Your Guide to Creating Your Very Own Swazi Baby Bjorn

Better than most women around the world who improvise their baby carriers, Swazi women carry their infants & small children on their backs using bath towels (normal size ones, that barely wrap around your hips or your chest, depending on your body shape).

And, they do it successfully. We thought you should all be imparted with this wisdom because it works! Amazingly! Kate tried it, & I documented the 5 steps for your learning pleasure:

Step 1: Place the baby on your back - the only real requirements for this are that the hands/arms be directed toward your head/neck.

Step 2: Flip the towel up over your back to drape over your back & the baby's body (should go from about the baby's shoulders as far down as the width of the towel).

Step 3: Wrap the top of the towel around your body, under your arms, as if you were tucking a bath towel around your body after the shower.

Step 4: Gather the bottom corners of the towel in each hand & cross the bottom left side around your waist to your right hip. At this point the towel will be gathering below the baby to form a "seat."

Step 5: Tuck the bottom right side underneath the wrapped portion of towel (the same as you did on top but this time tucking from bottom up). You can tighen as needed by pulling the wrapped portion tighter.

Voila! Success:

After the wrapping, some women pull their babies feet out to hang loose (depending on the size of child & the length/flexibility of their legs). Also, the moms who are bustier or just bigger in general will tie both the top & bottom of the towel in a simple knot (not even a double knot) instead of tucking, & it works the same way. Just imagine how easy this would be with a beach towel and not a bath towel!