I know it's Halloween, but the holiday season is fast approaching. Get your holiday shopping done and support your local vendors at the same time (it's a win - win kind of thing).

We have a few more shows coming up, so mark these dates on your calendars:

WeeStock:

November 20th, 2010

10am-5pm

Mayfield Trade Centre

-Shop Till you Drop Expo:

November 28th, 2010

Trans Alta Arts Barn

10:00am to 5:00pm

http://www.shoptillyoudropexpo.com

Family Fun Day (The Holiday Edition):

December 5th, 2010

Dance Co. St. Albert

9030 McKenney Avenue, Mission Ridge Plaza

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=172357279446550

There will be trial dance / fitness classes for moms to be, moms and babies, and moms and tots (and dads too!). 

We will also be hosting two cloth diapering workshops and a baby wearing info session.

You can sip healthy coffee and shop at our local vendor fair as your kids do a fun craft. 

Click on the facebook event link to get updates on our vendors and the schedule for the day.

We don't call it family fun day for nothing.

BOO! 

Happy Halloween from all of us here at la la ladybug.

There is nothing like holding your baby close to you, feeling their warmth, listening to them breathe while they sleep. Baby wearing can be beneficial to both caregivers and babies and can be a great way to bond with your newborn (or even your toddler). 
We were thrilled to do an interview with Natasha from Natural Urban Mamas about baby wearing basics. With so many different kinds of wraps and carriers out there, it can get pretty overwhelming and Natasha is a knowledgeable mama and business owner who can help clear up any questions. 

( http://www.naturalurbanmamas.com)

What do you recommend to new parents?
I recommend that you really think about your lifestyle and what you want out of your carrier for both you and your child.  Babywearing is an activity as well as a convenience and you need to make sure that whatever carrier you are using fits with what you are doing, as well as the age and stage that your baby is at.  Try out a few before you commit to one.  Borrow from a friend, head to your local natural parenting store to try some on, or even check out a La Leche League meeting and talk to other moms who carry their babies.

How should people carry their baby in a sling/wrap/Mei Tai/SSC?  
The same concepts for proper positioning of  baby in a carrier apply for ALL baby carriers and is of the UTMOST importance to ensure the safety of the baby and the comfort of the wearer.

The following criteria should be met at all times.  

Baby should be facing inwards (or on the back in a back carry) *More on this below

Baby is in an upright position and has a rounded spine**

Knees are higher than the bum or hips in a frog-like position

Legs are out (very newborn babies are the exception and will “frog up” their legs naturally)

Baby is HIGH on the wearer’s body (bum should never be lower than your belly button)

The fabric of the carrier is carefully tightened around baby, spread from one knee to the other

Baby’s head is tilted back, face uncovered, to ensure that there is no risk of the  airway becoming blocked. You should be able to get two finger widths between baby’s chin and chest, if not-REPOSITION!

*Why you should wear your baby facing in: when a baby is facing away from you, their weight is hanging off your body, as opposed to cuddling in to it - this causes strain on your lower back, shoulders & especially your pelvic floor (which can lead to incontinence, particularly after pregnancy/birth).

 **The upright position is a safer choice for several reasons: Baby’s neck is in a straight line with the body and his face rests on the wearer’s chest, with free airflow on both sides. Babies rely on the rounded spine to properly support and distribute the weight of their head and upper body and when a wrap or sling is tightened properly, the immature rounded spine gets maximum support and the natural “frog-leg”-position promotes the development of baby’s cartilaginous hip joints.**

What are the pros and cons of a sling?  
The first carrier I ever bought was a ring sling and I still use the same one to this day.  Slings come in two styles, a pouch sling that is not adjustable and fitted to the wearer and an adjustable ring sling that is more of a one size fits most.  I personally prefer a ring sling-it works from newborn to toddlerhood, can be worn by multiple wearers and is a relatively easy concept to learn.  

