Event Report | Connected in Babywearing | April 28 2026

The panel included Dr. Sneha Gazi, Robin J. Winn , Joanna McNeilly, and Jordan Morillo (aka the Babywearing.ot 💛, and the room was full of people who work closely with families every day, babywearing educators, pelvic floor therapists, doulas, lactation consultants, childbirth educators, infant development specialists, and other professionals who all keep running into similar questions from parents.

And honestly, many of those questions aren't really about babywearing or baby carriers.

It’s been a while since I’ve attended an in-person event, since October, actually, and it was nice to hear the panelists' points of view on the various topics. There was a powerful moment early on when Joanna said something that fundamentally shaped the conversation:

 I kept coming back to that line, because that really is the tension.

Because yes, airway matters. Breathing matters. Circulation matters. Preventing falls matters.

But when every tiny adjustment turns into panic or anxiety creeps in, parents stop trusting themselves.

And honestly, we see that all the time.

One of the best parts of the panel was hearing how everyone approached that from different angles. PTs were talking about pelvic floor recovery and how sometimes the issue is not the carrier, it is that someone is freshly postpartum and their body is still healing. OTs were talking about movement and how babies need support, but they also need the freedom to move and respond. Joanna kept bringing it back to the fact that babywearing is a skill, a skill with rapid changes, and skills take practice.

There was also a meaningful conversation around comfort, and I think that was one of the biggest aha moments for several attendees.

If the caregiver is hurting, if the baby keeps pushing away, if something feels pinchy, unstable, too tight, too loose, or just off, that matters.

It does not automatically mean danger, or that it’s wrong, but it does mean something needs another look.

That feels so obvious when you say it out loud, but so many people assume discomfort means they are just bad at babywearing. Or that this is what babywearing feels like, and either grin and bear it or don’t do it. Guess what most people choose.

Usually, it means we need to adjust something.

The ‘something’ is unique to each person.

The hip conversation was another good one because people get so locked into exact positions and perfect angles. This was a widespread concern, and many people shared that their clients are concerned about this too. Everyone kept coming back to the same thing: babies need support, yes, but they also need movement. Joanna said something that made me smile, and Robin jumped in to agree.

That is development, not a problem to fix.

There is more to a baby than their hips. But hip development happens rapidly, and the early months matter. What we heard is that position and support are important, but movement and opportunities for developmental practice, delivered in small, manageable doses, are crucial to the infant’s physical and emotional needs.

Same with head support. Currently, the internet loves turning the headrest flap into a moral issue. Meanwhile, the real answer is… it depends.

That’s a much better question.

One moment that really stayed with me came from someone in the room who has adult children. She talked about how none of this was really part of the conversation when her kids were little, not babywearing support, not body tension, not pelvic floor health, not movement development, not the connection between colic and discomfort, not early referrals.

I could feel the whole room react to that, because it was one of those very clear “wait… this should have existed already” moments.

That really became the bigger takeaway.

The answer is not one perfect carrier. Or one perfect position, headrest, or hip and body position.

As Joanna shared:

Because most of the time, what families need is not another rule.

That is the part that really matters.