Carrying. Breastfeeding while Carrying. Freedom in a Parisian Pagne

Parisian Pagne
Breastfeeding While Carrying
By CHARLOTTE YONGE
My name is Charlotte and I gave birth to Alex in France in 2001. Everything went very badly because of the misinformation I got from the maternity I gave birth in. I finally got valid information from La Leché League, a volonteer association of mother to mother support, when my son was already 8 weeks old and dehydrated and starving.

15 years before giving birth, I had undergone breast recuction surgery for personal reasons. Contrary to what the midwife at the maternity had told me, I didn’t have the ducts necessary to make enough milk to feed my baby. As well, he happened to have a high palet which is a common problem but in his case made his nursing technique inefficient. In most cases, the high palet problem resolves itself in the first 3 or 4 months but in my son’s case, he needed more time.

With the research and information, and mother to mother support I got from La Leché League, and the certified leader's help I rapidly learned how to resolve our breastfeeding problems.

The bad news was that I’d have to give my baby supplements of dehydrated reconstituted cow’s milk for infants for an indefinite period but the good news was that with frequent sucking the ducts that had been cut out in surgery would grow back.

Like a lot of mothers I had no household help, and don’t live in a commune so I had to figure out how to integrate frequent feedings into my active life. I needed a carrying system that my baby could nurse in while I kept up my activities. I was shown a hamac style carrier which is the most common type of carrier on the planet. A rectangle of fabric either tied with a knot, sewn or linked with rings that the fabric slides through like a belt, it is worn on one shoulder, wrapping around the wearer’s body diagonally.

After six months of very frequent nursing with an SNS in the hamac sling allowing me a totally free lifestyle while wearing my baby, plus some real galactogogues, and lots of LLL support, my ducts grew back and I was able to provide enough milk for my baby with no more supplements. Today he is very healthy on my milk, regular food and still likes to be carried occasionaly.

When my son weighed about 12 kilos and my shoulder was starting to give in, I was shown the wrap around sling. Several knots are possible in the wrap around sling from 5.20m -7m X 70cm but there is one only that puts almost all the weight into the legs of the wearer and that is what I call the Parisian Pagne. It is the only one that starts out with a Pagne or a belt that the child sits in, facing the wearer, making discreet nursing at any moment, a breeze, part of life.
One day my general practitioner who is also an IBLC lactation consultant told me that carried children are neurologically different than children who are not carried which means they are molecularly different. I was fascinated so I started to read everything I could find about carrying.

Below, I have noted some of the things I have read about carrying with references when possible.

The notes are divided into 4categories.

1. Neurological Developpment in Humans.

2. Cultural Norms.

3. The repercussions that popular theories create in our society.

4. The Biological Norms for Humans.

Neurological Developpment in Humans.

1 Anthropologists are unanamous; Baby carryers are the first tools ever invented by man. Before the hammer, fire or wheel. As much as breastfeeding, carrying has assured the survival of our species.(The Prehistory of Sex Timothy Taylor. Bantam Books.)

2 Humans are born 9 months premature. The average lifespan of most mammals on the planet is a lot shorter than that of humans. Rodents live for less than 10 years, dogs live about 10 years, Horses live about 25- 30 years. Humans like whales or elephants live to 85 years or longer so relatively should be born after 18-23 months gestation. Our oversized brain makes us impossible to get through the birth canal after about 9 months gestation although we are unfinished. Like the kangaroo we are born in a foetal stage. For optimum neurological and biological development our biological need is to latch on to our mother’s breast in a pocket for about 9 more months. Primates are born with 70% of their brain volume compared to our 20%. Most mammals are ready to consume other foods than their mother’s milk and walk within several hours or weeks of birth. The human immune system is not mature until the age of 6. Paradoxally the world average self weaning age is between 2 and 6. (Touching, the Human Significance of the Skin, Ashley Montagu. Plus Boris Cyrulnik.)

