You might have heard that the US CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) published a warning this week about the safety of infant slings. In particular, there have been a number of deaths reported when babies have been carried in bag-style slings where the baby’s face was not visible, or where the baby was able to get into a chin-on-chest position that blocked their airway. The CPSC warning included this useful example of right and wrong ways to position baby in a soft sling:

If you’ve been wondering whether it’s safe to use a baby sling at all with your newborn, don’t panic! Baby slings have been successfully used for thousands of years, in cultures all over the world. Babywearing can help newborn babies (especially premmies) regulate their temperature and breathing, increase milk supply for breastfeeding mothers with low supply, help parents or carers bond with their baby, and help settle babies (especially those with colic or reflux).

What we haven’t had in modern Western society is the knowledge passed on from our mothers and grandmothers about how to use a piece of cloth to carry our babies safely. It’s not enough just to rely on manufacturers to make a sling that is safe to use without instruction.

If you’re looking at getting a sling for your newborn, check out these newborn babywearing videos and instructions to start with; go along to a babywearing meet in your local area; get active on forums like Baby Carriers Downunder, The Babywearer, Intuitive Parenting, or Natural Parenting where there are experienced babywearers to answer your questions; or visit a shop where the staff have been trained in how to position newborns safely in soft slings.

Can’t make it to the big Canberra Babywearers meet on the last Tuesday of every month at Belconnen Community Centre? Then try the mini-meet.

10am on the first Thursday of the month at the Brindabella Baby sitting room. Upstairs at 29 Lonsdale Street, Braddon - above Thrifty Car Hire, opposite Debacle. All welcome, no cost.

Details of meetings are discussed at the Canberra Babywearers group on Yahoo.

It’s Australia Day (aka Invasion Day, for some of Australia’s indigenous population) on 26 January 2010. Which means lots of families heading out to BBQs and picnics, visiting friends and family, goint to festivals and major public events, or just staying out late to see the fireworks.

On my way to work this morning on the bus, I passed Commonwealth Park in Canberra. This is where the early morning citizenship ceremony was held, and a short walk from last night’s Australia Day Live concert. I spotted parents carrying their babies in stretchy wraps and SSCs (soft structured carriers that clip on) with hoods - both great choices for sun protection. I also noted that most of the carriers I saw were in shades of beige - very sensible when in the park on a dusty day. And that the carriers I saw were mostly machine washable - so zinc cream or sunscreen should wash out.

And here I am, in my tragic 1980’s blue sequinned pop-star jacket, trying to decide which carrier would go best with it for this afternoon’s BBQ after work finishes. I’m leaning towards a red shorty wrap - a quick and easy way to get a toddler on my back, and keeps to the red white and blue theme. Or perhaps I’ll change into green and gold, and go with a bright yellow woven wrap, to coordinate with a green skirt. If I had a little baby, I would show my support for our indigenous Australians in a stretchy wrap with indigenous art panel on the front. Or perhaps I’d wear a black ring sling with red and yellow ribbons pinned onto the shoulder - fun for baby to play with.

What are you wearing today, and how are you keeping the kids happy while you’re socialising?

Everyone else is doing it, so why can’t we? Yep, it’s a year in review for the Baby Carriers Downunder blog.

My fave photo from 2009 - yes, I do have the most gorgeous wearee ever

January 2009 kicked off with a couple of sling meets, in Melbourne and Sydney. Sling meets are a great way to keep the kids busy during school holidays, especially as they usually happen in parks rather than busy indoor play centres.

February was when we got stuck into more regular writing. There was the very entertaining It’s Time to Get Serious: Zombies; a run-down on babywearing retail with If these slings are so cool, why can’t I buy them at KMart?; and Babywearing and Post Natal Depression.

By March, the weather was starting to cool down in the southern parts of the country, but Australia being such a big place it was still nice and warm up north. We had a mix of the serious - How do I start - with TWO babies? - and the not-so-serious - Could Angelina Jolie be a tandem babywearer? Yep, we had a bit of a tandem babywearing theme for March. Whether it’s twins, or a toddler and newborn, lots of parents carry more than one kid at once out of practicality.

