# Be careful with babywearing...



## tammyswanson (Feb 19, 2007)

Get this. Me, DH and DS had to go to the courthouse to do some paperwork. We go in (me first, and DH is behind me). It's cold so I have DS in a front carry sling, with his head tucked in (he was sleeping) and my thin coat that I had on was wrapped around him as well as I could. I go in thru the metal detectors with no problem and see where we are supposed to go (the office is basically right in front of us). There are three 'security guards' or cops or whatever at the metal detector station. I hear DH say to them "It's a baby". I didn't think anything of it, I turned around and smiled (strange they all looked at me weirdly...like they were worried or something), and showed them DS asleep. DH asked where the office was that we needed to go to, and they told us, 'straight ahead'.

Later on (after we had been home), DH told me that the one cop/security dude actually had his one hand on his TASER, and the other was on his pistol grip, and DH said that is why he told these monkeys that it was a baby (and not a bomb, which is what I am guessing they thought DS was).

I am SO paranoid about cops/security people nowadays, especially after reading about that father getting tasered at that hospital in Houston (and yes, he had a baby in his arms at the time-oops, never mind that-ZAP! Sizzle!). Or that poor guy in the Canadian airport who got fried and was killed by the airport personnel. Or a peaceful protestor up in Pgh who got hand cuffed and then tasered. Or any number of things that I've been seeing in the news. I was electrocuted for extra credit in science class, and it was the worst pain I ever felt. Even worse than giving birth.

Plus having been a rent a cop in a previous job I saw the cream of the crop they hire...myself excluded, ha ha!









So, if you go into a court house or airport or any place where they are extra paranoid about 'terrorists' or whatever, beware they might think you and your babywearing is actually a concealed explosive.







:


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## HopefulHeart (Mar 4, 2005)

Ick...so sorry you had a bad experience! I agree that I'd keep the baby in view as much as possible in a public place so that everyone knows without a doubt it's' NOT a bomb.







I'll make sure to remember that for airport trips.


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## TayTaysMama (Oct 16, 2007)

That sounds scary! Holy moly!

I'm glad that your DH saw them and told them you had a baby.

I just read today that in Ohio a pregnant woman got hit with a taser while trying to leave a police station. Crazy how much it is happening!

So glad nothing happened to you guys and thanks for the warning!


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## elspethshimon (Nov 23, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *tammyswanson* 
I was electrocuted for extra credit in science class,


Okay, I just have to say that this made me laugh for some reason.

Otherwise, I'm sorry that you had to deal with that.


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## tammyswanson (Feb 19, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *elspethshimon* 
Okay, I just have to say that this made me laugh for some reason.

Yeah, it was funny (after it happened, ha ha!), not too many people can make THAT claim!


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## ecstaticmama24 (Sep 20, 2006)

Pretty unbelievable heh? Seriously, get with it!!


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## NaturalFamiLEA (Nov 9, 2003)

Wow, hadn't thought about this. Thanks for the head's up! Nuts that we have to be so concerned about tasers...sheesh.


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## rmzbm (Jul 8, 2005)

OMG, I'd be pretty furious after I calmed down!









...furious after calming down, hmmm, maybe that didn't make perfect sense...


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## 3xx1xyFamily (Nov 25, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *HopefulHeart* 
I'd keep the baby in view as much as possible in a public place so that everyone knows without a doubt it's' NOT a bomb.







)

I wish that was all it took... keeping the baby in sight.

I forgot to take DD out of a ring sling in an airport coming through security... whooops, I set off the metal detector (rings in full view) I offered to take it off and come back through... nope! I was grabbed and whisked to the side! DD, 8 weeks old at the time, was patted down, I was patted down, they ran off with the sling swabbed it and ran a metal detector over it. Talk about overkill!

It's cotton and 2 d-rings with an 8 week old in it! Seriously how harmful can it be!

How frustrating! What a wonderful time to be alive!


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## maymorales (Dec 9, 2006)

I don't understand patting down a babywearing mama. more than once, I've had to take off my Ergo or Beco through the airport security. Okay. the zipper on the Ergo set off the metal detector. But I never beeped with a Beco. So why take me aside all the time?

And each time, they'd want dd out of the carrier and be separate from me so that I can be patted down.

Seriously ppl, if there's "intelligence" proving that babywearing women fit the profile (not that i'm a profile fan at all, anyway!), then I'll happily comply. But what the heck?
Just an excuse to mess with the babywearing moms, imo.







:


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## tammyswanson (Feb 19, 2007)

Actually, they like to profile older women too. At thanksgiving, a family friend was relating what happened to his sister, a 70-ish woman traveling from Phoenix to here. She said she'd call him when she got to the airport so he didn't have to wait around. Hours after she was 'due in', she finally called.

