TRAININGS FAQ

I’m so glad you asked! Essentially, the 8-hour Newborn Babywearing Support Course  covers the most pressing issues that you might encounter when working with newborn families - how to introduce babywearing to them, how to answer questions specific to the perinatal period (such as questions about when to start babywearing after a cesarean or which carrier is best for a newborn). It also covers the basics of safety & positioning so you can effectively troubleshoot common issues. Graduating from this course does not provide you with the credentials to be a babywearing consultant but gives you the building blocks to be an incredible and effective babywearing advocate in your community.

The 40+ hour Foundations in Babywearing Education Training is much more comprehensive. Not only do we address a variety of babywearing carrier types and carrying techniques (including newborn-wearing techniques), but we also cover how to teach effectively, discuss the science and history of babywearing, address how to structure learning during private or group consultations, in-depth exploration on safety while wearing and so much more. When you become a Foundations Training graduate, you are prepared to provide a high standard of care and guidance to the caregivers you serve. 

That really depends on your goals!

If you’re already working with perinatal families and want practical, concrete information to confidently introduce them to the world of babywearing, the Newborn training is a great place to start.

Alternatively, if you’re already working as a babywearing consultant and want to deepen your understanding of specific issues that face newborn families, this course will be a great addition to your knowledge base (this was the original intent of the Newborn training).

Suppose you're ready to go all the way and become a babywearing consultant and want to educate and inform new families about everything babywearing offers. In that case, Foundations is the way to go.

Of course! In an ideal world, I really think everyone who does this work should take both trainings. They are designed to complement each other. Bundling them together allows you to get a well-rounded education and to develop the skills to be a truly excellent babywearing consultant.

We get it - it's hard to commit to being present for live classes every week for several weeks. If you're not in a position to show up to live classes, you're in luck - our Newborn Babywearing Support Training is entirely self-paced and on-demand! This flexible option will give you an excellent start on your journey, provide you with practical skills, and allow you to get started spreading babywearing in your community.

In our Foundations in Babywearing Education Training, we’ve found a notable difference in the success of students who are able to attend live sessions versus those who simply watch the recordings. Being able to actively participate in learning alongside your peers engages your brain in an entirely different way and will make you a much better teacher yourself. So, if you’re going to sign up for Foundations, we encourage you to make every effort to attend the live sessions.

The Foundations course is a **6-week program** with live Zoom sessions held twice a week. Each session runs for about two and a half hours, including breaks and hands-on practice. On top of the live sessions, you’ll also spend around **3 to 4 hours per week** watching recorded videos and collaborating with your class partner. While the course is designed to be manageable, we want to be upfront that it does require a solid time commitment each week. Many participants find it rewarding, but it’s important to plan ahead to make sure it fits into your schedule!

Yes, there is a small scheduled break during the class sessions. Class is swift-moving and passes quickly. You're in a place of your choosing and may always take care of your own or a family member's needs.

Over the years, we’ve had many parents successfully attend our trainings - and the short answer is that if you can be attentive and focused on your learning while your children are present, then sure! Obviously, depending on your children’s ages and temperaments, that may not always be the case, so we do recommend you try to find backup care for them if needed so that your learning and expereince can be your priority during the live sessions. And yes, nursing children are always welcome.

Each live session is recorded, so you may go back to watch sections you may have missed.

We have graduates from all over the world and we work individually with each of them to establish what works for them and their country of residence. We have graduates from China, the Philippines, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands, to name a few. We're excited to make this training more global, and we always welcome feedback on how we can make our course accessible for students in all time zones.

We realize that time differences (in some cases extreme time differences) can create challenges, and our team works very hard to make every class a smooth process for every student. As mentioned previously, we understand needing to step away to soothe little ones should your class fall in the night or during naptime. The time differences can also have students up very early or staying up very late, depending on where they are. Planning ahead for child care, a long night, eating at odd times, etc., is encouraged before the classes are slated to begin, as this can help the course run as smoothly as possible for everyone in attendance, international or local. 

Each session is recorded so you may watch a section you miss while tending to a child's needs or your own as well.

After graduating from Foundations, you'll be prepared to work closely with families and professionals at various stages in their babywearing journey.

For some, this may take the form of:

1. Workshops introducing babywearing or specific babywearing topics
2. One-on-one consultations with families to provide in-depth babywearing support
3. Working with local professionals to introduce babywearing programs to their clients and patients.

Again, there truly is no limit to what you might do as a babywearing consultant - much of the magic of this work is finding ways to creatively intertwine babywearing into your other passions and professional expertise to find new ways to intrigue and support caregivers in your community. We can’t wait to hear what you think of!

For Foundations, you'll need several baby carriers of different styles on hand to learn the breadth of techniques presented in the course. However, there’s no need to rush out and purchase a dozen carriers! Take a look at this blog post on Joannas thoughts what could be an ideal starter kit. 

Through the CBWS Carrier Library, you can rent the carriers you need for the course for a fraction of the retail price, so you don’t end up investing in carriers you may not need or want for the future. This no-profit option allows you to explore carriers as you learn and to purchase only what your community will be interested in. 

After signing up, we introduce you to several lower-cost carrier bundles from our graduate-network businesses. 

