Slings and Breastfeeding
Brooke A. Schumacher
Dhahran Saudi Arabia
From: NEW BEGINNINGS, Vol. 20 No. 4, July-August 2003, p. 133
I love my sling
because of how easy and versatile it is. We were introduced at my first
La Leche League meeting in Houston, Texas, USA during my pregnancy in
1999. I barely noticed mothers coming in with their children, of all
ages, tied around them. It wasn't until during the meeting, and especially
as we prepared to go home, that I realized how many mothers were using
this contraption. It looked like it worked for them, so I bought one
for myself and my little one. I could not figure out how to use it,
even with the help of a video, so I took it back to the next meeting
and got several hands-on demonstrations. How could I have known that
this sling, a few diapers, and mother's milk would be about all I needed
to care for my baby?
I used the sling
to carry my daughter almost constantly for her first 18 months. She
was never happy in the usual baby contraptions, such as the stroller
or swing. I never lugged that 10-pound car seat in and out of the car.
It was so much easier to lift her out and into the sling. I had my hands
free for all the other baby stuff I had to carry, and she got a much
better view of the world. It is indispensable when we travel by plane,
which we do a lot. It seems my daughter always falls asleep on landing.
How else can you carry a floppy, sleeping child and your bag off a plane?
I wonder how other mothers could nurse discreetly walking through a
public place without using a sling? I use the sling even today, with
my nearly three-year-old, when her legs are too tired to make it on
our errands or she just wants to be the baby again.
Since my twins
were born, I have become even more certain of the value of the sling.
I don't know another safe way to carry two little babies at the same
time. When they were little, I did carry them both in the sling, but
mostly I put one in the sling and carried the other in my arms. This
kept my babies happy and safe.
What really
amazes me about the sling, though, is all the other things I have used
it for. I have used it as a seatbelt for my daughter on an elephant
ride in Thailand, as a clean surface for her to nap on, or for her diaper
changes. Now that we have twins, I have used it to help position the
boys so I can nurse them at the same time in the car, and to prop them
up in their stroller so they can sit up and see the world. My toddler
and I have a busy social life, so we are out and about more than we
were when she was a baby. With twins, that means even more public nursing.
I have comfortably breastfed them in restaurants and stores here, in
very conservative Saudi Arabia, and felt quite discreet because of the
sling. That's saying a lot, because twins naturally draw a lot of attention
and people never even notice that I am nursing them!
So my sling
hangs low and wobbles to and fro, sort of like the children's song.
I have tied it in a knot, but maybe not a bow, and thrown it over my
shoulder. I can only recommend that you do so, too!
Last updated Friday, October 13, 2006 by njb.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:29:21 UTC 2007.
