, hard plastic walls with scratchy material over it? Oh yeah, much better than a soft sling on one side and mommy on the other.