What are the pros on cons of a wrap?  
A wrap carrier is usually 3-5 meters of fabric that is tied in various ways around both the wearer and the baby.  It is probably the best carrier to use for a newborn because it keeps them close to mother, close to their source of nutrition (if mom is breatfeeding) and away from prying eyes and hands of strangers.  Wraps can help to distribute the weight of baby across both shoulders and on the hips and reduce stress on the back for most wearers.  There are a few different kinds of wraps, the most common being the stretchy kind (great for newborns to about 4-5 months) and a non-stretchy or woven wrap which can be used from newborn to toddlerhood.  And there is also no end to the different ways that you can wear a baby with a wrap--on your front, on your back, on your hip, and also for the ambitious wearers who like to double up and wear two babies, the wrap is a necessity.  The learning curve is a bit higher with a wrap and it takes practice to get baby in and out, and from a convenience standpoint,ie, I want to get baby into a carrier fast and run a few errands, the wrap is more cumbersome than other carriers.

What are the pros and cons of a structured carrier?  
A soft-structured carrier often has more hardware to it than other kinds of carriers.  Most are fastened onto the wearer with buckles and/or ties.  For those with a more active lifestyle or who anticipate doing a lot of traveling with baby these are the carriers for you.  You can wear them in the front (some come with infant inserts and can be used from the newborn stage), on the back and on the hip as well. They typically have a padded waist strap as well as padded shoulder straps not unlike a backpack, that greatly increase the comfort for the wearer as the weight of baby is distributed evenly across all three areas (2 shoulders and waist).  SSCs allow parents to extend their babywearing years way beyond the infancy stage well into toddlerhood as most have an upper weight limit around 35-40 pounds.  Personally, I think that SSC are a must have for all new parents, but I do think that they work best once babies are out of the newborn stage around 3-4 months and beyond.

What is the best way to carry a newborn?
See above for positioning criteria.  We all hold babies naturally in an upright position and that is usually where and when they are the most happy.  This upright and between mother's breasts position is also an important factor in enhancing/improving breastfeeding as well.  A cradle position where baby is held horizontally is NOT recommended and is part of the reason for the recent recalls of certain types of 'bag' slings.  In this position a newborn's head and chin can tuck down too far and because they do not have the neck strength to pull their own heads back, the baby can potentially suffocate.  When wearing your newborn baby, you should always be able to put two finger widths between baby's chin and neck, and they should bever be so far away from your face that you can not kiss the top of their head.

With so many choices out there, how do you know which carrier will be perfect for you?  
To be honest, you don't know.  And to be even more honest, you are likely to need more than one kind of carrier to suit different needs in your life and also the different stages of your child's development.

Why do you believe in baby wearing?
Babywearing has defined motherhood for me.  I did not now anything about attachment parenting before I had children and because I started wearing my first child while he was in NICU (Kangaroo Care and skin-on-skin carrying is highly recommended for premature babies) it just became a way of life for us.  I believe that my children are calmer, more content human beings because of the closeness we have had during our years of babywearing.  Babywearing has made my life easier in so many ways that I am often shocked to meet moms who have NEVER worn their babies.  I opened Natural Urban Mamas in the hopes of educating more parents about the awesomeness ( yes, it is a word!) of babywearing and natural parenting and I strive to find the best, mom-made or mom-designed baby carriers that enhance this lifestyle and can make all parents lives easier and babies happier!

Natasha Chiam is the owner of Natural Urban Mamas, a online mama & baby boutique that specializes in babywearing, cloth diapering and natural parenting.  Natural Urban Mamas is also an information hub for local mamas with listings for local doulas and midwives, lactation consultants, where to shop, and much, much more!  Natasha is mama to two kids under 4 (and she still wears them both) and is a firm believer that lowering your eco-footprint as a parent is possible and can be done one tiny footprint at a time, without compromising style or function! www.naturalurbanmamas.com

Thanks so much Natasha from the la la ladybug family.

Hello everyone,

Hope you are enjoying the summer so far. I am excited to be interviewing Natasha from Natural Urban Mamas about baby wearing (http://www.naturalurbanmamas.com), but first I thought I should share with you my own baby wearing journey.

Being a fan of attachment parenting, I was very excited about learning how to "wear" my little newborn. My first sling was bought on-line and was the wrong size. My second sling was bought on-line too, and I had no idea how to use it (I must have watched a million youtube how-to videos). Thankfully, the store that I bought my sling from offered baby wearing lessons so I was able to properly fit Amelia into it. I am so glad that I was able to see first hand how to use it because I actually had Amelia in a very unsafe position while I was trying it out at home (deep in the sling, in a cradle position with her poor little neck not properly supported). 

