Babywearing in the Age of the Internet

Bibliographic Data

ID2347458
AuthorsNancy Ukai Russell (Independent Researcher, Berkeley, CA, USA, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume36
Issue9
Pages1130-1153
Publication date2015-07-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Family Issues (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0192-513X • E-ISSN: 1552-5481
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0192513x14533547
OpenAlexW2126347157
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited18

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

Certification · Ethnography · Geography · Medical education · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · The Internet · Digital Communication and Language · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Medicine · Psychology · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology

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