Plastic or Natural?
"So you're almost about to pop! Do you have everything you need for the new arrival?" a sweet lady asked a day before my due date. I'll have to admit I did not have a beautifully painted nursery, a lovely wooden crib with matching bedding that harmonized with the pastel of the walls and curtains. I had no perfectly folded piles of blue or pink layettes and outfits. I didn't have a cloet full of baby paraphernalia... walker, swing, bouncer and playpen. I didn't have a set of baby monitors, a package of pacifiers, or the latest vented bottles in case of supplemented feedings. I had a couple of yellow onesies and a pair or two of yellow socks. So what did I repl to the earnest soul who looked so eager to help out. Yes, I've got everything I need!"
"What?" you may shriek! "You've got nothing!" "Why didn't you drop a few hints her way and snag some of these necessities. You're not prepared at all!"
Raw and Unadulterated
You see, I didn't need all that fad-dangled cluttering stuff that complexifies my mothering. I had everything I needed to nurture my sweet babe through its early childhood. I already owned the top of the line designer baby equipment. God designed my body with what I needed to nurture my baby while on the inside and He also designed it to have everything I needed to mother on the outside.
God gave me breasts, comfy pillows which are not only baby's favorite nest but which bring complete satisfaction to his every sucking need. Breastfeeding goes far beyond its main function of filling their little tummies with warm nutritious sweet milk of perfection. There is no need for me to worry about pacifiers that are always getting lost or bottles you have to fill, warm, clean and sterilize. Why would I want this bothersome stuff?
He gave me, as a woman, a tender voice my baby has grown to love. No need for lullaby tapes and musical toys or teddy bears with recorded heart beats - all dust catchers! I love to watch my baby, as he nurses at my breast, be calmed and sedated by the sound of what is most beautiful to him. As I sing to this captivated audience of one, his eyes begin to roll back and his lids grow heavy. As I continue to hum, the warm breath that carries his favorite tune blows a gentle breeze of love across his sleepy face. These are the joys of motherhood ... raw and unadulterated ... uncluttered by plastic mechanical objects that can never come close to what a baby really wants.
Mothers Are God's Perfect Design
Swings and things that chime and vibrate with colored flashing lights and recorded tunes are man's design. Mothers are God's perfect design for the job. I am not saying that these things are all bad and that a mother can't benefit from popping the baby in a contraption so she can go to the toilet by herself, take a shower or fix dinner, but they are not the necessities our modern world has made them out to be. They should never take the place of mother.
The sad fact is there is now an imbalance of "thing mothering" rather than "human mothering". There is nothing wrong with a few inventions to assist us. The problem is when we let them replace us!
This brings me to my next point. God created us with arms and hands with dexterous ability. He designed them to be used. Proverbs 31:17 tells us that the virtuous woman "strengthens her arms." God does not want us to let our arms get fat and floppy. Let's bench press that baby and get a good workout and a few giggles and goo-gahs to boot!
Plastic Mothering or Human Mothering
I have seen some babies who are hardly ever out of a plastic contraption. It's so sad. I call it plastic mothering. They get wheeled around in a stroller, plopped in a plastic swing and then into a car seat from which they are hardly removed except for a diaper change. Mothers are more often seen lugging cumbersome car seats around with their babies inside instead of simply holding them skin to skin. Some are even fed their bottle in their car seat. They bring their car seats inside everywhere they go. They are no longer car seats but "everywhere seats."
Babies are happiest being worn on your body. I say "worn" because I believe my baby is the most beautiful part of my appearance. I hate being out in town or in church without my gorgeous chubster beaming a huge smile from within the security of my arms.
Wouldn't it be nice if there was a way to wear your baby but still be free to be the "mummy on the go" - to run (I mean literally) after a bunch of rowdy children, get a toddler out of a tree, go grocery shopping, or even speed walk four miles up and down hills, all the while wearing your baby snugly and comfortably next to your heart. Imagine if there was an invention that made carrying a toddler feel like a featherweight, even for extended hours of "baby wearing." Or, nurse a fussy babe, even while shopping, with discreet coverage and arms completely free.
