In celebration of International Babywearing Week, we are sharing “babywearing stories” from the CMA Babywearing Team. This is Hannah’s story.
After struggling to get pregnant with Jude I knew I wanted to do everything I could to be a great mom and give him everything he needed and more. I saw all these beautiful moms wearing their babies in these luxurious wraps made from silks and linens, they always looked so calm and serene and like they just really knew what they were doing. But I soon started to notice that none of them looked like me… none of them were fat like me.
I want to be clear, I don’t call myself fat to be mean, in fact I love my body and the gift of motherhood it blessed me with, but my body is large. My body is wide and has lumps and bulges. It isn’t the body that I constantly saw in baby carrier advertisements and Instagram accounts.
Maybe bigger parents don’t wear their babies, maybe it’s not even safe, maybe I’d suffocate my baby if I tried…
These were real fears and concerns I had while 8 months pregnant with my first child. I was heart broken that I wouldn’t be given the same opportunities to bond with my baby as other moms just because of the size of my body.
But then I found a local babywearing group. A group that didn’t even blink when I came in asking advice for a baby carrier that would fit my body shape. The amazing thing was that it wasn’t just one ugly baby carrier from the bottom of the bin that fit me. It was multiple carriers, in multiple styles. In fact most of the carriers in the lending library fit my body. It was the most overwhelming feeling of relief to know that I could wear my baby, I could wear my baby safely, and that big bodied caregivers wear their babies everyday!
My son is 2.5 years old now, I’ve successfully worn him since birth in every style carrier you could imagine. Some baby carriers haven’t fit me perfectly, but that’s ok. Some baby carriers are our perfect fit and we’ve loved them hard. We’ve worked with various brands to help change the way they market their carriers so that all bodies can be represented and so new moms and dads don’t have to feel what I felt.
Our baby wearing journey has come full circle, I now run the same lending library that showed me that baby wearing is for every BODY and I’m so thankful to be part of my local communities baby wearing story.
❤️Wear your babies. Wrap them in love and linen and never doubt your ability to be an amazing parent just because of the size of your body. #bigbabywearers #bigbabywearing #plussizebabywearing #fatbabywearing #IBW2017 #wearingbabyjude #CMABabywearingTeam #mybabywearingreality
Read more about Hannah on our CMA Team page– follow her babywearing and life adventures on Instagram @MamaHynson
