Cindy Morley on thu 27 dec 01
Hi everyone, I have a question for those who have attended NCECA.... I
have always wanted to go and this year it is very close so I'm hoping to be
able to attend. My problem is I have a new baby who will be 5 months old
at the time of NCECA. I'm still nursing her, so leaving her with a
babysitter is out of the question. Since I have never been, I'm not sure
how "baby friendly" everything will be? Any suggestions/tips/advice???
Thanks
Cindy Morley
cmorley@law.uark.edu
L. P. Skeen on sun 30 dec 01
Cindy,
This subject was covered about 2 months back when someone else asked
basically the same question. My answer, and I'm sure that of others, will
prolly remain the same:
IMO NCECA is not a place for babies or children. The reasons are as
follows:
1. Many people enjoy going to conferences as a way to commune with other
adults and get away from children.
2. Babies have a lot of paraphernalia (sp?) including carriers, diaper
bags, bottles, etc. Even if you are breast feeding, this is true. NCECA
occurs in a large venue where hauling all that stuff around would be a PITA.
There are buses to ride to various exhibits, the vendor section where people
are packed wall-to-wall.
3. Many of the events are SRO. Nobody wants to be distracted from a
world-class demo or lecture by the crying/fussing of a baby or child. Also,
if said child gets fussy, you will have to disrupt the event in order to
leave with your paraphernalia.
It is a shame that NCECA and other similar organizations that have
conferences cannot take parents into consideration and provide daycare, but
they don't, at least not at this point unless someone was listening when we
had this discussion earlier............ Perhaps you and whomever that other
person was who wanted to take her baby could get together and share
babysitting stuff; then you could both attend.
L
----- Original Message -----
From: Cindy Morley
Subject: NCECA and nursing?
> My problem is I have a new baby who will be 5 months old at the time of
NCECA. I'm still nursing her, so leaving her with a babysitter is out of
the question. Since I have never been, I'm not sure how "baby friendly"
everything will be
MaryBeth Bishop on mon 31 dec 01
Dear Cindy,
Some of this may sound bizarre but...I had to travel when my son was an
infant. I took with me a neighbor's adolescent child who was wonderful with
little ones. Between us we managed to meet his needs and I did what I needed
to do. She relished the adventure. It all worked. I really think it is
easier to travel with infants than toddlers. It definitely increases the
cost of coming to NCECA. I had to pay travel/expenses plus a time fee we
worked out but if your budget can handle it...
And on the other side of the coin...there are going to be NCECA's forever but
you will only be a his/her mommy once. Don't let anything interfere with
that.
Whatever, something always works.
Mary Beth Bishop
David Hendley on tue 1 jan 02
There is no reason you cannot attend NCECA with a baby.
Of course you don't take the baby with you to an esoteric
lecture in a crowded hall.
(Please, don't take him/her to the John Waters session in
Kansas City, as it may warp her personality. Why are we
having an off-beat movie producer at NCECA?).
You pick and choose which sessions you want to attend,
leave your baby with a caregiver in your room, and go by
the room to be with the baby several times through out
the day.
Here's what we did when my family attended house building school
when my son was a baby. We asked the school, before we came,
if there were any other students bringing kids with them. Sure
enough, one woman was bringing her teenage daughter, so we
arranged with the daughter for her to stay with our son during
classes. This was a great solution, as the teenager was not really
happy about having to go to the school anyway, and it gave her
a real purpose for being there. Plus, she made some money, we
became friends with her and her mother, and our son was always
near-by.
Why not check with other NCECA attendees who might be in
a situation where they must bring an older child with them?
You will not have the expense of bringing a sitter from home,
just the cost of paying for a sitter for 6 or 8 hours a day.
Hey, Bevis, Artimator said 'nursing'. He-he-he-he-he.
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
hendley@tyler.net
http://www.farmpots.com
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