Wouldn't it be nice if there was a way to wear your baby but still be free to be the "mummy on the go" - to run (I mean literally) after a bunch of rowdy children, get a toddler out of a tree, go grocery shopping, or even speed walk four miles up and down hills, all the while wearing your baby snugly and comfortably next to your heart. Imagine if there was an invention that made carrying a toddler feel like a featherweight, even for extended hours of "baby wearing." Or, nurse a fussy babe, even while shopping, with discreet coverage and arms completely free.
Wouldn't it be nice if there were such an invention to prevent my shoulders and back from screaming out for mercy after an hour of wearing my baby like most carriers? It would be perfection if there was such an invention that could be used from birth to late toddler hood - front, back, sideways or whichever way I fancied.
Well, I've found it. Christmas has come for all mothers who love to "wear" their baby but have tried the slings, back packs, front packs and ordered many fad-dangled baby carriers that down-right hurt and give you a headache.
Personally, I am an avid baby wearer. I collect slings and baby carriers from around the world and have tried the whole gamut. I have used the many yards of material that you fold in strange configurations and wrap you and your baby up like mummies. I've owned an excellent hiking backpack, with a very light alloy frame, but the baby wasn't close to my skin. I couldn't nurse the baby and I had to wear a beanie on my head in the middle of summer as the baby sat high enough to pull my hair out in tufts.
Personally, I am an avid baby wearer. I collect slings and baby carriers from around the world and have tried the whole gamut. I have used the many yards of material that you fold in strange configurations and wrap you and your baby up like mummies. I've owned an excellent hiking backpack, with a very light alloy frame, but the baby wasn't close to my skin. I couldn't nurse the baby and I had to wear a beanie on my head in the middle of summer as the baby sat high enough to pull my hair out in tufts.
Slings are wonderful and I was somewhat content with a very top brand a friend bestowed upon me. Yes, I still had some troubleshooting. My shoulder and upper back ached fiercely after an hour and I still wasn't hands free. I had to support my baby when I bent down to dress a toddler or load the washing machine. It grew very painful on strenuous exercise walks but it was all I knew. I didn't complain and enjoyed wearing my baby...UNTIL I discovered the "Ergo" (named appropriately because it is designed to be ergonomically correct for you and your baby's back and chiropractic recommended.)
Pot of Gold
It sounds too good to be true. I did not believe it until I tried it for myself. In my search for the best baby carrier, worldwide, I always felt a little dissatisfied. My husband would say, as I begged him into buying yet another sling or carrier, that I wouldn't be content until it felt like I was carrying a feather and not a baby. He thought my search would never be through. But I have found my pot of gold and I am finally satisfied.
Pot of Gold
ALL MY CHRISTMASES CAME AT ONCE! I can now wear my baby on a four mile hike, come home and clean the house, vacuum, reach high and low, do all the laundry, dance around the lounge with my little ones, go picking blueberries or hunt for insects with my boys, cook (or uncook) dinner and do the dishes. I can nurse free-handed and keep on trucking, even go to the restroom, all while wearing my baby in the Ergo. My back and shoulders don't need a rest and I can forget I even have the baby.
Attachment style mothering has now become as easy as toting around a feather.
My sister-in-law is petite in stature but has a huge heifer of a baby. We call him "Harry Hamhock" as his thighs are good 'n meaty. He didn't like her to put him down and I could see her tired arms at the end of the day. I told her about the Ergo and she is now as happy as her sweet baby. She wears him all day and never grows tired.
My sister, Pearl always fretted when taking her baby to the grocery store, as she would suck on the rail of the shopping cart, the worst place for babies, toddlers and children to pick up germs. Her baby often brought a cold home from the store with her.
Slings make you want to scream by the end of a long grocery trip and you still are not completely hands free to fill your cart and keep toddlers in tow. Pearl always dreaded grocery day until the Ergo.
It sounds too good to be true. I did not believe it until I tried it for myself. In my search for the best baby carrier, worldwide, I always felt a little dissatisfied. My husband would say, as I begged him into buying yet another sling or carrier, that I wouldn't be content until it felt like I was carrying a feather and not a baby. He thought my search would never be through. But I have found my pot of gold and I am finally satisfied.
So, when that sweet lady asked me, "Are you prepared?" and by the world's standards I was not so, I could reply with a resounding and confident ...
"Yes, I've got my set of milkers and an Ergo - and that's all I need!"
Serene Allison
Primm Springs, Tennessee
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