When he picked her up, she told him what had happened. Before she got on the plane in Phoenix, she was taken out of line. They took her out, had her strip TOTALLY naked and get a full body cavity search.







For NO good reason! It is so sick what is going on in this country. Now you have to worry about being strip searched (and worse) when you go to the airport.


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## Pam_and_Abigail (Dec 2, 2002)

And that is why I have a fear of flying. I don't fear the physics in getting a plane off the ground, I fear airport security and the human rights violations they seem to have as policy.


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## woodchick (Jan 5, 2007)

I've worn dd through several airports in a sling and it never occured to me NOT to take her out of the carrier while going through security. I liken it to taking my shoes or jacket off.

It is security's job to make sure that nothing is concealed- and a baby carrier could certainly conceal things. *I am not implying that folks are hiding contraband in their slings, just making a point.


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## moodymaximus (Nov 13, 2007)

i'm sorry for the experience, but i'm actually glad that anyone who looks like they are concealing something gets the guards' attention. this is their job, and babywearing is not a very common sight (that's another issue). i feel safer that they are alert, rather than assume that any woman who looks like she's hiding something under her coat has a sleeping baby under there.







:


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## moodymaximus (Nov 13, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *woodchick* 
I've worn dd through several airports in a sling and it never occured to me NOT to take her out of the carrier while going through security. I liken it to taking my shoes or jacket off.

It is security's job to make sure that nothing is concealed- and a baby carrier could certainly conceal things. *I am not implying that folks are hiding contraband in their slings, just making a point.


we posted at the same time


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## maymorales (Dec 9, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *woodchick* 
I've worn dd through several airports in a sling and it never occured to me NOT to take her out of the carrier while going through security. I liken it to taking my shoes or jacket off.

It is security's job to make sure that nothing is concealed- and a baby carrier could certainly conceal things. *I am not implying that folks are hiding contraband in their slings, just making a point.

okay. i can see that.
but even a toddler asleep in a SSC? he's pretty exposed. does he really have to wake up and be taken out?

guess it's just another thing we all have to get used to. it just sucks when he's asleep in the carrier and I'd have to wake him up and then put him on a chair so they can wand me. All the while, he's freaking out.


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## woodchick (Jan 5, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *motheringtao* 
okay. i can see that.
but even a toddler asleep in a SSC? he's pretty exposed. does he really have to wake up and be taken out?


I'd say yes. It sucks, but why should we babywearers get special treatment? The best thing to do is plan ahead and do what you can to make getting through security easier- slip on shoes, no coat minimal luggage. And that way dealing with the babe (asleep or not) should be easier.


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## phreedom (Apr 19, 2007)

My DH works in a prison and one *very* common way that drugs and other contraband items are smuggled into the prison are visitors putting it in the babies diapers and hiding it in the baby carriers with the babies (bucket seats and slings). So it does happen.


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## tammyswanson (Feb 19, 2007)

The problem I have is that ever since Tasers have been handed to cops and security guards, they are used in unnecessary circumstances. Whatever happened to 'talking' to people? He didn't even ask me to see what I had in my coat.

There are just too many people in law enforcement who like to shoot now and ask questions later.

That news article about that father getting tasered with his newborn baby in his arms was burned into my brain.

Oh, and here is the link of the pregnant woman being tasered by cops that the one PP mentioned.

Here's the video of that guy getting tasered (and he died) at the airport in Canada.

Video of a person getting tasered (first the cop whacks him with the car door) for not getting his insurance out fast enough....

A news article about a 20 year old guy who died after being tasered...

Oh, and here is the article and the link to the video about a woman who was handcuffed and then tasered numerous times.

No wonder I don't trust law 'enforcement' anymore.







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## phreedom (Apr 19, 2007)

I won't go into the man at the hospital with the baby. Except to say that neither party was using good judgement. The security guard should not have tasered a man with an infant, but I don't think the father had the best interest of his child in mind either.

I don't disagree that the use of tasers in the hands of power hungry law enforcement officials is bad news (to say the least).

I still maintain that law enforcement officials need to protect themselves. My husband works in a prison with some of the most dangerous criminals in the US. He is in close contact with these inmates on a daily basis. His only protection is a radio and a flashlight. Just a few days ago 2 officers go stabbed and seriously injured. They had NOTHING...not even a vest to protect them.

That being said, I think it's a little silly that the first thing they reached for was a taser and gun when they saw you coming.


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## hellyaellen (Nov 8, 2005)

i agree its good that the guards are alert to potential concealment of wepons but ridiculous that a wepon is the first thing they reached for

glad for the heads up but sorry its necessary


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## misseks (Jan 12, 2005)

The airport people at Vancouver International Airport made me wake up my baby and take her off my back so they could metal-detect me. I was travelling alone with a 3 year old and a 19 month old. Hello, could you make it more difficult, please?