3 As soon as the umbilical cord is cut human babies need almost continual contact to ensure primitive confidance. (the Emotional Life of the toddler; Aleiciea Fleiberman. M.D. and Touching, the Human significance of the Skin; Ashley Montagu)

4 Humans are born with primitive needs which are really an archaic fear of being left alone. (Touching, the Human significance of the Skin; Ashley Montagu)

5 The earlier the mother infant separation, the greater the anxiety is as if imprinted in humans. A kind of background anxiety is imprinted. Recuperation after stress takes longer throughout life. (Touching, the Human significance of the Skin.)

6 Babys need movement, contact and a human voice to develop primitive confidence. (Touching, the human significance of the Skin. A Montagu)
7 A study on 49 illiterate societies conclude that where carrying, contact and touching occurs in great frequency and high levels, the levels of aggression are the lowest. Comparatively, in the societies where carrying, contact and touching is infrequent and uncommon, levels of aggression are high and common. (Prescott & Wallace, NICHD & University of California Medical school. U.S.A. ref: Good Nights. Dr. J. Gordon.)
8 With primitive confidence a baby’s energy can be used to develop the brain. Optimal neurological connections are made. (Touching, the Human Significance of the Skin. A Montagu)

9 When baby monkeys were separated from their mothers, the cortisole level was mesured and found to be extremely high. The babies were repeatedly left alone, and allowed to cry for their mothers until they gave up. When the babies stopped crying for their mothers their cortisole levels were measured again and found to be just as high as when they had cried for their mothers, even after 80 separations. (Good Nights. J. Gordon. Study: Coe et al 1985)

10 High levels of cortisole weaken the immune system. Psychiatric research conclude that adults and teenagers susceptible to depression, antisocial behaviour, alcohol, drug abuse and repetetive illnesses were babies that were left to cry alone.(David Servan-Schreiber PHD, Pittsburgh School of Medecine. ) In separate studies, patients who had been left alone to cry as babies were found to be more susceptible to mental illness and have more difficulty recuperating after a stressful event. (Michael L. Commons PHD Harvard University, Lecturer in Psychiatry.) Read: Good Nights, Dr. Jay Gordon p. 97.

11 The earlier the skin stimulation; stroking, carrying, the higher the immunity levels. What worries a baby is silence, lack of movement, and solitude. This stress is otherwise known as an archaic fear of being left alone to die.
Birch, Lorraine L Roth, Jay S Rosenblath. Harry Harlow, M.K. Harlow, E.W. Hansen. Study; The maternal affecctional system of rhesus monkeys. New York, Wiley 1963. Touching, The Human Significance of the Skin. Montagu.
12 In Bogota, Columbia, the premature born mortality rate was above 70%. In part because of unreliable electricity but mostly because mothers abandonned their premies. With the introduction of Kangaroo Care, the rate dropped to 30%. In the U.S. with incubator care alone the rate stayed at 30%. Kangaroo Care is today practiced on a 24/24 skin to skin basis. Parents leave the maternities with their premies in continuous Kangaroo Care only days after the birth. Today the incubators are used to heat laundry. (Kangaroo Care; Susan Ludlow.)

13 A child who has been carried will have better digestion, fewer skin problems, fewer colics, greater memorisation and learning capacities, better frustration tolerance, better integration capacities, more creativity. On average, carried children walk earlier. (Touching, the Human Significance of the Skin. Montagu.)

14 A carried child will have a higher I.Q. greater immunities, better intestinal developpment, and they sleep better. They will have better vision, sense of smell, balance, muscle tone and infecions are rarer. (Touching, the Human Significance of the Skin. Montagu.)

15 A study showed a 48% reduction in daytime crying and a 51% reduction in nighttime crying. (Paediatrics 1996)

16 Children who were little touched, little held, have brains that can be up to 30% smaller than other children their age. (Touching, the Human Significance of the Skin. Montagu.)

