Babywearing in Las Vegas was something I always planned on doing. It seemed like a great idea. Your child was right next to you, gaining comfort in hearing your breathing and in feeling your heartbeat. It would leave my hands free to shop, do dishes, or fold laundry. I’d be the coolest Dad on the block, really showing my friends and neighbors “how it’s done.”

Then came the day that my wife’s doctor told us the two words that would shatter that wonderful babywearing image: “It’s twins!” How was I going to manage to carry two babies? One on the front and one on the back?

My ideas of being the hippest dad in the neighborhood because I was wearing my baby changed to thinking I would be the most unique, being the only one with twins. Any thought of babywearing I had kind of disappeared.

When I heard about International Babywearing Week, and found out that the dads group I helped start here in Las Vegas could be part of a nationwide event I was excited but still faced with the dilemma of what do I do with the other baby? If I wear only one, the other is going to get mad that he’s not being carried, and if I try and have them take turns … well, they’re just shy of 2 years old. You KNOW how THAT’S going to go. Thank God for grandparents, as one got to spend the day with them, while the other helped me celebrate the babywearing holiday in style.

Imagine: More than 100 dads in 13 different cities, all wearing their babies. Five of my fellow Las Vegas Dads met me downtown on the morning of Oct. 9. We parked at Main Street Station, walked up to the Plaza Hotel and then began our journey down Historic Fremont Street. The response babywearing in Las Vegas was incredible.

People pointed.

People smiled.

One man, a former stay-at-home dad, even asked to take a picture of us.

At one point, I saw people I knew and they failed to recognize me with a baby on my chest. (Note to self – great disguise if I ever plan a bank robbery). We made our way down to the container park where the awesomeness continued. We let the kids play at the treehouse for a bit while we rested and talked about the trip so far.

After our break, we headed back to our starting point and said our goodbyes. I think I speak for all of us when I say the experience was great and the response incredible. I was happy because we had just ended another successful meet-up. The guys in the group were happy for the same reason, I’m sure, but they also got to bring home their baby carrier. (Thanks, Britax!) I hope they continue to use it.

As for my twins and I? As much as I enjoy spending time with them both, having just one for a day has opened my eyes to how special and important one-on-one time is and I think I’m going to try and schedule more of it. That means the baby carrier is going to come in handy, and Grandma and Grandpa can expect another visitor real soon!

Editor’s Note: Australian at-home dad Rory Chambers moved to Manhattan earlier this year and quickly discovered a new band of brothers to hang with: Our NYC Dads Group. He recently posted a version of this tale on his blog Rory’s Stories about finding his community and his experience participating in a recent International Babywearing Week event. Enjoy.

Upon arriving in a brand new city with no significant opportunity for “natural” community that might otherwise be found at a workplace, I did what any self-respecting digital native would do and Googled “stay at home dads NYC.” Thank you, internet: NYC Dad’s Group, take a bow.

Meetup.com has pretty much become my go-to for finding people to hang out with. Being a (sort of) housebound extrovert has its challenges and I’m increasingly thankful that we moved here in the summer before I got really housebound.

Turns out there’s a whole swag of dads groups around the country … (that are) really passionate about seeing dads get a bit more exposure as part of the public face of full-time parenting other than just “the backup parent,” “Mr. Mum” or, most patronizingly, “the babysitter today.” I appreciate that a lot.

I’ve only been to a couple of events, but I just got home from one that turned a lot of heads: a small flotilla of dads with their kids in Britax baby carriers all cruising the High Line together. It was great! Britax sent us all a free carrier so long as we all promised to get out during International Babywearing Week and share the love.

Honestly, I took a while to get comfortable wearing Ele (both physically and socially) but I’m all over it now. I love it. For a start, it makes getting around the city so much easier than using a stroller and it’s really nice to have her right there in front of me to play with, talk to and make faces at. When we first got here and I would take her out in the stroller, I’d feel kinda disconnected from her as we cruised along with her facing away from me. Today, I discovered that she’ll bust a gut laughing if I chew on her fingers.

I did feel pretty conspicuous at first and to some extent I still do, but really it’s just another thing that I could choose to feel conspicuous about, or I could just decide not to care. Choosing the latter has been lots more freeing and fun. She makes for great conversation at stoplights and on the subway, she’s fun to play with when she’s right there in front of me and every now and then – if I’m really lucky – she’ll fall asleep on my chest and there are few greater feelings than that.

As for the event itself – it was a perfect day for it: Beautiful sun, blue skies and enough other people cruising the park to make for a really great photo op. Or two. Or twelve. I met a bunch of guys and their kids, got a few tips on some great NYC stuff to check out, got stopped by several tourists (all of them Australian, strangely enough) asking what was going on:

Her: “Why are there so many dads carrying their babies around?”

Me: “Because it’s a good thing to do.”