You can always look to the buy, sell, or trade (BST) marketplaces. However, we suggest you know a lot about carriers and what's popular vs. purchased in your area before engaging in buying in the second-hand market.

Not everyone chooses to become a babywearing professional - there are so many other ways to incorporate what you learn here!

We’ve had graduates who took the training for themselves and as fun.

Some add babywearing into their skill set as lactation consultants, doulas, newborn care specialists, infant massage therapists, and more as a way to increase the value they can provide for their existing clients.

We’ve also had graduates use their expertise to create new opportunities for families in their communities, such as babywearing dance, fitness, and yoga classes.

Some open retail baby product stores, some design carriers, some work for carrier manufacturers…and still more decide to volunteer their expertise in local babywearing and parenting groups.

There’s no end to what you can do with the knowledge you learn here at CBWS - and truly, we love hearing about all the creative paths our graduates take!

When you graduate from Foundations, you gain access to our Graduate Portal, where you can find a wealth of information and resources to help you on your path. From business development opportunities to babywearing research lists to recall lists to discounts from retailers and manufacturers, you’ll find everything you need to hit the ground running and get support as you continue to grow.

You'll also be invited to our popular Community Hours, where we meet to discuss current issues in the world of babywearing and get the opportunity to network and form connections.

There is no fee for your certificate - it's included in the price of the Foundations training. You have a year to complete your course, including testing.

If you're unable to take or pass your final exams and graduate from Foundations with your cohort, we will move you to an additional course that provides free mentoring to assist you as you work through your material. There are multiple testing options throughout the year.

Each country has its own insurance requirements. It's your choice whether to have insurance or not We strongly suggest you obtain insurance if you're working within the USA. We also discuss this topic in the course. 

We love your experience and want you to keep it! We look forward to adding to your overall knowledge. We ourselves continue to learn and grow even after 20+ years of this work. So yes, whether you're a skilled babywearer of several years or one with decades of experience we feel strongly that the information we teach in Foundations is something unique and significant to the babywearing education field - something we don't see provided elsewhere.

To ensure that we're arming you with everything we know you need to be a truly excellent babywearing consultant, we require that you participate in the course before testing.

Knowing how to babywear is just the tip of the iceberg, friend - to be a truly excellent consultant, you’ll need much more. In both the Newborn Training and Foundations, we strive to go beyond simple how-to to get to the heart of how to really impact families with this work - how to address situations that are outside your personal experience, how to structure learning effectively, how to advocate for babywearing in your community, how to discuss babywearing with professionals from different backgrounds, and how to listen and communicate with the intent to understand.

Many of the people who enter our courses already have experience with babywearing, but all graduate with a far deeper understanding of what it means to be a babywearing consultant - technique is only one part of the puzzle!

Certification can be a tricky subject - like lactation work and many other fields; babywearing consultation is not a regulated industry. This means that there is no nationally accepted licensure that holds all consultants to the same standards. Technically, anyone can call themselves a babywearing consultant regardless of what training they may or may not have had in the field.

By offering the option to become a “certified” babywearing consultant through our Foundations program, we communicate that graduates from our program are held to a higher standard and have demonstrated their knowledge and practical technique through a rigorous standardized testing format. This shows your community and future clients that you worked to truly develop your craft, helping them (and you) have confidence in the services you provide.

Currently, we do not have scholarships available for our trainings, but we do offer several payment plans to make the trainings accessible. We are always happy to discuss your options with you!

Having children is not a requirement for any of our trainings…or for babywearing, for that matter! Learning these skills without children of your own allows you to focus and process the information in a different way, and may afford you a unique perspective that your clients (some of whom may also not yet have children) can benefit from.

Some of the best babywearing educators and consultants don't have children of their own. Some are aunts, nannies, teachers, and friends, and all are deeply skilled.

After taking the Newborn training, you'll be prepared to work with families in the perinatal period to introduce babywearing and advocate for the practice. You might do this by:

• introducing expecting parents and caregivers to  babywearing in your prenatal workshops or client sessions
• advising new families about the variety of carrier styles
• providing guidance and troubleshooting basic fit issues during the postpartum period in one-on-one meetings
• volunteering at a local babywearing group to provide fit advice to new parents

This is by no means an exhaustive list - so much of what you do will be influenced by your community, your own interests and work experience, and your ultimate goals. 

For the Newborn training, it's helpful (but not necessary) to have a baby carrier on hand or access to a library of carriers to experiment and learn with.

Please understand that this is not a how-to training. So, really, you just need a screen to watch on and a pen and paper to take notes. 

We love our graduates!

If you take the Newborn training, you'll continue to have access to monthly live office hours where you can come ask questions and connect with your peers.

This is an excellent way to stay up-to-date on carriers, recalls, and other babywearing hot topics, get inspired by what others are doing in the world of babywearing, and get guidance on what’s coming up in your own work. 

If you’re looking for the title of being “certified,” you should know that the Newborn training does not provide certification, but you will get a certificate of completion.

In order to keep the course accessible as a self-paced, on-demand option, we are not able to do the live testing and standardization of practice that we feel is necessary to provide certification. Currently, our Foundations program is the only training we offer that provides the opportunity to test for certification.