17 Carried premature babies have deeper sleeps, gain wieght faster, infections are rarer, cry less and their energy is better conserved. The interrupted gestation period can be prolonged when being carried skin to skin. ( “Kangaroo Care”; Susan Ludlow. )
18 Psychomotor developpment is more rapid and harmonious in carried babies. (Touching, the Human Significance of the Skin)
19 After 8 weeks of gestation, the foetus has skin and can feel pression throught the uterus wall.(Touching, the Human Significance of the Skin. Montagu.)

20 At 8 months of gestion the foetus is entirely envelopped in the uterus, every centimetre of its skin is being touched and massaged by the utuerus wall. This is known as "Flesh Nirvana". (Touching, the Human Significance of the Skin.)

21 Until about 9 months of life exta-uterine, a human baby believes itself to be a physical part of its mother. (Touching, the Human Significance of the Skin. )

22 Hormonale secretions in babies change depending on the mother's facial expressions. ( Dr. Janov: The Biology of Love).

23 The brain structures responsible for the experience and modulation of emotions, whether in the cortex or the midbrain, develop in response to parental input, just as visual circuitry develops in response to light. The centres of memory, both conscious and unconscious, rely on the interaction with the parent for their consolidation and for their futur interpretations of the world. The curcuits responsible for the secretion of important neurotransmitters like serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine -essential for mood stability, arousal, motivation and attention- are stimulated and become coordinated in the context of the child's relationship with his caregiveres. In the brains of infant monkeys, serious imbalances of these various neurochemicals have been measured after only a few days of separation from their mothers. (Maté Gabor MD. When the body says no. Ed Wiley. P 206 -207)
Cultural Norms.

24 Average crying in carrying socities is 5 minutes a day. Average crying in N.A. is 2 hours per day. (The Family Bed; Tine Thevanin)

25 Separation at birth is an occidental phenomenum as is prolonged crying. (The Family Bed; Tine Thevanin)

26 Babies in Uganda creep on their bellies on average at the age of 5-7 weeks and can pick up an object while running at the age of 5-7 months. A N. A. child creeps at between 7-8 months and can pick up an object while running between 15 and 18 months. Marcelle Geber. (maternage.free.fr/la_peau-au-commencement.htm)

27 Hip displacement is principally an occidental phenomenum most common in intense stroller use societies. It is also a result of long hours spent lying on the back or front. (maternage.free.fr/portage_hanches.htm)

28 A carried baby or child can participate in family life and live every new event in total security.
(E Bonnet, E Kirkilionis, perinatalite.chez.tiscali.fr/portage.htm)

29 Strollers and Perambulaters were commercialised in the middle of the 19th century and were used to relieve servants of back pain. (Three in a Bed. Deborah Jackson)
Repercussions of popular theories in our society.

30 In Baltimore in 1938 infant mortality rate was 35% until the prenatal education programme included carrying. The rate went down to 10%. (Touching, the Human Significance of the Skin. Montagu.)

31 In the early 1900s in the U.S. orphanges lost babies at the rate of 60%- 100% at the height of the popular “Behaviourist mouvement”. When a doctor implemented a 3 times a day “holding” programme, to his orphanage the mortality rate went down to 10%. (Touching, the Human Significance of the Skin).

32 Correct carrying is a method for prevention of hip problems and also used as treatment. In fact the Paediatric plaster casts were developped by paediatricians when they realised that hip displacement is almost inexistant in carrying societies. (maternage.free.fr/portage_hanches.htm. Plus; E Bonnet Paediatrician and E Kirkilionis)

33 Experiences by Dr. Harry Harlow who had the hypothesis that babies want to cling to their mothers only to have 24/24 access to milk discovered something ground breaking. Baby monkeys were separated from their mothers and left in cages with "surrogate mothers" consisting of two wire grids. One grid was covered with soft cloth and had a lightbulb behind it, supplying heat. The second "surrogate mother" in the cage was a bared wire grid supplying milk 24/24. The baby monkeys clung to the warmed cloth covered "surrogate mother" for the vast majority of time in the cage, seldomly straying from it. In some cases, the baby monkeys went for upto 17 hours without feeding in order to cling to the heated cloth covered grid. Other findings from this study show that the earlier the babies were separated from their mothers the more difficult re-integration in their social group was. Most monkeys never fully re-integrated. The few female monkeys that did manage to copulate abandoned their babies at birth or soon after. (Touching, the Human Significance of the Skin: Harlow Experiments)

