A lot of parents are showing interest in babywearing these days. Even though it has been around for ages and is rampant in the rural areas of India, parents in urban India – are just catching up. Babywearing is not only a convenient way to keep baby close to you and be hands free, it also has several health benefits that have been researched on, these are for both the baby and the babywearer.

Facebook Groups like Wrap Your baby- Babywearing in India  & similar ones are helping to get experienced babywearing mums together to be able to go to a Meet up – just a few mums getting together to learn a few tips and tricks to babywear safely and correctly.

On chatting with a few first time trying babywearing parents – got an insight about babywearing and meetups that they went to.

Whats your favourite thing about the babywearing meetup?

Babywearing is Practical – and i got immediate results. I wore my baby and within minutes she fell asleep. I wore her in a Wrap, and it looked a little daunting to me, however on seeing the mums using it, instantly got convinced that it was easily doable. Such an easy and immediate soother.

What did you like about the meetups and the carriers you saw?

The Meetups were very generic and had all sorts of babycarriers – right from wraps, to ringslings to mei tais and soft structured carriers. There was no one single brand that was dominant and there was no compulsion to try on any carrier- I tried on all of them, one by one. And got inputas from several mums for the babycarriers to wear it correctly. Saw and was amazed by the experts who have been babywearing from a long time – they make it look so easy.

Who all did you meet at the Meetup?

Met some mums who were experts and also met a few babywearing mothers in law who were babywearing. That was an eyeopener. The parents there were open and helpful. And a spirit of comraderie. Great to learn the few tips that we did.

What's the most common mistake that Newbies make with regards to babywearing?

Getting frustrated trying out new carriers and not asking for help when needed.

On asking some expert babywearers another set of questions here the feedback.

What age can one start babywearing?

You can start right on the day the baby is born. And can go on till 4-5 years of age.

What are the misconceptions that are the most common that you hear?

That baby will never walk, that you are harming the baby, etc. The baby will “spoil”

What would you suggest to someone who wanted to learn?

Would suggest to go for a babywearing meet up and get help so that the small tips make the same carriers easier to use for you. Learn how to wear your baby correctly and safely.

Meet the Author:

Rashmee Bhatia Gajra, is an architect by profession and a mom of two boys. She is passionate about Babywearing & Breastfeeding. She firmly believes that these two aspects of nurturing make a huge difference to the baby and parent alike and are the foundation to raise independent strong resilient children.

She breastfed her preemie baby against all odds but couldn't gently babywear her firstborn. That changed with her second son and she was able to breastfeed and babywear till he was almost 2.5.

To share the knowledge & benefits of amazing Babywearing - she now makes gentle Babywearing possible through Anmol Wraps (a wrap styled ergonomic babycarrier) that can be used for a baby from 0 days old to a toddler. She also runs the Mumbai Sling Library (a pop up library) to encourage parents to try out different kinds of ergonomic babycarriers.