What to look for when picking a baby carrier Adapted from research done and compiled by Dr.Eveline Kirkilionis in her book “A baby wants to be carried” (“Ein Baby will getragen sein.”only available in German at this time) Kirkilionis is a human development specialist. Her research of carrying children started in 1985. She compiled helpful tips on picking a proper baby carrier. She lives in Freiburg, Germany. Excuse the grammar due to translation.

1. Fabric. Your first consideration should be what the carrier is made of. What toxic dyes or material might have been used in manufacturing this carrier? Your baby will spend a lot of time close to the fabric.

2. Leg position. The legs should be at least pulled up to a 45 degree angle. This is only possible if the baby sling crotch piece is wide enough so that it will reach to your baby’s knees.

3. Back support. The back needs to support the baby’s back so that they are not slouching excessively while in the upright position. It needs to be supportive enough that even when your baby is asleep his/her body is tightly secured to your body.

4. Headrest: the back of the carrier needs to reach over the baby’s head, on all three sides, to keep the head from falling backwards or sideways. This is very important as long as the infant can’t keep his/her head up. Later this only important when your baby takes a nap. Make sure the head rest is sturdy and doesn’t fold back when pushing on it with your hand.

5. Shoulder support: Carriers supported by both shoulders with wide straps are best to eliminate back problems for yourself. Carriers that are only supported by one shoulder often worsen the slight scoliosis that most people have.

6. Growth. Your baby is growing fast. Most baby slings are outgrown by 3-9 months. Choose one that will grow with your child.

7. Adjustability. Pick a carrier that can be adjusted to you and your baby’s needs. Babies carried too low experience pressure pushing their legs back with every step you take- putting too much strain on the carlidge hip joints and encouraging hip dysplasia.

8. Facing in. Only choose a baby carrier which will allow your child to face you - never out. Not only does a child need support to hold the leg in a 45 degree angle, there are also too many stimulies crashing in on your baby. A baby has no way to exclude himself from the environment by turning his head away and towards you. A healthy sleep is not possible for a baby facing out.

9. Heat. Many carriers are made of Nylon. Find one that allows airflow to reach your baby. Any non-breathable fabric will encourage a rash on your baby’s skin when being carried in hot weather or for an extensive period of time.

10. Hips. When carrying the baby in an upright position, the baby's hips should always be straddled around the wearer's body. The legs should be pulled up at a 45 degree angle. The legs are pulled up to support the baby’s body and balance. When the baby's knees are pulled up to a 45 degree angle, the baby's legs are spread between 90 and 120 degree angle around the wearer's body. This agrees with the baby’s anatomical make up and supports proper hip development. Once again, Babies should not be worn facing out

Back to Didymos Baby Slings
The popular childbirth educators William Sears, MD. and his wife Martha Sears, R.N. write the following about baby wearing on pages 23-24 of The Discipline Book.

"Beginning in the early weeks, hold or wear your baby in a baby sling for as many hours a day as you and your baby enjoy. Since 1985 we have been studying how baby-wearing improves behavior. Parents would come into our office exclaiming, "As long as I wear our baby he's content. "Research has validated this parental observation: Babies who are carried more cry less. For centuries parents have known that motion calms babies, especially the rhythmic motion of parents' walking. Carring modifies behavior primarily by promoting quiet alertness-the state in which babies behave best.

Baby wearing also improves the babies feel. The carried baby feels like a part of the parents' world. He goes where they go, sees what they see, hears what they hear and say. Baby wearing helps the baby feel included and improtant, which creates a feeling of rightness that translates into better behavior and more opportunities for learning. The brain is stimulated through motion, increasing the baby's intellectual capicity, a forerunner to the child's ability to make appropriate sensory-motor adaptations in the future.

Wearing improves the sensitivity of the parents as well. Because your baby is so close to you, in your arms, in constant contact, you get to know him better. Closeness promotes familiarity. Because your baby fusses less, he is more fun to be withand you tend to carry your baby more. The connection grows deeper.

