Looking For a Few Good Moms (or Dads!)

BWI of Atlanta is growing, and we need your help!  Want to become more involved in Babywearing International of Atlanta? Become a Volunteer Member or Volunteer Babywearing Educator!

As a non-VBE Volunteer Member, you can assist by coordinating events, set-up, hospitality and greeting members, and helping with library checkouts.  All volunteers must be active, dues-paying members of BWI of Atlanta. 

To volunteer, please contact us at bwiofatlanta@gmail.com

VBEs lead our babywearing meetings, teach at meetings, workshops and outreach events, and assist with administrative duties.  VBEs have passed a written and practical examination administered by a BWI Master Babywearing Educator, and have been accredited by Babywearing International.

To become a BWI of Atlanta VBE you must:

•         Have been a BWI member for a minimum of 6 months.
•          Have experience wearing both babies and toddlers in a variety of carriers. 
•         Have experience teaching babywearing.
•         Volunteers interested in becoming VBEs help at meetings with new membership forms and fees, greeting, etc.
•         VBE Trainees will have the opportunity to shadow a VBE at meetings.
•         We can assist with additional training sessions for VBE hopefuls as needed.

Some of the benefits of accreditation through Babywearing International are a solid and well-rounded background on the 4 basic styles of babywearing (1 shouldered carriers, wraps, Asian baby carriers and soft structured carriers), more emphasis on practical application than other programs and the ability to receive your accreditation while you study the portions of babywearing that you are passionate about.

Our accredited educators receive continuing education on a monthly basis, support from Babywearing International in regards to group growth and library additions and liability insurance to protect you while you teach.

If you are interested in beginning the process of becoming a VBE, please contact us at bwiofatlanta@gmail.com or speak with one of our VBE Officers (Kate, Aisling, or Michelle).

August meeting schedule and summer round-up

I know you've all been waiting on tenterhooks to hear the results of our June membership drive.  I have to apologize for not updating this blog in some time, but as it turned out I had a baby in mid-June (who knew?) and have been on a steady diet of coffee, optimism and hope since then.

Let's get the really important stuff out of the way first.  August is almost here!  July has flown by.  BWI of Atlanta is having its usual three meetings in August, and hopefully soon will be adding a fourth in Gwinnett County.

Our regular Saturday meeting will be August 10th from 10 - 12 at The Solarium in Decatur.  Why not August 3rd?  Because on August 3rd BWI of Atlanta is making a special appearance at The Big Latch-On!  Babywearing and breastfeeding go together quite well so we'll be representing ourselves at that event.

Our regular Friday meeting will be August 9th from 11 - 1 at Harry's Whole Foods in Marietta.

Our regular Monday meeting will be August 12th August 19th from 10 - 12 at New Baby Products in Atlanta.

Onto the results!  Our members came through and the drive was a huge, and I mean HUGE success.  We gained over 50 new members and more members are still joining.  We've been putting that money to good use.  We were able to get the following:

- BWI of Atlanta membership cards for all members
- BWI of Atlanta static cling decals for all members joining or renewing during the drive
- 2 keep calm and wear your baby t-shirts
- A $25 gift voucher to Comfy Joery
- A $50 gift voucher to wovenwraps.com
- Sleeping Baby Productions ring sling
- Kalea Baby ring sling
- Standard/standard Kinderpack with kool knit
- Chimparoo mei tai
- Babyhawk Oh Mei! half-buckle mei tai
- Didymos Jack size 6
- Lenny Lamb bamboo rainbow size 6
- Didymos bleu nino size 4
- Natibaby hemp blue/green clovers size 6
- Infantino wrap and tie
- Vatanai Koira 4.5m
- Vatanai Orkney 4.5m
- Vatanai Glaciar 3m
- Wrapsody Bali Stretch Alyssa
- Pikkolo

I am blown away by how many members joined us and how we have been able to expand the library.  Checkouts are at an all-time high and people are spreading the word about Babywearing International of Atlanta.  All thanks to our members!

There are more things to talk about, like the wrap workshop and the upcoming carrier-specific members-only workshops, but I think this blog post is long enough and I will leave the rest for later.  See you at the meeting!

Next meeting: 5/4/13

April was a whirlwind of activity but it looks like May is going to be just as busy. Here are the upcoming meetings:

- Saturday, May 4th at the Solarium in Decatur from 10-12
- Friday, May 10th at Harry's Whole Foods in Marietta from 11-1
- Monday, May 20th at New Baby Products in Atlanta from 10-12

We've got a bonus meeting this month.  Actually, it isn't a meeting - it's a class.  BWI of Atlanta is pleasantly chuffed to be offering a workshop on shorties led by Aisling and yours truly!  With warm weather coming up, we'd all love to be wearing less, and that includes our wraps.  Short wraps have been used around the world for centuries.  They're economical, lightweight, and traditional.  Why not learn how to use them?  Wrap workshop: Shorties 101 will commence at New Baby Products on Tuesday, May 7th from 1:30 - 2:30.  No shorty, no problem!  We'll have some there.

If our class is successful, we'd be happy to offer a continuing series or repeats of the class around the Atlanta metro area.  I'm looking forward to laying a lesson plan out and getting some teaching on next week!  Having a large repertoire of carries has been one of my passions when it comes to wraps, and other than being a mom, my day job is as a teacher, so when hobby meets career passion, it's a beautiful thing.  I'm excited!  We'll be covering the following topics:

- Slipknots
- No-sew ring slings
- Rebozo
- Simple hip carry
- Half-Jordan's back carry

If there's time, or if the class is particularly skilled, we will also cover knotless ruck.

As always, see you all at the meetings!

