I vowed, this time, to have a fashionable sling to wear to social events and the like. While I love my Ergo Baby Carrier, it can really bring down an otherwise great outfit with its unsightly black straps and various snapping closures. So, I found this sling on sale and snapped it right up. It arrived and about 10 minutes later, I read the warnings about babies dying in slings. YEARGH. It's was FINAL SALE. Doh!
So now I have this great sling. I also have a great pouch-style sling from Kangeroo Korner, which Adela loved and so does Flora. It's like instant cozy for the little ones. They go right to sleep in the faux womb. Addy lived in it for the first four months... precisely the amount of time the CPSC suggests they not be in a sling. It made a lot of things that wouldn't have been possible, possible. At first, I thought, "what the hell? Women have been "wearing" their babies for centuries." In fact, the Ethiopian restaurant, Mesob, around the corner from our house, has hundred year old antique papooses on display that look very much like the ones I now own. My initial reaction was that I am a responsible mother and I pay close attention to the babies I "wear," so there couldn't be a real problem with the slings. But then I wore the sling out in public and the looks I got from complete strangers made me rethink the whole thing.
I don't know how middle-aged men know about the warning, but I do know that people feel compelled (and comfortable) to tell me how much of a risk I am taking when I use the sling. It's like such a buzz kill because now, with the amazing convenience of the sling, come scornful glances and contemptuous glares.
Maybe people in other parts of the world haven't heard the warnings or feel less entitled to tell strangers how to best transport their infants. That's the most I can hope for, at this point. For now, I am feeling too much shame to take Flora outside of the house in the sling, which means I look really, really good wearing Flora in that lovely "Market Sling," as I walk around my own house.
Gorgeous sling. And, it doesn't look like the style/types warned about. You've probably done the safe slinging searches already. . . You'll be just fine. *grin* My youngest was just a year when we moved to Ukraine. The babushkas would ask me about the baby in the sling and his spine -- as soon as I told them it was similar to being in the womb (in my very broken Russian) they would smile and think it was great.
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