All over the news and the internet is the alarming news that babies have died in slings.  More specifically, babies have died from poor positioning in the poorly designed Infantino bag sling.  Long story short:  1)  The Infantino forces the baby into a chin-to-chest position, restricting air intake and potentially cutting off the airway entirely (dangerous for an unconscious adult and dangerous for a baby, whose neck muscles and asleep/awake control are both still not well-developed); and 2) the Infantino holds the baby away from the adult, restricting communication between adult and baby. 

 

For thousands of years, mothers and other caregivers have been wearing their babies.  But just as we need to pay due care and attention to the way we feed, clean, and speak to our children, so too do we need to pay due care and attention to the way that we hold them.  Carrying them close to you so that your body and brain aids in regulating theirs is beneficial and important for proper development.  Touch stimulates dendrite formation in the brain.  The rhythms of your breathing helps to regulate theirs.  Your reaction to the stimulus of the outer world gives them the first clues to what that outer world is all about.  Babies really are “born to be worn.”  As long as they are worn safely.

 

More on this topic:  http://poebaby.blogspot.com/2010/03/what-you-need-to-know-about-your.html

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, here’s a great design that you can fill out with a marker. Use your imagination and pop in your favorite four letter word!  Great for wearing at the office or down at your favorite Irish pub! Also available in men’s, women’s, and children’s t-shirt sizes!

Nothing makes math practice a happier occurence than when you’re in the groove.  At least, that’s what my students tell me.  Once things click, they can jam for hours.