Babywearing Acronyms

This month we will be discussing what is up with all these Babywearing acronyms and what they actually stand for.

If you are new to the Babywearing world like we all once were, you might be surprised to find out that not only are you learning the ins and outs of actually wearing your child, but that there is a wealth of lingo and acronyms to go along with the Babywearing community.

Let’s get started and talk about some of the most commonly used abbreviations and what they actually mean:

Firstly, there are acronyms used to describe specific carrier types that you might see some folks using:

RS: Ring Sling - A sling style carrier with rings and a tail that are used for tightening around your baby.

Pouch Sling: A sling style carrier without rings that comes in a single loop piece. These carriers are super compact and are sized to the wearer so fit is of utmost importance.

WC: Wrap Conversion: a carrier that was made from a wrap WCRS: Wrap Conversation Ring Sling

MD or BD: Meh Dai or Beh Dai- An Asian style carrier with a structured panel and two long straps made with either standard straps or wrap straps.

WCMD/ WCBD: Wrap Conversion Meh Dai/ Wrap Conversion Beh Dai

SSC: Soft Structured Carrier (these are your buckle carriers)

FFO: Front Facing Outward- when the child is facing outward away from the wearer rather than in a tummy to tummy position with the care giver.

Stretchy Wrap: a long stretchy piece of fabric that often comes in one size with elastic built into the fibers. (Example: Moby Wrap) Stretchy wraps are unsafe for back wrapping due to the elastic which creates a risk of your baby sagging and potentially falling.

Woven Wrap: a long piece of fabric that comes in various lengths and various fibers or blends that has no elastic in it. This particular type of wrap is safe for back wrapping.

ID: Image Description- a description of what is in a picture used as a means of depicting an image through a screen reader for folks who are visually impaired.

PFA: Perfect Fit Adjusters- these are seen on soft structured carriers designed to provide added tightness to the top portion of the SSC panel and or to shorten the length of the straps for the user.

Volunteers Rachel Patterson and Morgan Salvatori demoing a Ring Sling (RS). Photo credit for Rachel goes to Katie Lauren Photography, https://www.katielauren.photography

Volunteer Allison Burdi demoing a Pouch Sling

Volunteers Melita Love and Cyn McMas demoing a Meh Dai (MD)

Volunteer Anne Wetzle demoing a Soft Structure Carrier (SSC) with Perfect Fit Adusters (PFA)

Volunteer Mich Conway demoing a Forward Facing Outward (FFO) carry

Volunteer Haley Cloughessy demoing a Stretchy Wrap with her twins

Volunteer Anne Wetzle demoing a Woven Wrap

Next we will take a look at some of the commonly referenced Wrap carry abbreviations:

FWCC: Front Wrap Cross Carry

PWCC: Pocket Wrap Cross Carry

TUB: Tied Under Bum

TIF: Tied In Front

FCC: Front Cross Carry

DH: Double Hammock

TAS: Tied At Shoulder

CCCB: Candy Cane Chest Belt

Pre Tied: a pre fastened “poppable” carry used with either a stretchy or a woven wrap designed to be able to pop your little one in and out of without untying each time.

Slack: the looseness used to describe areas of the carrier that need tightening.

Rails: Used to reference the upper and lower portion of the wrap or ring sling, generally met where the hemline is along the length of the carrier. Top rail will reference the portion closest to baby’s neck, bottom rail will reference the area closest to baby’s bum.

Strand by Strand Tightening: rather than taking an entire tail of a woven or a ring sling to tighten, you’ll want to do what is called “strand by strand” tightening which is pinching and putting tension on each area of the wrap or tail (top rail, a few areas in the center of the panel, and the bottom rail) to ensure even tightness throughout fastening the carrier.

Volunteer Mich Conway demoing a Front Wrap Cross Carry (FWCC)

Volunteer Jena Love demoing a Tied At Shoulder (TAS)

Volunteer Jena Love demoing a Candy Cane Cross Belt (CCCB)

Lastly we will explore some of the acronyms you may find when buying a carrier second hand either locally or on the swaps.

BST: Buy, Sell, Trade ISO: In Search Of DISO: Desperately In Search Of CISO: Casually In Search Of FSO: For Sale Only (no trades) FSOT: For Sale Or Trade FTO: For Trade Only PF/SF: Pet Free/ Smoke Free

While these aren’t all of the terms out there, these are the ones you may find most commonly referenced within the Babywearing community.

We are so happy you took the time out of your day to read through this blog, as always for hands on help please be sure to visit us at a Babywearing meeting local to you! Peace, love and happy Babywearing to all.

Feel free to ask any questions and please post any of your babywearing pictures to share with #oktoshare!

Blog post by New York Babywearing Educator Anne Wetzel