Tuesday 24 June 2014

Say What? Babywearing Lingo Decoded

By Stephanie Danielle



When I was a new babywearer, I found many things daunting about this community: the passion mums put into their carries, the ruthless mommas stalking stockings, watching a mom sling a baby on her back, but mostly it was things like this - “OMG! I was so DISO a custom slot from Blue Hibou! I got one! Look at my OOAK WCMT! I TT for comfort! This is sooo permastash!” .. Excuse me?! What in the world does any of that mean?!

This post is going to break down some of the common acronyms and general lingo you’ll see kicking around forums, Facebook pages, and BST (Buy Sell Trade) pages.

First section – Carriers:

RS - Ring Sling: A length of fabric with a pair of rings sewn into one end. A lot of slings are sized, and they have variations of “shoulders”, which simply put means how the shoulder was sewn (Eesti, Box Pleat, Pleat, Gathered, Hybrid, etc). Every converter has a preference, and most have their own twist on a shoulder type.

WCRS – Wrap Conversion Ring Sling: An RS made from a length of wrap.

Shorty - A short wrap: people refer to size 2 and size 3 wraps as shorties, most commonly.

SSC - Soft Structured Carrier/Soft Sided Carrier: Examples of these are Ergo, Beco, Boba, Tula, and Kinderpack, to name a few.


MT - Mei Tei: Asian style carrier.  This carrier has a large body panel and long straps that extend from the top corners (to tie with), and two shorter straps coming from the lower corners acting as waiste straps. These are often sized carriers.


WCMT – Wrap Conversion Mei Tei: A mei tei made from a woven wrap.  The straps are usually wider and custom options applied.


TC/SPOC – Table Cloth – Simple Piece of Cloth: There’s some debate with this one.  It's a woven material used for carrying your baby that wasn’t designed specifically for that purpose. Some mamas are concerned with the safety and integrity of the cloth, but like anything, safety first, and you have to be confident that the weave is tight and your baby is secure.

FB - Full Buckle: (WCFB) A custom carrier made from a woven wrap with a buckle waist and buckle shoulder straps.


Stretchy - Stretchy Wrap: A piece of stretchy fabric, examples include Moby, and Maman Kangaroo. This carrier is recommended for front carries only, and while advertised as good through toddlerhood, a lot of moms end up using them for infants only because the stretchy material is not as supportive as the baby grows.

WW – Woven Wrap: Sized woven fabric used as a carrier. There are various brands, sizes, and qualities. These can come as machine woven or handwoven, from sizes 1 through 8, and can be used for front, back, and hip carries.

Second - Company Abbreviations:


Gira - Short form for woven wrap company Girasol
Nati - Short form for woven wrap company Natibaby
KKD - Short form for woven wrap company KoKaDi
Storch - Short form for woven wrap company Storchenweige
Didy - Short form for woven wrap company Didymos


Third – Carries:

FWCC – Front Wrap Cross Carry
RRRR – Rear Rebozo Reinforced Rucksack
RR – Rear Rebozo
RUB – Ruck (tied) Under Bum
RTIF – Ruck Tied In Front
JBC/HJBC – Jordan’s Back Carry – Half Jordan’s Back Carry
SHBC – Secure High Back Carry

CCCB – Candy Cane Chest Belt
TT – Tied Tibetan
TUB – Tied Under Bum
TAS – Tied At Sholder


Fourth – Selling Terms:


FSOT – For Sale Or Trade
ISO / CISO / DISO – In Search Of, Casually In Search Of, Desperately In Search Of
BN: Brand New
BNIB: Brand New In Box
BNIP: Brand New In Package
BNWT: Brand New With Tags
MMARO: Make me a reasonable offer

HTF – Hard To Find
HSA – Highly Sought After
FFS – Free For Shipping
PIF – Pay If Forward
GUC – Good Used Condition
EUC – Excellent Used Condition
PC – Play Condition
VGUC – Very Good Used Condition
MV- Market Value
OOAK – One Of A Kind
STIH - soft tape (measuring) in hand

PPD – Postage Paid Domestic
TV – Trade Value


I really really hope some of these definitions help you navigate this crazy babywearing world.

I know there are some I missed! Help me out by adding your acronyms/terms in the comments!

5 comments:

  1. What is a dip? A raffling of an item where you pay for several chances with a limited number of chances being sold?

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  2. Thanks!!! Very useful... scary new world! Scary expensive new world!

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  3. This is fantastic! I'm new to baby wearing and have been stalking some Facebook groups to understand the lingo but it was hard to get it!!! Thanks!!!

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