34 Franz 2 of Germany carried out experiments of his own. He wanted to know what language a child would speak if never spoken to. He took orphaned babies and entrusted their care to nurses who were instructed to never speak to their tiny charges or touch them in an agreeable manner. His experiment failed repeatedly because all the babies in this experiment died. (Touching, the Human Significance of the Skin. )

35 Why is separation at birth a common practice in occidental society ? We owe our thanks to an American Doctor. who in the 1940s, at the height of the behaviourist movement, decided that mothers should be separated from their babies at birth and allowed to hold them in their arms and attempt to breastfeed them for a 20-30 minute period once every 4 hours. In between these brief moments, the babies were allowed to cry their desperation in vast nurseries. (Touching, the Human Significance of the Skin. )
Post natale depression was rampant and psychology today is now a flourishing industry serving our generation . (author's note)

36 SIDS is almost inexistant in societies that share sleep. (Japan, India, unwesternised China (Michel Odent). Between 75% and 90% of victims of SIDS are isolated sleepers at night. (reference on demand)

37 Why are such impractical transportation contraptions so popular today despite such active lifestyles ? All new parents want "the best" for their children but are rarely faced with information or studies. Parents are left with advertising. The goal of advertising is to convince the potential client that the best sacrifice they can possibly make for their baby is buying whatever equipment they are paid to sell. Innocent parents with apparently no choice become customers. Babies and the entire family become the losers in the trade. Stress becomes an accepted aspect of daily life. "the affliction of the century" as Newsweek calls stress. (Authour’s note.)

38 Advising a parent to allow their baby to cry alone, destroys any confidence a parent may have been able to develop and "breaks" a baby. Carrying gives a parent the ability to console and soothe a baby even if they can't rectify or heal a problem. Carrying reinforces parental confidance and family bonding. Parents must learn early to know the difference between advice and information in order to build confidence.
(Rita Messmer Studer. maternage.free.fr/portons_nos_bebes.htm)

39 One or two of the originators of destructive advice ?
In 1892 in the United States, a nursing school educator published a textbook emphasising that "a baby should never be rocked nor hushed on a nurse's shoulder". This advice was dispatched accordingly to new mothers as well.
In another vastly popular textbook written by a man who had neither given birth nor breastfed a single baby, a paediatrician, Dr. Luther Emmett Holt, wrote in spite of the glaring facts of life "To induce sleep, rocking and all other habits of this sort are useless and may be harmful. I have known of an instance where the habit of rocking during sleep was continued until the child was two years old; the moment the rocking stopped the infant would awake." In 1894 Holt published another popular guide called "The Care and Feeding of Children: A Catechism for the Use of Mothers and Children's Nurses". Regarding the question of rocking Holt replied in his guide; "Rocking is by no means necessary. It is a habit easily acquired, but hard to break and a very useless and sometimes injurious one." In 1916 Holt revised his guide, adding; "A crib should be one that does not rock, in order that the unnecessary and vicious practice may not be carried on."
The use of the word "vicious" had obvious repercussions on many generations of mothers and babies to follow. Dr Holt encouraged scheduled breast feeding and the use of the bottle. By 1935 Dr Holt's book was in its 15th edition. (P 148 - 149 Touching, the Human Significance of the Skin).

The Biological Norms for Humans.
40 Nasa researchers among others, conclude that one of the causes of osteoporosis is “the lack of weight bearing on long bones”. (afpafitness.com/articles/milkdoc.htm)

41 Parental bonding is made easier, especially following a medicalised or traumatic birth or in the case of separation. (“Kangaroo Care”; Susan Ludlow. )

42 In a study on plastic baby carriers vs fabric baby carriers mothers were distributed carriers at birth. When their babies were 13 months old the mother child attachment was tested and found to be solid in 41% of the plastic seat carried babies and 83% of the fabric carried babies. (The Lancet 1987)

43 Anthropologists note that no other mammal on the planet cares for its young during the day but not at night.

44 Transport in cloth slings is the least costly mode of transport, the most practical, answers to parent and child's need for contact and frequent feeding while on the go and is the only method that reduces medical costs.

