Finding the benefits for you in carrying your baby - Ellen Tristram, Wraps Around Us
/Finding the benefits for you in carrying your baby
Carrying your baby as a form of responding to their needs is often cited as being part of building a healthy attachment for your child. But there are some benefits to the parent or carer that are often not explored.
The convenience of having your hands free to go about your daily tasks is of course a practical benefit of using slings. It is probably what prompted families centuries ago to start using cloth to carry their children. In order to go about their day and keep their babies safe and protected, they found a way to do both, they had to. Less explored is the impact of the process of certain types of carrying on the parent or carer, the impact on you as an individual. In particular when it comes to using woven wraps.
Learning to use woven wraps to me is a practice, much like yoga or knitting, or any other task that takes time to hone and become second nature. It can be confusing and hard to begin with, the long piece of fabric incredibly overwhelming. If you haven't been brought up in a family or community that used or uses wraps day in and day out then it may not come naturally, especially when combined with a wriggly baby. But much like other tasks that you complete over and over again, it does become easier. You no longer need to watch a tutorial every time you wrap and you start to recall the steps easily.
I remember noticing one day that every time I went to wrap my then 10 month old baby, just before I started, I took a deep breath. I stopped looking around my messy living room or the piles of plates in my kitchen and transferred my thoughts to the task in hand. Doing this, I have now learnt, is a key component of meditation, the act of bringing yourself into the present moment, removing yourself from the past and future and being in the now. I realised that the act of wrapping itself was providing me with a kind of mindfulness practice. Even in the midst of a busy household or while out in public, in order to use the wrap, your thoughts are directed to concentrate on the process. Recall the steps, feel and notice the fabric. It's something that cannot be rushed, it takes time to tighten each section of the fabric. You are forced to focus. And I certainly felt the benefits of doing that. If before I went to wrap my baby I was feeling in a rush or overwhelmed, I knew that this process would calm us both down. And as soon as she was in the wrap, she would more than likely relax and I would move on with my day feeling stronger and calmer.
And then to the fabrics themselves. Before I discovered woven wraps, slings to me were another piece of equipment that might help me as a parent. But once I tried a woven wrap, and then another one and then another one, I soon realised how much more there was to learn and fall in love with. Different fibres made the wraps feel and behave differently, finding a wrap with just the right amount of grip or glide made the process all the more enjoyable. And noticing these differences just enriched and expanded the mindful practice of wrapping.
I also found friendship in my love of these fabrics. I found an online community who felt equally excited by these pieces of fabric. I found other parents that loved them just as I did, who appreciated the differences in fibres, the beautiful designs, patterns and textures. A passion shared is so powerful and we revelled together in how much these pieces of material brought to us.
Parenthood can induce a roller-coaster of emotions, it can be overwhelming and relentless, especially in the early days with days and night merging into one. Finding moments for yourself can be impossible. Wrapping for me created those moments, and although brief, I felt the benefits.
Bio:
I'm Ellen and I run a small business called Wraps Around Us. I'm a trained Baby-wearing Consultant and my passion lies in woven wraps; the process, the fabrics and the flexibility they provide. As learning to wrap is a process and takes time and practice, I have launched an online course for families to follow and refer to as they learn. I've also just launched a postal hire service so that families can try before investing in one of their own. I retail woven and stretchy wraps and provide 1-1 online consultations for all manner of slings.
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