That particular woman also reminded me about that Aussie show House Husbands, which I’ve never watched but apparently it’s good. It’s got Gary Sweet in it, so hopefully there’s some rappelling down a skyscraper with a kid in a carrier somewhere in there. Anyway, we got a lot of “aww”s and “oh, cuuute”s as we walked along, so I’d say the event was pretty successful at raising the profile of dads being dads.

So, way to go NYC Dad’s group, Britax for your generosity and all you dads who do a kick arse job at being parents. I’m glad to be among you.

City Dads Group members strapped their babies to their chests and visited the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, toured a professional football stadium in San Francisco, and climbed the famous “Rocky” steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art among the many activities our fathers participated in as part of last week’s celebration of International Babywearing Week.

All 13 City Dads Groups across the United States did something with babies on board their new baby carriers, courtesy of Britax — a longtime supporter of our organization. Our dads and their kids visited places as family-friendly as the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio, as unexpected as Fremont Street in the historic Las Vegas downtown, and as potentially exhausting as hiking through Mariposa Basin Park in Albuquerque – all to promote the many advantages and benefits of wearing your baby.

Our teams’ efforts received praise around the world with articles and photo spreads in sources usual (The Good Men Project, Indy Star) and unusual (China Daily’s website).

Here’s some highlights from last week:

The Hollywood sign can be spotted behind these members of our L.A. Dads Group standing just outside the Griffith Observatory.

Yo! Adrian! Our Philly Dads Group climbed to the Philadelphia Museum of Art just like a certain fictional boxer did.

The World of Coca-Cola received a tour from baby-wearing members of our babywearing Atlanta Dads Group.

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium was toured by our babywearing Columbus Dads Group.

Our babywearing NYC Dads Group stands tall with their babies along the city’s High Line park, a converted elevated subway track.

*Disclosure: City Dads Group received free Brtiax baby carriers as well as compensation for this babywearing week sponsored event.  We only work with brands that create products or services that we believe in and use ourselves.  The opinions expressed in this blog entry are authentic and our own.

Editor’s Note: October 5 to 13 is International Babywearing Week and the NYC Dads Group can’t get more international than our own Jason Greene talking about his experience wearing his child across Europe on a recent trip.

My family is a baby-wearing kind of family. So when we were packing for our recent trip to Europe, we brought along our new Baby Bjorn We Carrier instead of a stroller because we planning on wearing our child during this adventure.

When the We Carrier is folded up, it takes very little room, which was perfect since we had plenty of other suitcases, bags and car seats to juggle. We could even fit the We Carrier into our backpack when our 2-year-old wanted to walk around.

We mainly wore our toddler on our back, except for a few times when it was nap time and he wanted to rest on our chests. We carried him around Spain, Italy, and France’s most amazing locations and it was perfect for the frequent tight squeezes and cobblestoned streets one finds in Europe – places where a stroller won’t work. It was also perfect for visiting locations where our son was tempted to touch priceless artifacts, like the Royal Palace in Madrid. With him safe on our back, we could relax and enjoy history.

My son sat comfortably and we carried him around comfortably. The straps were easy to snap together and even if one of us was alone with our toddler, we could place him in the carrier quite easily.

It was nice having my 2-year-old close to me as I experienced our adventures. While he won’t remember hiking up Mount Vesuvius in Italy or visiting the beach in Barcelona, I will always remember wearing him on my back as we took in the amazing sites.

The Baby Bjorn We Carrier can hold children up to 33 pounds and my quite-large 2-year-old is proof that even older kids can enjoy the ride.

Disclosure: Baby Bjorn provided Jason with a We Carrier for his review, but he was not compensated and the opinions are his own.

My baby daughter Avery and I were making our usual grocery trip when the urge to use the restroom suddenly hit me while perusing the aisles. Damn multiple cups of green tea and coffee!

As I stood at the urinal, I looked down at Avery in her Onya Baby Outback carrier and tried to keep her from letting out any random cries as she generally does. Why she has to fuss as I stand at a urinal, no clue. But as I tried my best to offer soothing words, I paused and realized what I was saying might be taken the wrong way considering my location.

Then I thought back to the countless times before when I was wearing Avery and had to use a public restroom. “Crap” (not literally), I thought to myself, “anyone in the restroom at the same time must really be questioning what they heard from me!” I know if I were in a stall and heard some guy talking in a soothing, cooing voice, I wouldn’t come out until I knew he was gone.

So I came up with these top 10 things a dad should never say while wearing his baby and using a public restroom. And if you’re wondering, yes, I have said all of these to Avery. It’s a surprise I’m still allowed in these stores!

1. “Don’t worry, you’ll get bigger.” (I said this to Avery when her head couldn’t see over the carrier.)
2. “Well, hello there.”
3. “Uh oh, I need to get you a burp cloth.”
4. “Daddy won’t take long.”
5. “I’m so proud of you!”
6. “What do you see up there?” (This is when Avery is looking up at the ceiling.)
7. “Mommy is going to be so happy to see you!”
8. “Please stay still so I can finish.”
9. “Are you hungry?”
10. “If you’re good, we can play with that new toy at home.”

