In my home country when a person has a baby, that person almost certainly has a stroller. A stroller is the commonly accepted means of transporting one's baby or toddler from point A to point B.
Not so here. In Ecuador there are two popular baby-toting options. The first is carrying the baby. Can you imagine? Just...carrying the baby around....in your arms. It seems a little crazy to US-minded me. Quite inconvenient. And even little babies get heavy. Those women must have some impressive biceps.
Anyway, the other possibility is also the title of this post- the butt sling. Now, I've never carried a baby around in a butt sling, but I've watched the process a lot. Here's how it works:
-Materials needed: a baby; a large square of material
-bend at the waist and position the baby on your back, with his head peeking over one of your shoulders. If the kid's old enough, he can climb up there. If not, you either have to sling the baby up or get a partner to help you (I personally recommend a partner, especially if you're a beginner, though I've never seen a baby be over-slung)
-Once the baby's in place, put the cloth over your back, with the baby about in the middle of the square. The bottom of the cloth should be parallel to the ground.
-Scoot the material down enough that when you pull the corners up, the baby's butt is nestled in a little dip of material (I know- I think you might have to be indigenous in order to be able to do this)
-Once the baby's weight is settled in the cloth, pull the two top corners of the cloth around your shoulders and tie them together in front of your neck
-Straighten up slowly, making sure your baby butt sling is secure
Ta-dah! Now you're hands-free, ready to take on the city without a care, and your cute little baby can peek out by your ear and make the passing gringos (white people) smile.
*Sidenotes*
A. It occurs to me that the sling might be a better option here because the sidewalks are so hilly and in such terrible condition. No doubt they would be a nightmare to maneuver with a stroller.
B. I saw a variation on the baby butt sling in China. It's basically the same process, except that instead of tying the corners around their neck, the Chinese women tied the material diagonally, in the middle of their chests, with one end coming from over one shoulder and the other end coming from under the opposite arm.
2 comments:
this is the preferred method of carrying in west africa (and i would imagine other parts of the continent) but it's not called a sling. in fact, there's no name for it because it is apparently an action -- to bamba. as in, she bamba'd the baby on her back. also, you don't need to be indigenous because my niece has done it with her cat. however, she IS a missionary kid so that has to count for something.
and the baby sling is increasingly popular amoung hip, young mom's in the US. 'cept they're mostly front carriers. they look something like a sling you'd use for your arm if it was broken OR they hold baby upright, facing you or facing out as in the baby bjorn which i own and love. there're also some very nice back pack type carriers in case you want to go hiking with your wee one.
hope all this information was helpful.
heart,
j
Hey Leslie. I love this post. Our maid had a baby so my roomie tried this with her (the baby, not the maid). Here you tie the cloth above and below your chest. When I first saw this, I was disturbed. Now I think it's ingenious.
Miss ya!
Annie
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