In April, we discovered why wrappers are really cool froods, how to breastfeed hands-free, and spent the whole month sharing the love - with a series of posts talking about babywearing when the wearer isn’t the child’s parent.

May was Newborn Babywearing Month on the blog. One of my favourites was Can we please go home now? A personal story about leaving NICU with a premmie (or two). I also loved the glimpse into another culture in Kandy, about babywearing in Sri Lanka.

June saw a week in the life of a wrapper. My fave was a great example of Extreme Wrapping - Day 4, wrapping on a moving bus. Coming up to the end of financial year, there were also some great babywearing economy posts like Babywearing Affluenza and How to buy: pre-loved slings and carriers.

There were more great personal stories in July, like the famous Paulus’ Babywearing Birth Story, and Steph’s plan to support her high needs baby with lots of babywearing.

Australian weather (and climate has a big impact on what slings we wear) is quite varied in August: cold and rainy (even snowing) down south, warm and dry up north. We covered advice on how to wash your stash, and a WOE (wrap once every day) challenge - my fave is the ruck.

September, the start of Spring, was huge! We had International Babywearing Week from 21-28 September 2009. There was also the mother all sling-meets at the huge Homebirth Rally in Canberra on Monday 7 September 2009. But among the advocacy and community spirit, there was still time to blog the personal - like Steph’s posts on babywearing in hospital.

I think we were all a little exhausted in October and November, or perhaps just getting out in the nicer weather, because the blog was much quieter. But there was a cute post with photos of mei tai used as a swing harness. And WOE challenge became WOEvember.

We got back on track a little more in December, with a beginner’s guide to using pouches, and a series on travel and babywearing.

Got any ideas on what you’d like us to cover in 2010? Do you have New Year’s babywearing resolutions? Or perhaps you’re doing an end-of-year destash and declutter? Did you have a personal babywearing hightlight in 2009? Post your comments below!

A number of pundits have recently declared that the Australian dollar is approaching parity with the U.S. and that we may reach those heady grounds by Christmas. What in the name of all that’s imported does that have to do with babywearing, I hear you ask?

Plenty, my friends.

You see, “parity” is a short-hand economist’s way of saying that one Australian dollar is equal to one U.S. dollar. As these things go, when one Australian dollar is worth more U.S. currency, it’ll be worth more Euros as well.

Can you see where I’m going with this? That’s right- your wraps and your SSCs, your ring slings and your mei tais; anything made overseas, or made from overseas goods has been getting cheaper. It’s going to get cheaper still, as long as the value of our dollar continues to climb.

To that end, I propose that the Babywearers of Australia (and New Zealand) unite! We must reach parity! The power to change our economy is in our own hands! But how?

That, too, is simple. One of the reasons why the Australian dollar is performing strongly in recent times is the anticipation (and reality) that the Reserve Bank will lift interest rates. Combine that with Australia’s strong economic performance compared with other developed nations and investing money here is now a better option compared to other places. So the money pours in, Aussie dollars are bought and the price of the dollar (our exchange rate) increases.

In order to reach parity, we must convince the Reserve Bank to lift interest rates further! Forget your mortgages, your credit cards and your car loans! Compared to baby carriers, they’re unimportant! The Reserve Bank’s objective is to achieve (amongst other things) low and stable inflation. If inflation gets too high, or it is believed that it will be too high in the future, the Reserve Bank will lift interest rates. This is our ultimate goal: high interest rates means a high exchange rate (usually). We must drive inflation! But how?

Inflation is driven by spending. The more the economy spends, the higher the rate of inflation. So there you have it- we must spend! We must buy carriers now so that we can buy cheaper carriers later! It’s a foolproof plan!

Go forth and spread the word, fellow downunder babywearers: it’s your national duty to buy as many babycarriers as you can!

Has our sudden turn towards parity changed your plans to buy or sell a carrier? Leave a comment and let us know!

Here’s a nice new video promoting the upcoming International Babywearing Week:

To see what’s happening around your area to celebrate it, see our IBW09 events page.