To hate the term 'baby wearer'?

[MrsHelsBels74]

I don't know why it bugs me so much but I really hate it...apologies to any fans.

Yanbu. It's this idea of labelliing everything one chooses to do as a parent....tis the fault of writers who coin phrases in order to sell more books to more new parents.

Oooh....I am into "baby led weaning" you know. REALLY? When I had dd it was just how I was taught to wean by my MIL and my Mum! It had no name....it was just what I did.

I have now invented the phrase "Sporadic parenting" as it is what I do....and I will write a book about it too...the idea is this; ignore DC for an hour...feel guilty and then play with them....ignore for another hour.

One MUST stick to the routine of ignore/play/ignore/play as it offers the perfect blance needed for a healthy and independant child.

YABU. Come on, try and unpack why it bothers you so much.

I think the labelling is interesting, it gives us a warning that some people have more invested in carrying their babies in a sling than getting the baby from a to b.

YANBU - most of the labels attached to how people look after their children are annoying.

Bugs me too. I cant understand the sentiment behind it etc etc, but it does just sound too 'jumped up' , & i do associate it with parents that talk incessantly to their offspring in very loud holier-than voices

can understand - oops!

Surgeon that's the problem though...if they've invested something in it then that's their business. By sticking a label on it, they are assuming other people care about their parenting choices or need to make some allowance....and they don't.

Until I came on here I had never heard of baby lead weaning, sleep regression, or growth spurts. In my day we just got on with it.

Yanbu. Quite agree.

It's not labels to sell books though, is it? If it was it would be called "continuum parenting" which hardly anybody ever does call it. I think it's more of a shorthand, all of the labels are, particularly for use on the web - I don't know anyone who uses it in real life.

It's more of an American thing IIRC, they're more fond over there of ascribing a "brand" to things whereas in the UK we tend to think that's a bit pretentious. Hence, mass usage on web, not so much in real life.

Nobody has an objection to the term "breastfeeding" even though in most situations it's unnecessary to state exactly what body part you use to feed your baby, you could easily say "She's still on milk" or "I'm feeding her myself" (which is the term a lot of older people seem to use)

Hm House I see what you mean. There must be other words, though, that are perfectly good words, but become SUPER ANNOYING when people use them about themselves?

Then there's AP and BF and FF and all the other labels. As for me I feed my baby milk as he isn't old enough to eat food and I transport him from A to B using a range of travel solutions as he is not yet able to walk. When he is able to eat food I will give him some. Probably some of it he might even be able to pick up and eat by himself.

YANBU. Makes the baby sound like a jumper. Smug and twee. However not as bad as "attachment parenting", where the assumption is those who don't do it are "detached", or unconditional parenting, because obviously those who don't follow this approach only love and care for our children when they are behaving themselves.

Well said katandkit

YANBU! I started a thread on this a while ago. It is just so sanctimonious and creating an 'ism' out of a method to transport your baby. I did a fair few things that feature in 'attachment parenting' but I find the whole turning it into a philosophy to be extremely wank. I have perused baby wearing forums and seen prams described as mobile baby prisons and I just think 'get over yourselves!' I vaguely know a woman who is into all this in a BIG way (she had a lotus birth - vom) and I have snooped on her facebook page to read some of the extraordinary shite she spouts. My brother and SIL (who may be biased but still) say that her DS is naughtier, whinier and less confident than mine. I don't take that to mean that there is anything wrong with her approach as such, just that it isn't inherently better at producing happy, confident children than any other, which is what the evangelicals seem to believe.

Do actual people in actual real life actually use these terms to describe themselves though? Or are they just convenient phrases to use in books/ online? I haven't heard anyone say 'I'm a babywearer' out loud. Certainly don't describe myself in such terms (or refer to how I sleep, feed or otherwise care for my child, unless perhaps sharing information with a close friend who is interested).

Oh yes Belinda, they do!

Okay, I'm lucky not to have met one then!

"I have snooped on her facebook page to read some of the extraordinary shite she spouts."

why bother?

seriously though, live and let live imo. It's not causing anyone any harm.

The most annoying one I heard was someone (when pregnant) stating that her and DH would be doing 'shared parenting' - she meant that they both planned to go to work part-time, but grossly insulting to any full time working parents (I'm not one, but don't consider my DH to not be sharing in the parenting!) I discovered later that it's generally used to describe separated or divorced parents sharing custody! I think she'd heard someone else use it and liked the sound of it without knowing what it actually meant.

You dont wear your baby though, you carry him/her. There is no explanation, it's just some things annoy others whilst other things don't. We are all different

Because it amuses me! Why not? She set herself up as a doula and it's a business page. I'm not just being a nosy caah.