45 The more solid the mother/child bond, the more rapidly the child is ready to create relationships with other people. (Touching, the Human Significance of the Skin)
Carrying reinforces parental confidence. Even when an affliction is unidendifiable, carrying provides the parents with a means to console, comfort and sooth a child. (Kangaroo Care. Susand Ludlow.)

46 To impose isolated sleeping on a baby, with no possibility of hearing the breathing of his parents, unable to smell his mothers scent is a form of violence. This violence is often defended in the name of an adult desire for “peace”.
Early imposed mother/ infant separation does not help a child become independant however does increase fear of abandonnement and reinforce co-dependance. Independance is built on feelings of security. (Au coeur des émotions de l’enfant. Isabelle Filliozat).

47 N.B. re : Oedipus. Parents are often warned that sleeping with their babies or children is morally unhealthy, citing for proof, the story of Oedipus. The point of the Oedipus story that is so clearly overlooked is that Oedipus was abandonned at birth by his mother. He was unable to bond with his mother. Thus an incestuous relationship in adulthood was possible. For more information on incest read; Boris Cyrulnik.
Charlotte Yonge. tél;O1 56 58 21 93 ou 06 16 79 59 44 E-mail; astharte@gmail.com

Pour Approfondir votre recherche sur le portage:
A Lire:
(ang.) “Touching, the human significance of the skin”/
(fr.) “La Peau et la Toucher” de : Ashley Montagu.
(ang.) “Nighttime Parenting”: Dr Sears/
(fr.) “Etre Parent le jour et la Nuit Aussi”
(ang) The Drama of Being a Child. Alice Miller.
(fr.) "La Souffrance muette de l’enfant." : Alice Miller Editions Aubier 1990
(ang.) "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding". LLLinternational.
(fr.) "L'art de l'allaitement maternel"/ Editions LLL.
(ang.) Référence Ostéoporose: www.afpafitness.com/articles/milkdoc.htm
Made to measure wraps by Mothers : Écharpes sur mesure :
(lin/coton 60€made to measure)marionlc@free.fr,http://meliimeloo.free.fr.05 57 64 31 63.
6.50m-7m Girasol 80€: mfastoin@yahoo.fr 06 16 28 04 62.
Mise en place + Girasol 6m 60€ on order but with delay :
http://yemanja.net.free.fr/img/Pagneparisien.html ou lili@yemanja.net
Girasol 6m en stock ou sur commende 75€ : echarpes@free.fr
Ateliers Portage : astharte@gmail.com/ mfastoin@yahoo.fr/
frenchrissy@yahoo.com/ lili@yemanja.net
Allaitement : www.lllfrance.org www.lalecheleague.org

For drawings showing how to do the Pagne Parisian on the back or the Hammock tie, please contact Charlotte at 01 56 58 21 93 or astharte@gmail.com

Correct and Healthy Carrying Systems.

1. Healthy carrying for the child means he is in a sitting position, knees higher than his butt. With legs in a frog position, hips should be spread, held snugly next to the wearer’s body. Breast feeding is possible and easy when the child can round his back. Ideally, the baby or child is held tummy to tummy.

2. If the child’s legs hang and he is suspended by the crotch with a straight back carrying time must be kept to under a half hour. Physio therapists say this position is dangerous for the child’s hip and back developpment. See Dr Kirkilionis attached.

3. The weight of the charge must be spread evenly over the wearer’s shoulders, waist and is best supported in the carryer’s legs. Therefore systems with straps over the shoulder or a stretch fabric that rolls into a narrow strip will not be comfortable over an extended period or when carrying babies over a few kilos.

