"This year many Babywearing Groups across New Zealand have opted to hold their major celebrations during March when there is more settled weather," Sonia Foote, a registered babywearing consultant and certified postnatal fitness instructor at Kangatraining Rotorua says.
"However, members of our local babywearing community are looking to celebrate with a flash mob.
"A keen group of mums is currently practising a choreographed babywearing dance and will be popping out of a crowd near you."
Sonia says babywearing is a lovely way to meet baby's needs to be close and held by a caregiver.
Babywearing allows the caregiver to be hands free and is a way to get jobs done, or help wrangle additional toddlers or children when out and about.
Babywearing is not a new parenting tool and examples of babywearing can be seen in cultures all around the world. Sonia adds that safety when wearing a baby is important.
A lot of caregivers find baby wearing choices overwhelming and Rotorua Babywearers is a place to start, she says.
She says the Rotorua Babywearers team has a wealth of experience with babywearing and loves to help others to find solutions with wearing their babies.
"Not all carriers are created equally so it is important to assess whether the carrier is safe and comfortable for each combination of baby and wearer."
The Rotorua Babywearers group has a lending library of safe ergonomic carriers, allowing parents to test and try out a carrier before buying their own.
"Your baby is never really too old to be carried - some carriers are weight tested to 60kg!"
Team member Talia Jamieson says the focus of International Babywearing month this year is "continuing the tradition".
"International Babywearing Week is about celebrating this beautiful thing we have in common, but more than that it's about honouring the cultures that kept babywearing practices strong despite colonialism, throughout a diaspora, and down through generations.
"It's about remembering and celebrating that we are participating in a traditional art. Groups all over the world are doing babywearing flash mobs."
For Talia personally, babywearing has "changed how I parent and passing on this knowledge and empowerment to new and already local parents is a passion of mine, which is why I volunteer my time to the local group".
"The flash mob idea seems a fun way for local parents to get together and celebrate our babywearing journeys while also creating awareness and publicity for the group."
The team at Rotorua Babywearing don't have specific jobs, rather they work together to help organise the monthly meet ups, fitting caregivers correctly and distributing the carrier lending library as required.
The group is always looking for support and would love more volunteers and members to help out.
Find out more at the Rotorua Babywearers Facebook page.
