Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Way to go Frankston, Australia

So a babywearing dad decided to take a little walk to calm down his fussy toddler. She needed a nap. He put her in a back carry in an Olives and Applesauce SSC. After a few minutes she was calm and falling asleep. He put the hood up and continued his walk. To him this is normal, and him and his wife have done this many times before. But apparently a Frankston cop was called by an uninformed citizen and the cop decided this was unsafe and the man needed to be corrected. Basically he told the dad that his daughter needed to be in a front carry or in a pram since she can't breathe in a back carry and that it's unsafe. The officer has no BWing training.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150621031551807.454538.522306806&type=1
(pictures of dad and carrier found in this above link)

http://yvettesramblings.blogspot.com/2012/01/caution-orlando-bloom-had-better-stay.html

I get that the officer is uninformed. Why would any of them be trained about proper babywearing? They should have more important things to be dealing with. But at the same time, why did the office still go off on the dad after noticing she was asleep and breathing well?! Doesn't he have more important things to deal with than this?!
O&A carriers are well known GOOD carriers that properly hold a baby (and toddler too!) with lots of support for mom and dad. When used properly, there is no more risk using a back carry as there is with using a front carry or even a stroller or an infant car seat! Hoods are often used to support the head and to keep a sleeping child asleep. I do this all the time! And best of all, I can FEEL Squish breathing, something I can't do with a stroller.
The mom and dad are using this as an opportunity to take the time to hold meetings about proper babywearing and how to use carriers safely. I hope some good comes of this!

Meanwhile, at least the following news article was published in NC! Way to go Fayetteville for passing on good BWing information to others.
http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2012/01/24/1150314?sac=Life

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