Congratulations to our Medalists for our #babywearingUSA Event!

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Red, White, and Blue babywearing event! Loved seeing your USA pride and your babywearing pride at the same time! #babywearingUSA
Congratulations to the winners!

GOLD MEDAL: Lindsay Amicone

SILVER MEDAL: Mallory Over

BRONZE MEDAL: Emily Merkel

The gold medal winner will receive $5 off a new membership or renewal OR the opportunity to borrow two carriers at a meeting!

The silver medal winner will receive an item made from a woven wrap!

The bronze medal winner will receive a BWI of Cleveland car decal!

***Please email volunteer@bwiofcleveland.org for instructions on claiming your prize!

COMING UP! Event Number Three: Overcoming Obstacles #babywearingforthewin

This next event is all about how babywearing has helped you, your family, or your child! For Event Number Three: Overcoming Obstacles #babywearingforthewin, we want to see photos showing how babywearing has helped you overcome an obstacle. Maybe you had a newborn with colic, or an infant with separation anxiety….or maybe you just needed to get the dishes done! We’d also love to see photos of how you overcame a babywearing obstacle! Maybe you were too intimidated by the loooong stretchy wraps with your firstborn, but learned to love them with your second! Or maybe you could never quite get a good fit from a buckle carrier, until you came to a meeting and found the perfect fit!

In the photo above, volunteer Stephanie Herb shows how babywearing helps her and her daughter get through “patch time” during which her daughter needs to wear a corrective patch! Snuggles and love from mom are the best remedy for an uncomfortable babe, and babywearing makes it that much easier!

Whatever the obstacle, we want to see photos of how babywearing helped you!  Post as many photos as you'd like in our Facebook Group and be sure to vote for your favorites by clicking the "like" button!This contest will run through Saturday, August 13th! Good luck!

Congrats to our Medalists for our ‪#‎summerwearinggames‬ Event!

EVENT NUMBER ONE WINNERS!!

Thank you to everyone who participated in our first event in the Summer Babywearing Games! We loved seeing all the photos showing how babywearing helped you to enjoy the summer!

The person with the most votes was our very own educator, Rebekah Kelly, who shared a wonderful photo of herself wearing and breastfeeding at the ocean!

But since we’d rather give these awesome prizes to our fabulous members, here are the real winners!! For the folks who tied on number of votes, we used a random number generator to determine the medal winners. ***Please email volunteer@bwiofcleveland.org for information on how to collect your prize!***

Gold Medal (16 votes) - Abby Mosher

Silver Medal (13 votes) - Carleen Almasy Johnstone

Bronze Medal (13 votes) - Jenn Rose Baker

The Gold Medal winner will receive either $5 off a new membership or renewal OR the chance to borrow two carriers from one of our monthly meetings!

The Silver Medal winner will receive an item made from a woven wrap!

The Bronze Medal winner will receive a BWI of Cleveland car decal!

Now on to Event #2: Red, White, & Blue #babywearingUSA!!

In this event, we want to see your photos that show your USA pride while babywearing!! Whether you're wearing a red, white, and blue wrap, attending a 4th of July parade, or your little one is waving an American flag - we want to see your pics!! Post as many photos as you'd like in our Facebook Group and be sure to vote for your favorites by clicking the "like" button! This event will run through Wednesday, August 10th!  Good luck!

Summer Babywearing Olympic Games!

Welcome to the First Summer Babywearing Olympic Games!

Games will start on Friday, August 5th and there will be 5 medal competitions, plus a grand prize. Each competition will last for 3 days. To enter, you'll need to take a photo or video that fits with the theme of the competition and post it to our Facebook Group with the appropriate hashtag. To win, you need people to like your photo! The most likes for each contest takes the gold, second is silver, and third is bronze. Pictures must be received by midnight on the last day of the contest. By entering this contest and submitting your photos, you agree to allow BWI of Cleveland to share your photos on our chapter blog.

Prizes will be awarded for gold, silver, and bronze for each event. Prizes must be claimed by September 31, 2016 and have no cash value. Prizes may be transferred, but are only good for BWI of Cleveland and may not be applied to any other BWI chapter. Prizes may not be combined. (If you win twice, you can give away or forfeit the lesser prize, and the next photo in line will be moved up.) You may enter each contest with as many photos as you'd like. At the end of the Games, all of the gold medalists from each event will be entered in a Grand Prize contest, for an even bigger prize!