Like breastfeeding, baby wearing promotes eye-to eye contact. As I watch baby-wearing parents parade through my office, I notice that not only are these babies and mothers physically connected, they are visually in tune. What a wonderful way to learn to read each other's faces. As you will learn throughout this book, the ability to read and respond to each other's "looks" is a powerful discipline tool. Over the yars I have observed that "sling babies" become children who are easier to discipline."

Didymos History Translated from German

When once crying from the nursery undoubtedly signaled; “Mom, I’m done sleeping!”, a mountain of undone housework no longer willing to be put off, I finally decided to tie the cry baby on my body like other women in all parts of the world have done for hundreds of years.

Long before, I was fascinated with reports of faraway countries where mothers without complications and naturally in close contact with their children master all their daily chores. I owned a sling from Central America which at first seemed exotic- that’s why I had hid it in my changing table.

Now the time had come; I tried it a few times until I had found the right twist and went for a walk in our village which we had moved to recently. In no time we were the gossip of the town and not all comments were supportive. In the end my two little ones convinced me. They beamed whenever they saw the sling. I too enjoyed the closeness with Lisa and also with Tina-like a prolonged pregnancy.

Undoubtedly there are many advantages. The bulk of the work doesn’t have to be done during nap time. I once again was on top of my housework and was content knowing that my babies enjoyed the same warmth and closeness their brother and sister had enjoyed, whom I also carried back then in my arms, without the sling, although people had warned me I’d spoil them. Babies want to be carried from mother or father. Warmth and closeness are just as important as regular nourishment.

The sling would have most likely been a wonderful memory of our first years with the twins - but after the “Heilbronner Stimme” (the Heilbronner voice) and the “Stern” (news magazine) magazine published articles on us, parents all over Germany wanted a sling from me and I only had one.....

How I, in our little village with four children and an unfinished house, was able to start a sling company is another story. One more note to this; without my sling it wouldn’t have happened. Erika Hoffman

Expert opinions of woven wraps Direct translations from German-excuse the grammar. This is also true of all German Woven Wraps, not just the Didymos. More expert opinions at storchenwiege.com

Excerpt from an article by H. PETERS (MIDWIFE), published in the German Journal of Midwifery. In this sling, the child uses the anatomically correct straddle position while the back of the child is completely supported. It is well known, that among primitive people a hip luxation is almost unknown because their children are carried in this fashion. The usual German therapy using a spica and strapping in cases of luxation can be perfectly helped by carrying the child in a baby sling. The seemingly justified argument that the use of the DIDYMOS sling causes a loss of warmth which is unhealthy for the child, can be rejected because babies are quite able to endure the variation in temperature of our climate without having to be smothered up to their noses in pillows. The temperature regulation of the infantile body is stimulated naturally. It achieves a certain conditioning to temperature change and furthermore helps to prevent rickets , something that is not the case for infants sheltered from all natural light. The psychological effect of this way of carrying infants leads to a very intimate child-parent relationship and can also benefit the child's intelligence. The child needs the feeling of security and comfort that it gets through the close contact with its father or mother... content: ) 2000 DIDYMOS Erika Hoffmann GmbH

Excerpt from an essay by Prof. Dr.ERNST J. KIDPHARD, Institute for Sport Science at the University of Frankfurt/Main. Infants who are carried around everywhere in this baby sling either on the hip, on the stomach or on their mothers back develop better than those who spend most of their time in a baby cot. This applies equally to their motor, cognitive and emotional development. Parents generally only rock their children when they want to calm them down or reassure them. Eminent pediatricians and orthopaedic specialists recommend the sling for the following reasons: the baby's eyes see very much more of their surroundings. This provides more stimuli for the infants brain. The mother's movements stimulate all skin receptors but also the organs of movement and balance. Every time the centre of gravity shifts the reflexes of both the nerves and muscles are stimulated. The intensive eye- and body contact with the mother or father (because he too should carry the infant!) imparts a feeling of safe wellbeing whose psycho-social importance is immeasurable. In a DIDYMOS sling the baby's legs are spread out exactly in the anatomically ideal position, when, for instance, it straddles the hip of the adult. This counteracts a habitual hip luxation.