Using A Sling or Other Baby Carrier,
the newest fashion is:

Wearing Clubfoot Babies!

In fact, I highly recommend it for every baby - but especially for
babies who have medical issues even as mild as clubfoot,
because being worn promotes a sense of safety and wellbeing for a
child.   Babies undergoing  medical treatment often need this added
sense of security as instinct tells them something unusual is going on
with their body.  The mild discomfort of undergoing the Ponseti
Method of clubfoot treatment can often be soothed away by wearing
your child rather than using OTC pain medications.

    "Baby Wearing" is as old as motherhood
    itself, and the benefits of wearing your baby
    in a sling, Maya wrap, hip hammock, pouch
    or other carrier continue even in this modern
    age.  In today's society, your baby might need
    worn more than ever as society becomes a
    less friendly place all the time.  





In so called 3rd world countries, wearing a baby is still the norm, this
is how women conduct their lives and continue to work in their
homes and fields when a baby is born.  Baby wearing is also highly
conducive to the practice of Infant Potty Training - another method
still popular in other societies that eliminates diapers (and the risk of
diapers soiling your casts perhaps?) from costing you money and
filling our dumps

Wearing your child in a sling (or other carrier) promotes well being
for both mother and infant.  Being attached to you  allows the baby to
feel safe and secure; new born infants in a sling easily conform to their
fetal position and sleep soundly to the rocking of your body as you go
about your day, even in their plaster casts or brace.  

Older babies who are awake longer hours benefit from participating
in your life - you are there to look at each other, speak
to each other, touch each other.  The baby is
introduced to sights and sounds and smells and
textures he would not experience laying in a crib,
propped in a bouncy seat or where ever it is that so
many modern mothers park their infants now days.  
Wearing a baby also helps eliminate the risk of your infant
developing a flat skull.    Many mothers even manage to breast feed
"on the go" as they wear their baby, saving even more time in your
day.

The other big advantage is ease of use.  A simple sling can fit
in to your coat pocket, glove box or diaper bag,
eliminating the need for cramming a bulky
stroller in to your car to load and unload at every
stop.   Using a sling, there is no need to take your
car seat out of your car to use as a baby carrier (a
practice I strongly object to!)    

    Worn in a sling, there is no need for your child to
    be in his car seat outside of the car; the child won't
    be in a grocery cart picking up millions of bad
    germs; you won't be fighting a stroller through
    heavy foot traffic or crowded store racks; both of
    your hands are free to work; and the risk of child-
    abduction is reduced to practically nil.    

Babies can be worn in a sling up to the weight the parent is no longer
comfortable carrying...generaly speaking, 35 pounds.   An adjustable
sling can then convert easily to a child-harness, fitting snug around
the child's rib cage and kept tied to you in busy places.

Wear your baby as nature pretty much intended you
to and you will have a happy, well adjusted, content
baby who not only feels safe and secure as she begins
to explore this big new world she was born in to, but
will also enjoy greater cognitive development.

There is really no right way to wear your particular child as long as
both parent and baby are both safe and comfortable.  The only type of
carrier I would not recommend is the Snuggli variety where the
infant's legs hang out, putting the full force of the baby's weight on his
spine as this can lead to pain and injury for the child.

Although the quality of photography here is lacking,
this might give you a small idea of how to use a sling
with your clubfoot baby.

I would greatly appreciate any parent who
would send me photos of their baby being
worn in some type of carrier wearing either
his casts or FAB to post here to help other
parents learn how to  continue with this age
old tradition of wearing their baby.
These photos show my third clubfoot baby in a
non-adjustable sling sitting facing me, and
facing away while he wears his Mitchell Foot
Abduction Brace.  Garrision is 16 months old
here and weighs approx. 28 pounds.
Wearing 3 1/2 year old Everett on
my back with the same sling.  
Although not wearing his FAB at the
moment, he would still fit in this
position with it on.
Seven months pregnant with Garrison, here I am
using my sling to carry Everett, both facing and
facing-away from me.  Used this way, the sling
works a lot like a hip-hammock.
Using Froggy to demonstrate how an
infant could be carried on your back.
Read more about:
Child in Maya wrap
Garrison is in the sling / Maya wrap with
his newly casted clubfeet in Iowa City at
the Ronald McDonald House.
Here Michelle is showing her son Jonah in a Mei Tai, which
is a type of Asian Baby Carrier which can be purchased here:
http://www.meitaibaby.com It has a snap at the bottom to
make it narrow enough to fit between his legs comfortably.
In these pictures, Jonah weighs approx. 13lbs w/o the shoes
and bar. He's in size 000 Markells, w/ an 8" bar.
Return to Wearing Clubfoot Babies, top of page.

Return to Six-feet.com home