Friday, July 31, 2015

August Babywearing Basics Schedule





Thursday, August 6th from 6pm-8pm - Babywearing Basics - South Library

Babies R Us Gastonia
2830 E Franklin Blvd, Gastonia, NC 28056


Saturday, August 8th from 3pm-5pm - Babywearing Basics - South Library

Babies R Us Pineville
9575 South Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28273
(South Blvd and 485)



Sunday, August 16th from 3pm-5pm- Babywearing Basics - North Library

Exodus Chiropractic
15940 Northcross Dr Ste B, Huntersville, NC 28078



Monday, August 17th from 5:30pm-7:30pm - Babywearing Basics - North Library

Healthy Home Market
1330 Central Ave, Charlotte, NC 28205



Tuesday, August 18th from 10am-12pm - Babywearing Basics - South Library

Michaels Arts and Crafts
13540 Hoover Creek Blvd, Ste 800, Charlotte, NC 28273
(Rivergate Shopping Center)



Tuesday, August 25th from 6:30pm-8:30pm - Babywearing Basics - North Library

Babies R Us Concord Mills 
8062 Concord Mills Blvd, Concord, NC 28027


Thursday, August 27th from 10am-12pm - Babywearing Basics - South Library

Gingersnap Baby
10822 Providence Rd Suite 800 Charlotte NC, 28277
(Promenade on Providence between Q-Shack and LaVida)



Babywearing Basics:

Babywearing Basics events are always free and open to the public.  They begin with a babywearing basics presentation including why we wear, safety when wearing and then an overview of the different types of carriers. Once the presentation is over, we help folks one-on-one and in small groups. Please feel free to bring any carriers you have and would like help with. Babies and other care-giving partners are always welcome as are other children.

The learning library (North or South) will be available to play with and try on. BWI members can also check out carriers from the library. Membership is $30 per YEAR and allows you to borrow up to one carrier per month for the entire year. $20 of the membership stays right here in the Charlotte chapter and goes directly to buying more carriers for the library. 
 Click here for more information about our Learning Library



Have more questions?  Post to our Facebook page, join our Facebook group or send us an email.

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Wrap Geekery - How to Break in That New Wrap



Learning how to use a woven wrap can be extremely overwhelming. It's a whole world of blends and colorways, wefts and sizes, and that doesn't even get into all the acronyms.  That's why we have called on one of our favorite Wrap Geeks, Kelli Misenheimer, to help break it down for us.  She'll be writing a reoccurring feature over the next few months, so if you've got a burning questions, post it on Facebook and we might just it!  Today's she's going to start with a question we get a lot..
How do I break in my new wrap?


As a newbie or even a veteran, breaking in new wraps can be daunting, time consuming and frustrating. Just like your favorite pair of jeans, they require wear and softening to be their best. The first time you wrap with a new wrap it is going to be stiff, itchy and can be difficult to maneuver, but with wear a wrap will go from challenging and stiff to floppy and moldable. Here are some tips and tricks to help speed up the breaking in process:

1. Always wash your wrap first, wearing while in loom state can cause thread shifting and not allow the weave to set appropriately. If you need help deciphering wash instructions see
here.

2. Give it a good steam iron, heat setting depending on the wrap fibers. Hottest isn't always best especially when dealing with wool, silk, or cashmere. I prefer to iron front and back, especially the first time and during the breaking in process. Ironing is needed to help soften and smooth the fibers.

3. Place wet or dry wrap in dryer with damp towels and wool dryer balls, the more the merrier. Remember heat setting needs to be low or no heat.

3. Braid or donut. With both of the options, the goal is to create friction against itself to soften and encourage mold-ability. For a video on braiding see
here. And for a video on making donuts see here. Just don't store wraps braided or ‘donuted’ for long periods of time as this can cause permacreasing, especially with linen blends.

4. Run through rails or sling rings. I personally like to suggest doing this when you’re fighting with a significant other and need to work out some aggression. But again the goal is to create friction to start breaking down the stiffness of a wrap. For a video on how to run a wrap through sling rings, see
here.

5. Sleep or sit on it. I prefer to do this once there is some give and mold-ability that has started. I find sleeping or sitting on a folded or bunched wrap help with over all softening. I generally try to do this for a week on a consistent basis then evaluate what other tactics need to happen again.

6. Use it as a hammock or swing. For those that have square tables or cribs. You can tie the wrap around the table or to each end of the crib and let children lay, nap, and play with it. When they are putting weight on the wrap it is creating the ideal tension to further breakdown the fibers.

7. Wrap with it. I wouldn't encourage learning or trying new carry's with a brand new wrap as it would not be a fair judgment of the carry when you are still working on breaking a wrap in to fully understand it's wrapping qualities. On the same token this is why I, personally, do not encourage newbs to get new or non broken in wraps as their first.

8. Repeat. The goal is to create tension with the fibers to help soften them up and make the wrap like your favorite weekend t-shirt.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of possible ways to break in a wrap. There are new and creative ways of breaking wraps in posted regularly on different chatter boards. However, these are the most common, generally accepted and my preferred methods.

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Well that's a... wrap ;-)... folks.  A big thank you to Kelli for helping us out and we can't wait to learn more.  Want to learn more and connect with an awesome group of parents in the Charlotte area?  Join us on Facebook or Instagram