Needless to say, I’m going to be more conscientious about how I word things when talking to Avery in a restroom from now on.

A version of this first appeared on Going Dad.

International Babywearing Week is October 5 – 11. The NYC Dads Group had such a blast participating in this important baby bonding event the past few years – strolling through the Central Park Zoo, walking over the Brooklyn Bridge, and observing priceless art at the MET Museum. Now that we are a national network of dad groups, we’re planning something BIGGER to “Share the Adventure” and raise awareness this year throughout the nation.

We’ve organized a major, national multi-City Dads Group effort. More than 100 City Dads Group members in 13 metropolitan cities across the country will be gathering, meeting-up, and taking leisurely walks together at iconic and well-known locations. Check out the diverse range of meetups we have planned across America:

• SF Dads Group: Taking a walking tour of the new Levis Football Stadium
• Columbus Dads Group: Walking around the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
• Atlanta Dads Group: Taking a walking tour at World of Coca Cola
• NYC Dads Group: Strolling the High Line Park in Manhattan
• LA Dads Group: Taking a walking tour of Griffith Park Observatory
• Philly Dads Group: Walking tour – Sister Cities Park to “Rocky Steps” of Art Museum
• Chicago Dads Group: Walking tour from Michigan Avenue over to Millennium Park
• Denver Dads Group: Taking a walk into Riverfront Park
• Boston Dads Group: Walking along Freedom Trail by Boston Commons
• Indy Dads Group: Taking a leisure walk along the Monon Trail
• ABQ Dads Group: Hiking in Mariposa Basin Park
• Vegas Dads Group: Taking a walk along historic Fremont Street
• Dallas Dads Group: Strolling through Klyde Warren Park

Want to join us? The ultimate goal of our babywearing events are getting dads together for an invigorating meet-up that involves a fall babywearing walk with some other cool, active, and nurturing dads. Regardless of what baby carrier you may own, we hope more of you will grab your baby and carrier, and plan to join us in your city for these wonderful events on Thursday, October 9.

A special thanks to our sponsor, Britax, for supporting active fathers and supplying us with amazing gear for the events.

International Babywearing Week (Oct 5 – 11, 2014) is a focused opportunity to celebrate, promote, and advocate the many benefits of Babywearing. Infants thrive on touch so wearing your baby is an important way to meet this need. There are so many other advantages and benefits like bonding with your baby, less crying (carried babies cry less), building confident parents, comfort, and convenience so you have both hands free. Babywearing International Inc. is proud to lead babywearers around the globe who will be gathering during the week to educate about, practice, and celebrate the varied options available today for safe babywearing. We’re excited about the opportunity to celebrate such an important facet of caregiving! Hopefully, you will cheer us on or join our parade on Thursday, October 9 on The High Line. See you there!

*Disclosure: City Dads Group has been compensated for this sponsored meet-up. We only work with brands that create products or services that we believe in and use ourselves. The opinions expressed in this blog entry are authentic and our own

International Babywearing Week: Dads + kids completed our HighLine Walk

We couldn’t have asked for a better day.  Sunny skies and cool, comfortable Autumn weather made for an invigorating stroll through one of the City’s newest and most unique public parks.  And the Britax carriers kept all the little ones comfortable throughout, my own even taking his nap and waking up just before we wrapped the walk up over pizza.  (On a personal note, after having tried several other carriers, the Britax is my carrier of choice for its comfort, support and clean appearance)  All in all, it was a wonderful event with a great group of guys and their kids.

What happens when a DAD-PACK of eighteen active, nurturing, and confident fathers celebrated International Babywearing Week at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City? We caused quite a ruckus!

First, just wanted to mention that we’re training out to Washington DC today to spend the weekend at the 17th Annual At-Home Dads Convention networking with lots of other caring, capable, and confident fathers!  You can follow us all weekend on Twitter @NYCDadsGroup or check out our FaceBook Page  – http://www.facebook.com/NYCDadsGroup – for updates.

Second, wanted to share that NYC Dads Group will be celebrating International Babywearing Week on Tuesday, Oct 9th at 11am with twenty members (like Danny G. pictured above) of our DAD-PACK walking over the Brooklyn Bridge to Brooklyn Bridge Park sporting our babies in our Britax Baby Carriers.  A special thanks to our sponsor, Britax, for supporting active fathers and supplying us with amazing gear for the big event!

International Babywearing Week (Oct 8 – 14) is a focused opportunity to celebrate, promote, and advocate the many benefits of Babywearing.  Infants thrive on touch so wearing your baby is an important way to meet this need. There are so many other advantages and benefits like bonding with your baby, less crying (carreid babies cry less), building confident parents, comfort, and convenience so you have both hands free. We are excited about the opportunity to celebrate such an important facet of caregiving!  Hopefully, you will cheer us on or join our parade on Tuesday.  See you there!