2010 International Babywearing Conference

At the 2010 International Babywearing Conference in Rigby, Idaho

Mandy and I went to Rigby, Idaho, June 8-12 for the 2010 International Babywearing Conference. We learned a lot and met a lot of interesting and inspirational babywearers. (And we came back with a lot of swag to share with our members!)

Here are some posts from around the web to give you a taste of the conference as well as some of the important information shared:

Inspirational post by a babywearing dad who got help at the conference. What does babywearing mean for parents and their children? Why do we volunteer to help people with babywearing? Read this!

Article about carseats by Jan at Sleeping Baby Productions based on the all-conference session by M’Liss Stelzer. Very important information!

Traditional babywearing, and museum exhibit of traditional and modern baby carriers, from Beltway Babywearers, our sister BWI chapter in the Washington, DC, area. Lots of great pictures from the museum display!

IBC 2010 post 1 from Beltway Babywearers.

IBC 2010 post 2 from Beltway Babywearers.

Idaho Babywearers post about conference attendees trip to Yellowstone National Park. And don’t miss the immediately prior posts about the medical panel, the Dutch Oven dinner (complete with cowboy band, rodeo queens, hula hooping, and celebrity babywearers), keynote speaker Kelley Mason (who sparked a babywearing revolution in the U.S. when she founded the Kozy Carrier company) and observations about the conference and the role of babywearing as “the fabric of a global community,” the theme of the conference.

The next International Babywearing Conference will be in San Diego in 2011, and after that, the Beltway Babywearers will take it to DC for 2012.

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Baby Sling Safety: The CPSC warning has been misreported, baby slings can be used safely from birth … but some sling-like carriers should be recalled

The following is the text of our press release that we distributed today:

Babywearing experts say CPSC baby sling warning is good information, but inaccurate reporting and failure to recall unsafe slings are putting babies at risk

BIRMINGHAM, ALA., March 16, 2010 – Local baby sling experts say the warning issued Friday by the Consumer Product Safety Commission concerning baby slings contains the same admonitions they routinely give parents and caregivers: “be cautious when using infant slings for babies younger than four months of age,” and “make sure the infant’s face is not covered and is visible at all times to the sling’s wearer.”

This information is true and helpful as far as it goes, say the volunteer leaders of Babywearing International of Birmingham, a nonprofit support and advocacy group that helps parents and caregivers use baby slings and other baby carriers. But they say the CPSC did not go far enough and recall certain unsafe sling-like carriers that, because of their design, make it impossible to follow the CPSC’s advice.

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Baby sling safety: Video about protecting your baby’s airway

Here is a short video from Wrapsody about protecting your baby’s airway in a sling:

You can see more of Wrapsody’s how-to videos, including a general babywearing safety video, here.

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Official CPSC warning about baby sling safety

The following is the text of the press release from the CPSC:

Infant Deaths Prompt CPSC Warning About Sling Carriers for Babies

WASHINGTON, D.C.- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is advising parents and caregivers to be cautious when using infant slings for babies younger than four months of age. In researching incident reports from the past 20 years, CPSC identified and is investigating at least 14 deaths associated with sling-style infant carriers, including three in 2009. Twelve of the deaths involved babies younger than four months of age.

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Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue warning about baby slings

Here is the story by the Associated Press.

There is a lot going on here. There has been some communication among babywearing advocates, Consumer Reports, and sling manufacturers. It’s encouraging that they are talking about the risk pattern rather than saying that baby slings are unsafe.

It’s seldom helpful to say “baby slings are safe” or “baby slings are not safe.” We talk about safe babywearing practices at every meeting. In almost every case, it’s how you use the baby sling that is safe or unsafe. However, some carriers, like the bag slings shown and discussed in the article, can only be used one way … a way that puts babies, particularly fragile newborns, at risk of asphyxiation. So calling them unsafe may just be completely fair.

Let’s see what the CPSC says.

