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Forward Facing Positioning in your Baby Carrier – Two Articles You’ll Want to Read

When I was a new mom, my friends and I all had Baby Bjorn carriers.  We all wore our babies facing forward and, frankly, we didn’t give it much thought.  My husband and I used to laugh at how weird the kid looked stuck to the front of our body like that, but it certainly never occurred to us that facing our baby forward would be a problem in any way.  If he seemed fussy or tired, we turned him facing inwards, but that was about it.

Flash forward eleven years, and the babywearing world has grown in leaps and bounds, changing in many ways.  Babywearing is much more mainstream, there are a much wider selection of carriers available, and much more information is available about babywearing safety and ideal positioning.

At the same time, babywearing groups on and off of social networks like Facebook and Instagram have been sprouting up like dandelions!  I am really excited about this, because these groups help babywearers feel less isolated, spread the word about great new carriers and help inexperienced babywearers choose a carrier and get comfy in it.

Sadly, there has also been some fear mongering and name calling about “proper” positioning, in particular towards parents who choose to use forward-facing carries.   There are valid arguments against the forward-facing position, and I certainly want parents to know those arguments but simply informing parents that they are “doing it wrong” or, worse, are being neglectful or cruel parents, is both off-putting and unhelpful.  Not the mention that based on the numbers of forward-facing babies I see on the streets every day, it just doesn’t work!

Please note that I am not here talking about proper positioning of newborns with regard to their head and neck.  Positional asphyxiation is a real risk for babies in slings (as well as car seats and strollers) and one every parent should know about.   For information about this serious safety issue, please read this article.

As a long-time babywearing advocate, I believe strongly that babywearers need to have a place to get a information in a balanced way so that they can make informed choices.  In the interests of presenting different viewpoints on this the issue, we have added two articles to our Learn Center that are worth a read:

9 Reasons Not to Carry Your Baby Facing Out: This article, by Elizabeth Antunovic for the Boba blog, sums up the reasons why many people argue that facing forward in a baby carrier is not ideal for the wearer or for the baby.

Baby Carriers and Hip Dysplasia -Busting Some Myths: This article, written by Rosie Knowles, a doctor and trained sling consultant clearly and concisely busts some myths about positioning (including that the facing foward position “causes” hip dysplasia).

I hope that you will find these articles both useful and informative!  And if you know of other articles that add value to the debate, please post them in the comments.

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