Babywearing in the Age of the Internet

Abstract

This article explores how mothers learn to “babywear” or carry their children on the body using a sling, wrap, or soft carrier. The practice has grown more popular due to the hands-free convenience it offers and the desire of mothers to follow attachment parenting practices. But the profusion of products and unfamiliarity with the practice has led to concerns about health and safety risks. Ethnographic fieldwork was carried out at free educational meetings in northern California where mothers, after having done research on the Internet, received advice and instruction from certified educators. The combination of communications technology and in-person meetings allowed mothers to learn caring practices that differ from past patterns that relied on family and physical proximity. Social networks develop that function both locally and in a wider context to create a new parenting culture that draws on global inputs of consumer choice and knowledge.

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