Here's the event schedule:
August 5th through August 7th - Summer Wearing Games: Photos of you enjoying the summer while babywearing! ‪#‎summerwearinggames‬

August 8th through August 10th - Red, White, and Blue: Show your USA pride while wearing ‪#‎babywearingUSA‬

August 11th through August 13th- Overcoming Obstacles: What babywearing obstacles have you had to overcome? ‪#‎babywearingforthewin

August 14th through August 16th - Relay Race: Share photos of your child being worn by different friends and family members! #babywearingrelay

August 17th through August 19th - Babywearing Quadrathlon: Share photos of yourself wearing each of the 4 main types of carriers - buckle carrier, mei tai, ring sling, and wrap! #bwquadrathlon

August 21st - Grand Prize Contest

Good luck everyone and Happy Babywearing!  Let the Games BEGIN!

Babywearing Days of Summer

Kickoff to our Babywearing 102 Series- Summertime Babywearing

 

It is finally August in Northeast Ohio. And while it has been a mild summer, temperatures and humidity are rising fast. If you are anything like me, your summertime babywearing experience probably hasn’t been too different from the rest of the year. But the last week has been a game changer for me as a new mom and babywearer. There are a few things to be aware of with hot weather wearing. Here is what I have learned about safety and comfort, as well as special summertime activities.

Safety and Comfort
According to the Baby Carrier Industry Alliance (BCIA), hot temperatures bring additional safety concerns for the babywearer. They suggest staying out the sun as much as possible, dressing both you and baby in light breathable fabrics, and drinking lots of water. Check out the full article here.

It is worth noting that safety and comfort go hand-in-hand when it comes to hot weather babywearing.

Safety and comfort tips for hot weather wearing:

• Dress to be cool. Wear one layer less than you might otherwise—remember: you will also be wearing your baby. Follow the same advice for baby.     
• Pick a carrier that works for the weather. There many carriers that work well in warmer weather. Many wearers prefer lightweight fabric woven wraps, while others stick to soft-structured carriers. You can try out a summer carrier from the library at a BWI meeting this August.     
• Minimize sun exposure. Try to stay out of the sun as much as much as possible—even in the hottest of conditions, the shade is cooler. Pick a carrier that has built in UV protection and make sure to use sunblock on all exposed skin.     
• Stay hydrated. Make sure that both you and baby stay hydrated by drinking lots of fluids- water for you, breast milk or formula for baby.     
• Take breaks. Regularly take baby out of the carrier to release trapped heat and allow both of you to cool down before resuming wearing.
• Know the signs of overheating. An overheated baby might be more lethargic or irritable than usual. Heatstroke in babies is a very serious condition. Read about the signs here. Monitor yourself for overheating too. Feeling flushed, dizzy, or lethargic are things to be concerned about. Here are the signs of heatstroke.

Summertime Activities
Summertime brings with it all kinds of fun things do. Here are some quick tips for a few hot weather favorites in Northeastern Ohio.     

• Water. Wear your baby in the pool or at the Splash Pad with a ring sling or wrap that is made specifically for wearing in the water. These are quick drying and perfect for water fun. Since the rings in a water sling might slip on the mesh fabric, it is good to get your sling wet before loading in baby.     
• Hiking. Wear your baby on your back (when age appropriate) to feel more balanced and have a better view of the trail ahead. Use whatever carrier you prefer for back wearing—I am a new to back wearing, so I like to use an SSC or Mei Tai because I find it easier to get my baby up with those types.     
• Biking. Never wear your baby on a bicycle. Babies should be secured in an appropriate baby seat or trailer.     
• Boating. Would you, could you on a boat? Skip babywearing in favor of wearing life jackets (for both you and baby).     
• Camping. Pack a cooler weather type wrap or carrier for snuggling if temperatures drop at night. I use my Moby wrap, which makes me too hot otherwise, to snuggle baby at the campfire.

Summertime is a time to get out and enjoy so many amazing things in Northeastern Ohio. Babywearing is a great way to enjoy picnics, farmer’s markets, and summer festivals. Summer doesn’t last long in our region, so bask in the summertime babywearing while it lasts!

Thank you to all of our Volunteers that submitted these incredible pictures for our post today! 

Written by:

Bridget Kriner

Today's post is written by a new addition to my social media team, Bridget Kriner.  I am so excited to have her on board and I know you will all love reading her voice too.  Thank you Bridget for the kick off to our Babywearing 102 series!  For further in person tips and advice on Summertime Babywearing please attend one of our Monthly instructional Meetings during the month of August! 

 

and a thanks to VBE Erin Fabian for lots of helpful info!