Influence the Influential

Sunday, May 26, 2013

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For questions or comments concerning this section of the Mamatoto site, contact Delia Hubbard at influence@mamatoto.org.

Influencing the Influential

Spreading the word about baby wearing starts with all of us. We do our "duty" every day and wear our babies to the market, the department store, the malls. We love to answer questions when people ask us, we love to share our knowledge with new moms and mothers-to-be. We may even make our own slings, or donate them to charities. Sure, our efforts are making a strong difference, there's no denying that, but there are others out there in the world who have more resources than we do; others who can reach thousands or even millions with the message we are trying to send about baby wearing.

The major question is how do we get these folks involved in helping us "spread the word?" How can we influence them in a positive way? How do we even contact them in the first place? And once we do contact them, how "influential" do we have to be?

How you want to influence people is completely your choice. You might want to change the world, or you might just want to get someone to think about wearing a child... You might choose to send a simple congratulatory email or letter to someone who is expecting and include your baby wearing experiences as a topic of the letter. You might take it a step further and include photos of you using your sling. Remember to refer to the mamatoto site in your letter so if you peak any interest the receiver of your message can get more info on slinging their child.

Want to take it even further? You may want to send a sling to someone (many of the folks we are talking about have contact addresses) along with an instruction sheet or video, or offer to meet with them to give them a one on one baby wearing lesson/consultation.

Not sure what to say? Check out our sample letters for some ideas, or cut and paste into your own letter.

Success Stories

My story is simple. I was inspired by this page when it was just a page in planning, so to speak. There was a link on here posted by Tracy to Cindy Margolis's web site. Cindy is expecting twins via a surrogate mother in June.

I sent her a quick email congratulating her on her upcoming arrivals, and mentioned how much I love wearing my own children who are very close in age. I then mentioned how useful baby wearing has been to me and how resourceful the mamatoto site been as well. I added that it is a free non-profit web site dedicated to baby wearing using traditional carriers, and that as a non-profit site that donations and fund raisers are always in order.

I guess this is where I got bold, because I offered to send her one of my slings for free if she would agree to be photographed wearing it and donate some autographed photos to Tracy to auction, and if she was *really* interested, she might donate the sling as well, when she was through using it to carry her twins, of course.

I was blown away and just plain old EXCITED when she replied back that should would!! She said to send my favorite type of carrier and fabric.... I spent the next four days trying to pick a fabric to make the sling from, and then the next week sewing slings out of my top three choices. My final choice was a podaegi made of a beautiful creamy colored brocade (which is sort of like embroidered satin).

If you look to the left column on this page, you'll spot me wearing it to "test drive" it! I can't wait to share pictures of Cindy and her children in it with all of you! Hopefully we can see it in use sometime this summer!

My story just proves that sometimes you just might "influence the influential!"

~~ Delia Hubbard ~~
Sling-sewing stay-at-home-mom
Babywearing advocate, instructor, consultant

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Please help us inspire your fellow baby wearers!
Share your successful "influencing" story with us!
Use the link at the left side of this page.

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You are a Master Babywearer

In China, it is said that "A master is anyone who knows more than you do." So, you are all master babywearers compared with most of the moms in the world. You do NOT need to know everything there is to know about babywearing -- if you know even ONE carry with even ONE type of carrier, you are in possession of knowledge other moms desperately want -- even if they do not yet know they want it. ;-D Therefore, you should all feel confident enough to teach others! So, pick a public place, pick a day of the week, and start sharing your skills with other families! Then, list yourself here.

Report a Problem

Broken link? Missing image? Misspelled word? Inadequate instructions? Please email maintenance@wearyourbaby.org. I cannot respond to every email, but I do appreciate your help. I will email you back if I can. Thanks, Tracy Dower