Next meeting: Monday, 1/21/13

Is it that time again?  It is!  BWI of Atlanta's next meeting will be Monday, January 21st from 10-12 at New Baby Products on Cheshire Bridge Road.  We'll see you there!

In other news, we have been officially announced by BWI as BWI of Atlanta!  We've been waiting for this for a long, long time and we're so excited finally to be under the BWI umbrella.  This gives us more access to carriers for our lending library, and more promo for us as a group.  Soon we'll be changing our names, officially, from Atlanta Babywearers to Babywearing International of Atlanta.  We'll even have a shiny new logo to put on the blog.

Becoming BWI of Atlanta also allows other babywearing groups in the area to come shelter under our eaves, since the bulk of the work has already been done by us truly.  So it's very possible that in the years to come, we'll have a BWI of Cobb County, or a BWI of Gwinnett.  The more the merrier, I say!

Next meeting: 10/16/12

We've had so many meetups in the last week for International Babywearing Week that it feels like the Tuesday meeting is happening too soon (at least to me), but the calendar doesn't lie.  Our next meeting is tomorrow, October 16th, at Glenlake Park from 10-12.  I will be there, of course, with our raffle prizes, just waiting for our winners to show up!

Despite the craziness that was jam-packed into last week, I did enjoy IBW.  I got to know some of our attendees a bit better outside the confines of teaching and it was great to socialize with other moms.  We have some photos posted at the Facebook page; I'll see if I can get permission to post them here as well!

November's going to be a big month for Atlanta Babywearers, hopefully soon to be BWI of Atlanta (can I just say that dealing with banks is a huge hassle in Georgia?).  Firstly, we're crossing our fingers that we can finalize the last thing in the application and get that stuff all straightened out.  Secondly, Aisling is due in November and will be taking the month off.  Given how beautiful her girls are already, I can't wait to see what her next child looks like!  And of course to see what wraps she picks out.  A wrap geek's gotta have priorities.

Next meeting: 10/6/12

Having two meetings per month makes me feel as if there's always another meeting around the corner.  That's good news for the moms and dads (and guardians and caretakers) out there who want to babywear!

Our next meeting is coming up on Saturday, October 6th, 2012 at the Solarium from 10 am to 12 noon.  See you there!

Tuesday meeting!

Our next Atlanta Babywearers meeting is... tomorrow, September 18th!  Ah, it's totally my fault that I didn't post about it earlier.  I'll see you guys at Glenlake Park in Decatur, right off of Church Street, from 10 am to noon.  As usual, we'll be in the big pavilion right by the playground.

There are tornado warnings for tonight until 3 am, with heavy rain in the forecast.  As of right now I expect to be at the park, but if it's coming down in a Biblical sense then I will cancel.  Keep your eyes peeled, both here and on the Facebook group!  And stay safe!  I remember the last tornado that went through here.

Oh, and one more thing - I will be bringing my camera to tomorrow's meeting to take pictures!  I know tired moms with spit-up on them are really attractive and all, but we haven't had picture day in a long, long time.  We're overdue.  Say cheese!

International Babywearing Conference 2012

This past weekend, I had the exciting opportunity to attend the International Babywearing Conference, held at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.  The conference was attended by about 300 Babywearing Educators and researchers, Doulas, Lactation Consultants,  Birth Professionals, and parents from the US, Canada, and around the world who wanted to learn more about babywearing and other parenting topics. 


Many workshops were geared toward babywearing educators, including Babywearing Safety, Babywearing in Clinical Settings, and Ergonomics for the Baby and Babywearer.  There was a fascinating research review from Katie Nicolai of the German babywearing group, Offene Traggegrupe Oberhausen covering topics including infant spinal stress, kangaroo care, and some of the evolutionary aspects of baby carrying. A lecture on the benefits of touch from Dr. Henrik Norholt, Chief Scientific Officer of Ergobaby discussed the relationship between babywearing and infant attachment (Dr. Norholt has some great articles based on his research on the Ergobaby blog). There were DIY workshops and  lots of classes on how to use specific carriers, including classes on tandem wearing and babywearing from a man's perspective.


There were also workshops on parenting topics such as breastfeeding, diapering, Elimination Communication, and green cleaning and some fun classes on Babywearing Yoga and Bellydance!  One day of the conference was open to the public, with 101 classes, a vending hall, and a babywearing fashion show. I especially enjoyed the keynote speaker, Rachel Coleman of Signing Time.  Her story is truly inspiring.


I had a great time! Also, thanks to Ergobaby and Babywearing International, we now have a new Ergo Sport for our Atlanta Babywearers carrier library!


Here are a few snapshots and a look at some more of the exciting workshops that were offered.

Tina Hoffman of Didymos presented a lecture on The Art of Weaving, offering a detailed look into the  process of creating a woven wrap.

In Babywearing and Culture, Arie Brentnall-Compton of the Canadian Babywearing School demonstrated a variety of carriers used around the world, such at this Scottish wool carrying and nursing shawl.

Here, Arie shows us how to use an Amauti, a babywearing parka used by Canadian First Nations. 

Arie demonstrating how to use an African Kanga. 

How to teach the ringsling workshop, with Jan Andrea Herlitzer of Sleeping Baby Productions and 

Ellen Schaad, VBE for BWI of DC/MD/VA.

Advanced Back Wrapping, taught by the fabulous Becca Morse, Babywearing Consultant and VBE of BWI of Ann Arbor.  Becca also has a great babywearing blog.

I had the opportunity to meet many of the fabulous Volunteer Babywearing Educators for Babywearing International, what a truly wonderful group!

With Faith Rayland, VBE of BWI of Central New York, slinging our demo babies. 

There was even a babywearing fashion show! 

Babywearing and happy babies everywhere! A fabulous time was had by all!