Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Baby-gami
This is a really, really cute book. Baby-gami: Baby Wrapping for Beginners is written by Andrea Sarvady, with great photography by Bill Milne, and a short but worth-reading foreward by Fern Drillings, RN, MSN.
Baby wrapping is a modern term for swaddling, which is the practice of wrapping or folding a baby into a blanket or long piece of cloth to limit his movement and keep him warm. Infants are used to the tight safety of the womb; they also don't recognize that those limbs flailing around are, in fact, their own. Swaddled, they feel warm and secure.
The book also talks about baby wearing, in which the mother or father keeps the baby wrapped in a sling and resting against their stomach or hip or back. Babies want to be held. Slings let a parent hold the baby while keeping her hands free. Baby again feels warm and secure.
The book offers several pages describing the science and history of baby wrapping before going into the general how-to of wrapping, making a basic sling, and being sure the wrap is snug but not tight. Helpful tips (like what kinds of cloth to use and how to sew your own wraps) are scattered throughout in easy to read sidebars.
Each wrap or sling has a description of the difficulty, appropriate age range, situation (use a wrap made from a paper bag "for desperate times" while , and materials
The writing is clear, informative, and witty, but the color photographs and illustrations make the book. All 13 ways of wrapping the baby and 9 ways of wearing the baby are illustrated with a full-page photograph. The beginning wraps and the more difficult ones are illustrated with step-by-step diagrams or photographs with descriptions that seem complete and easy to follow (I can't test that yet and won't be able to until January).
The book looks like it will be very useful. Right now, though, I love it for the pictures.
Baby wrapping is a modern term for swaddling, which is the practice of wrapping or folding a baby into a blanket or long piece of cloth to limit his movement and keep him warm. Infants are used to the tight safety of the womb; they also don't recognize that those limbs flailing around are, in fact, their own. Swaddled, they feel warm and secure.
The book also talks about baby wearing, in which the mother or father keeps the baby wrapped in a sling and resting against their stomach or hip or back. Babies want to be held. Slings let a parent hold the baby while keeping her hands free. Baby again feels warm and secure.
The book offers several pages describing the science and history of baby wrapping before going into the general how-to of wrapping, making a basic sling, and being sure the wrap is snug but not tight. Helpful tips (like what kinds of cloth to use and how to sew your own wraps) are scattered throughout in easy to read sidebars.
Each wrap or sling has a description of the difficulty, appropriate age range, situation (use a wrap made from a paper bag "for desperate times" while , and materials
The writing is clear, informative, and witty, but the color photographs and illustrations make the book. All 13 ways of wrapping the baby and 9 ways of wearing the baby are illustrated with a full-page photograph. The beginning wraps and the more difficult ones are illustrated with step-by-step diagrams or photographs with descriptions that seem complete and easy to follow (I can't test that yet and won't be able to until January).
The book looks like it will be very useful. Right now, though, I love it for the pictures.
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