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Do you need an excuse to go to Washington DC next year? The International Babywearing Conference is June 29th – July 2nd, 2012! If you make it, you’ll be able to see Signing Time’s Rachel Coleman as the conference keynote speaker! Below, Kristie blogs about Rachel’s babywearing experiences.
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If you don’t know who Rachel Coleman is, you might not have a toddler. If you have a toddler and don’t know who Rachel Coleman is, you might want to check out her show Signing Time! In our TV-limiting household, Signing Time is one of the only things our toddler is allowed to watch, and the communication skills and LIFE skills she’s learned have been amazing!
If you watch the show, you probably know that Rachel’s daughter Leah was born without the ability to hear. What you may not have known is that Rachel’s youngest daughter, Lucy, was born with spina bifida and cerebral palsy. The doctors told Rachel that Lucy would never learn to talk or to sign, but through the family’s use of ASL, Lucy was able to learn and do both!
Having not let any of these other challenges stop her, Rachel was not willing to let a little thing like not walking keep her daughter from enjoying one of the family’s favorite pastimes–hiking! A babywearing veteran–she’d worn Leah since birth–she knew already that babywearing was easier than assembling and hauling a wheelchair around. But as babies do, baby Lucy got older… and bigger. Rachel started to look around for options that would allow her to continue to be Lucy’s legs while still being safe and comfortable! At 5’3”, she knew that it might be a challenge, but love provided the motivation for her to find a solution!
Serendipity intervened in the form of a chance encounter with another babywearer and Signing Time fan while Rachel and Lucy were visiting Sea World in San Diego, CA. The fan mentioned BabyHawk’s OhSnap! carrier as a great carrier for older babies and up, and put Rachel in contact with people at Babyhawk, conveniently located right up the freeway in Oceanside, CA. She and BabyHawk were able to work together to create a BabyHawk OhSnap! that would meet her needs! The wide, padded hip belt make the BabyHawk comfortable for carrying heavier kiddos, and the tall back and broad base provide needed support!
Rachel blogged about some of her adventures babywearing with Lucy on her own blog. She also shared a sign with us that’s important for babywearers everywhere–“backpack!”