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Chances are, if you’re a babywearer, someone helped you along the way

I will never ever forget the amazing letter that a local group member wrote me shortly after we started Magic City Slingers. We helped her wear her baby and, like so many people, babywearing really changed her parenting experience. She wanted to recognize our efforts. She wrote a heartfelt letter of thanks to me and to Kristen (a the time, we were the only group leaders) and gave us each a tote bag and a button from TheBabywearer.com’s CafePress store. Her gift made a deep and lasting impression.

There are a lot of people around the world that do a lot of work to help people learn about babywearing, and much of this work is done on a volunteer basis. If someone has helped you along the way, a personal note is a great way to say thank you, but it’s not the only way. If you know of an organization that reaches out to women in need, performs babywearing advocacy work, or is a babywearing vendor with a charitable mission, consider nominating it for an International Babywearing Week award. So far, there are three awards:

- Best Babywearing Outreach Program to Women in Need (U.S.),
- Best Babywearing Outreach Program by a Non-Vendor (U.S.), and
- Best Charitable Program by a Babywearing Vendor (worldwide).

The deadline for nominations is September 18. You can nominate your organization or another organization. Click here for more information and to nominate; nomination is quick and easy!

P.S. Please spread the word about International Babywearing Week and the IBW Awards! Thanks!

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If you make and sell slings, children’s clothing, or crafts for children

… then you’ll want to check out this blog concerning the Consumer Product Safety Commission Improvement Act, how to comply with it, and how to seek changes to make compliance easier (especially if you don’t know what the Consumer Product Safety Commission Improvement Act is and how it will require you to do lead testing on your handmade products).

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With apologies, one more Motrin ad post

I know, I know, we’re all tired of this topic. I just have to get a few more thoughts out.

Thought One: “Why the ad is so bad.”

This has been explained in so many places, including at Babywearing International, that you’d think people would understand, but many still don’t. Here goes another try:

The ad uses the language of babywearing. Right off the bat, it talks about “wearing” a baby, not just “carrying” a baby. It talks about the wide variety of carriers available. It talks about bonding, and about worn babies crying less than others. These aren’t just random words and concepts. These aren’t words and concepts that the average Snuggli user necessarily relates to. These are words and concepts that people who self identify as babywearers use.

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We didn’t start the fire

Cue the Billy Joel music …

Advertising Age, in its “Timeline of Motrin-Gate,” says we wrote the first discoverable blog post about the now-infamous Motrin ad. Did you neeed more proof that advertising and marketing professionals don’t understand social media?

I feel I just have to set the record straight: We didn’t start the fire. I have serious doubts that my irreverent little post poking fun at the persona portrayed in the ad (c’mon, she’s a total dingbat) was even a significant spark leading to the firestorm of outrage that erupted over the weekend of November 15-16 and resulted in the ad’s withdrawal. Seeing it on the Advertising Age timeline is pretty amusing.

I posted after I finally opened a thread about the ad in the forums at TheBabywearer.com. (Why didn’t I open the thread earlier? Because it was International Babywearing Week and I was busy.) The thread was started November 12, and the original poster said the ad was in the issue of Real Simple magazine that she received that day. People immediately began posting that they were emailing the makers of Motrin to complain about the way the ad portrayed babywearers and babywearing. Later that evening, someone posted a link to the video on the Motrin website. Although responses to the print ad were negative enough that some people decided to write based on it alone, the video version really pushed people’s buttons, and more people posted that they were writing McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the makers of Motrin.

So, people were talking about the ad AND complaining to McNeil at least as early as November 12. Which, by the way, was a Wednesday. (The advertising and public relations professionals who felt McNeil was blind-sided by the eruption of chatter in social media on a weekend might find that fact relevant.) By the time I posted here on November 14, people were already chatting about the ad on message boards and in email groups. Maybe it hadn’t been blogged or tweeted about yet, but the kindling was already ablaze.

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An antidote to the recent ad headache

Suave gets it.

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