Safe and healthy carrying methods are: The African Pagne, any hammock style, Snugli, Ergo, Glukeschafer, Wilkinet and the wrap around sling.

Tip. To avoid buying a wardrobe of b.f. tops, buy a couple of undershirts that you cut vertical slits 30cm or so in length at breast level, to be worn under all existing tops. When you lift your top to nurse, stomach and back stay covered.

WARNING: ALWAYS UNDERDRESS A CHILD WHEN BEING WORN. In cold weather wear child as close to skin as possible and under outer wear.

DO NOT ATTEMPT A PARISIAN PAGNE ON THE BACK UNTIL YOU MASTER THE PARISIAN PAGNE IN FRONT. Wearing your child on your back in the Pagne Parisien position entails longer periods between breast feeding. Sometime after the age of about 6 months, when a baby can nurse less frequently, installing the Pagne Parisien on the back is easier.

Lengths.
Several ties are possible with a wrap around sling. The one tie that transfers almost all the weight into the carriers legs however is the Parisian Pagne which requires from 5.20m to 7m of fabric depending on your size and the weight of your baby. By crossing the fabric behind your back the resulting belt gives back support similar to the support in a weight lifters belt. This extra support requires more fabric which often requires 6 metres or more. See reading list for 6m - 7m wrap slings available for sale.

Dr. Evelyne Kirkilionis, Forschungsgruppe Verhaltensbiologie des Menschen (FVM), Freiburg, Germany,
on carrying and hip development.

Mothering Magazine. N° 137 July August 2006.

When parents carry their babies in a sling or carrying bag, they give them a sense of security. Babies can be aware of their parents with practically all their senses. they can hear their heartbeats, feel their warmth, observe their facial expressions, take in their smells. Just the sensation of being moved pacifies especially well. And if children are carried sitting upright with their legs spread and strongly drawn up, the parents are also “practicing” - quite coincidentally- prevention of so-called innate hip dysplasia. This requires, however, that the baby’s thighs be drawn up at least to a right angle; it’s better if it’s even more. Then if the baby is sitting on the parent’s hip or is carried face to face, the baby has a leg position that is ideal for the healthy maturation of the hip joint.
If the legs are bent more than 90° (about 100° to 110°) and spread approximately 90°, the femur head fits ideally in the hip socket. this favours its healthy develpment. Moreover, the body posture of the baby is not stationary. through the movements of the parent as well as those of the baby, a constant stimulus is transferred to the child’s hip joint, which promotes circulation to the still-cartilagious structures and supports their maturation. All in all, this way of carrying is an appropriate way to prevent hip dysplasia.

When baby is facing away from the mother’s body, these anatomically positive aspects of carrying are lost. The child has an unfavorable leg posture because the legs dangle down. Often, because of the construction of the carrying bag, a stretching in the hip joint is even forced. This must be regarded extremely critically in terms of the development of the hip joint, especially in the first four months. Such a stretched postion means that the femur head is not centrally guided into the hip socket, and this leads to malformation.
Moreover, with this mode of carrying, the overall posture of the torso of the child is not age appropriate. If the baby sits facing away in the carrier, the straps pull from the front over the child’s shoulders; this often causes a very upright posture, since the shoulders are pressed back. In the worst case, this posture, in combination with a stretched postion in the hip joint, forces a hollow back.
In addition, a child will not sit on her or his diaper-padded bottom. Rather, the weight will be distributed onto the cartilage of the symphysis of the pelvis. this means that the baby is sitting on the crotch, and for boys, on the testicles.