I thought that I would love my sling. I had seen other mommies at the farmer's market, their babies in slings and it looked so perfect, so easy. Perhaps if I had tried using it more at home it wouldn't have felt so foreign. Plus, it was an adjustable sling and I was so worried that the rings would let out too much fabric and Amelia would fall.

I thought that I would be smart about my next purchase and so I went to a used kids clothing store. I found a baby bjorn there. Now, I had heard about the bjorn from quite a lot of people and some people really love the bjorn so I decided to pick it up.

I got it home and put it on right away. After a few minor adjustments, we were good to go! It felt sturdy and safe, and Amelia loved looking out when we went for walks. Now, for those that do not know, Amelia is taller and weighs more than the average baby - she is in the 80% percentile. After a few walks out with the bjorn my poor back was killing me! The problem was that you held the child's weight from your shoulders and upper back, and anyone who has ever carried a heavy backpack knows that you need support on your hips too.

However, Rob has always liked the Bjorn and it was his carrier of choice for awhile:

So, onto the next purchase. 

At this time, I was also taking part in Salsa Babies, a great fitness class where you learn salsa dance moves while wearing your baby. Amelia was about 4 months old now and could hold up her head. I saw the other mommies in the class with really long pieces of fabric that they wrapped around themselves and their babies. It looked snug, but also complicated. I went to a great little baby store in town and tried on a bunch of wraps, including the complicated ones. I didn't want all that extra fabric to drape on the ground (it was winter at this time). I found the perfect solution - a blue celery wrap. It works like the long drapey wrap, but there are three pieces of fabric rather than one. You loop one piece around your upper torso diagonally, then do the same with the other piece (vice versa). The third piece wraps around your upper torso once baby is snug inside. 

I ended up getting this wrap slightly used on kijiji. This was one of my favorite go to items for moms on the go - it worked wonderfully. It was great to dance in, and easy to put on for quick trips to the supermarket. I used this wrap right up until Amelia got too heavy for it (I especially noticed this in dance class - the fabric would stretch quite a bit and Amelia was not as snug as she used to be).

Another day, another carrier.

Next up - the baby hawk. Okay, I am still in love with my baby hawk too. It is a large piece of fabric that has four long ties on it (two on top, two on the bottom). The great thing about the baby hawk is that it can be tied in several different ways and it is also adjustable for dads and moms to use (one size fits all). I took Amelia to the folk fest in the baby hawk, we also used it on our trip to B.C.  It worked wonderfully, and it had hip support too.

So, at this time, Amelia is about 6 months old. I was using the hawk and the blue celery interchangeably but I wanted to try out something new. I LOVE doing research on the web and I particularily love looking up product reviews. There were two carriers that I wanted to see : The Beco and the Ergo. These carriers are structured carriers and, to me, they resembled a large climbing backpack. Each carrier has positive and negative points, but I decided to try out the Beco - it looked funky and it was slightly less bulky than the Ergo. 

I used the Beco up until just recently. Now that Amelia can walk, she no longer wants to be strapped into a carrier. I really did enjoy the Beco - it had great hip support (which is essential at this point - Amelia was getting pretty heavy), and it also had great shoulder support too. I really appreciated the shoulder padding when we would go on long treks. Also, another great thing about the Beco - you can wear baby on your back! This was a great way to carry her when she got heavy, and it was also a great way to continue doing Salsa Babies with the girl; we ended up going to Salsa Babies until she was crawling and didn't want to be in a carrier anymore.

So - that's my baby wearing journey. Some of it was good, some not so good, but I feel like I will be more comfortable the next time around with baby number 2. I really enjoyed that baby - mom closeness that comes with carrying your baby. After a rough period of post partum, and a long and unsuccessful breastfeeding journey,  I felt like it was a way that I could connect with Amelia. I could look down and see her precious smile, or hear her deep breathing as she fell asleep, and could feel her little heart beating. I think it was good for both of us.