Tasers are scary because they make the victim yell and scream and wave hisarms (which makes the police think, Jeez he's getting more excited and agitated, not less I guess I'll taze again!) and so I think tasers are a terrible weapon. In Canada, police are pepper-sprayed during their training so that they _know_ how much it hurts, but they aren't tasered, because it is "too dangerous."

side note - The man who died at Vancouver Airport was tasered by the RCMP (national police force) not the airport staff. Security personnel in Canada, as far as I know, do not carry weapons. Also, almost all security in Canada is conttracted out to security firms, so even Airport Security are not Airport Employees.


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## rajahkat (Oct 1, 2003)

scary.

It doesn't bother me at all that they want to check you, your baby, your sling, your shoes, etc. They should check, and they probably aren't checking enough. My dh flies all the time, and he said that he accidentally left his medical scissors in his CARRY ON BAG. He went through 2 different airports and never even got stopped. He didn't realize they were there til he got home, and then he was like, "what the heck?!?"

But jumpy cops shouldn't be on the job, sorry. If you are THAT scared then you need to find another line of work, and tasering pregnant women or reaching for your gun instead of asking a woman what she's carrying in her sling is simply unacceptable.


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## tammyswanson (Feb 19, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *phreedom* 
I won't go into the man at the hospital with the baby. Except to say that neither party was using good judgement. The security guard should not have tasered a man with an infant, but I don't think the father had the best interest of his child in mind either.

I don't disagree that the use of tasers in the hands of power hungry law enforcement officials is bad news (to say the least).

I still maintain that law enforcement officials need to protect themselves. My husband works in a prison with some of the most dangerous criminals in the US. He is in close contact with these inmates on a daily basis. His only protection is a radio and a flashlight. Just a few days ago 2 officers go stabbed and seriously injured. They had NOTHING...not even a vest to protect them.

That being said, I think it's a little silly that the first thing they reached for was a taser and gun when they saw you coming.

ITA that people who work in prisons need serious protection (like a taser). I had looked into getting a job at the prison but their benefits/salary were a joke. It's awful how little they pay them, at least down here. And they do have to watch their backs 100 percent...eek!

I think that cops need to be trained better on when to use them. If I *did* have a bomb...I wonder if the electricity would trigger something like that to go off? Who knows.... Cops need to stop tasering handcuffed people too, or people who just give them attitude. I can totally understand getting mad at people who mouth off, but that comes with the job.


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## Phantaja (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *tammyswanson* 
Actually, they like to profile older women too. At thanksgiving, a family friend was relating what happened to his sister, a 70-ish woman traveling from Phoenix to here. She said she'd call him when she got to the airport so he didn't have to wait around. Hours after she was 'due in', she finally called.

When he picked her up, she told him what had happened. Before she got on the plane in Phoenix, she was taken out of line. They took her out, had her strip TOTALLY naked and get a full body cavity search.







For NO good reason! It is so sick what is going on in this country. Now you have to worry about being strip searched (and worse) when you go to the airport.


Wow. That's terrible, but I think that it might've been exagerated just a teeny bit. First, there's regular, in public screening, then secondary screening which is done behind a screen if the passenger is uncomfortable. THEN customs might take over. But a "strip search" rarely happens, if it does, an Xray is done first to make sure that the agent is going to find SOMETHING in there, and no one is ever just "taken out of line." She could've (and should've) sued the crap out of the DHS, and a complete overhaul of avaiation screening would've had to happen. The TSA isn't even allowed to wand under a womans skirt, let alone make her remove her panties.


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## Genesis (Jan 8, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *rmzbm* 
OMG, I'd be pretty furious after I calmed down!









...furious after calming down, hmmm, maybe that didn't make perfect sense...


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## tammyswanson (Feb 19, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Phantaja* 
Wow. That's terrible, but I think that it might've been exagerated just a teeny bit. First, there's regular, in public screening, then secondary screening which is done behind a screen if the passenger is uncomfortable. THEN customs might take over. But a "strip search" rarely happens, if it does, an Xray is done first to make sure that the agent is going to find SOMETHING in there, and no one is ever just "taken out of line." She could've (and should've) sued the crap out of the DHS, and a complete overhaul of avaiation screening would've had to happen. The TSA isn't even allowed to wand under a womans skirt, let alone make her remove her panties.

I've heard other stories about people being strip searched. Also my mom's friend's son was taken out of line at a US airport. They took him without telling him ANYTHING in a van and interrogated him for hours! Why? They thought he might have been a member of the IRA...because he has red hair. He's not even IRISH!

Try to sue the airport, they'll probably put you on a no fly list. They do that to totally innocent people to just make their monthly quotas... sad but true.
*
None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free.---Goethe*


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## Phantaja (Oct 10, 2006)

Sigh. NM. It's not worth it.


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