When the flood of information becomes too much : Babies carried facing away from their parents are confronted with stimuli from the environment without being able to turn away when it becomes excessive. These children also cannot read the facial expressions of their parents to see how this information is to be interpreted. In the case of disturbing stimuli, babies cannot look at their parents’ faces to be assured that everything is still OK. Admittedly, babies carried in this way are very excited, exceptionally awake and active. They seem to like having so much to see. But our little ones still have to learn to distinguish between important and unimportant information, and also need to learn how to “blind or shut out” unneeded stimuli. The exposure to this flood of information is often not ended at the right time, as the babies cannot withdraw from it by themselves. For one thing, even if babies in this position want to turn away, they cannot. For another, strong stimuli can hold babies’ attention even if it is too much for them. With face to face carrying, it is possible for babies to turn away from strong stimulation when they get tired. Also, the change in body posture allows their bodies to relax. All this is not possible when babies face away from their parents.
There are several possibilities for carrying your baby: What to do when the little one wants to see more of the world than is possible with the usual frontal carrying mode?
One possibility is to carry the baby in the sideways cross-carry, sitting on the parent’s hip. However, this may be too strenuous for the carrying person’s back. Alternatively, one should shift to the back-carrying mode. Here the child should be carried in such a way that it can observe its surroundings over the shoulders of the carrying person. This is rarely possible with conventional carriers; it is easier to achieve with a sling or a similar carrying device. In both cases, healthy development of the hip joint is supported because the leg position is equivalent to the frontal carrying mode. Moreover, the orientation of the baby to the parent’s body more strongly favours attachment with the parents.

My working/breastfeeding life
At 6:30, my day starts. My daughter and my husband are still sleeping. Outside it is still dark. I lie down next to my little daughter who is about four months old. I caress her gently and she looks for my breast. She finds it and starts to eat. The day breaks most peacefully and joyfully. She drops off to sleep again. I get myself ready for work. She is still asleep. I come to her side and I take her into my arms gently. She gradually wakes up. I wash and dry her and put her new clothes on. I put on my wrap. I have to prepare breakfast now. I try to be with her for a maximum of time. The wrap helps me. I can be with her even while I am doing house keeping. My hands are free even as I am with her all the time.
Just before leaving I breastfeed her again. It's time to go. She is comfortable inside the wrap. No coldness can touch her. She is well protected. As soon as the front door closes behind us, she asks to nurse. She knows she can. The way to the nanny's place takes 20 minutes. She is on my breast all the way. She is filled. I say good bye to my little daughter.
I miss her so much already. In the morning, I pump my breast milk at 10:30 for 10 to 15 minutes. No problem. I think of my daughter. I feel connected with her even though we are physically separated. At 12:00, I go to the nanny's place. I put on the wrap and go out with her. She looks for my breasts. She is hungry. She eats peacefully inside the wrap. I buy my lunch and eat it with my friends. She continues to drink, drink, and sleep.... I feel so happy being with her. In the afternoon, I pump my milk at 14:00 and 17:30. Totally, each day I pump from 220 to 300 mls. At 18:30, I pick up my daughter. I put the wrap on. She immediately
looks for my breast. She wants to sleep. She is tired. She drinks and sleeps while I am walking and doing some shopping for tonight. She is calm. Nobody knows that I am breast feeding. The wrap is a nest for her. It's the place where she can be fed and comforted. Warm and full of milk. When I get home, I prepare dinner with her inside the wrap. I breastfeed her but I am free. She is in the warp safely. My husband does not like the wrap. He thinks it's too much work. He does not want to put it on. It's a shame. He does not understand breastfeeding either. He thought all mothers pump their milk and give it to theirbabies in a bottle. I laughed at the idea. I have tried to help him understand breastfeeding but haven’t been successful. His efforts go somewhere else. I think breastfed babies are much happier. My baby doesn't cry so much because we can communicate somehow by breast feeding. I can feel what she wants and without thinking about it, I am reacting to it. The wrap helps me too.
I find she is better fed with the wrap because I can do so many things while breast feeding so I have much more time to feed her. She has gained much more weight and she has grown more in length too. I wish I had usedthe wrap a long time ago. I bought it before her birth but I did not go through the workshop and it was bit difficult for me to master it alone. I still have to learn how to use it better I’m sure, but for a next baby, I will have fewer problems and more confidence in breastfeeding. Sachiko Hasumi. Paris, France. Oct. 2005