In hindsight, I should have worn the nursing necklace.
I was walking through a museum recently with my toddler in tow. I was trying to look at the pictures, but my beginning walker was not too concerned about me. Instead, she was was rapidly toddling from one exhibit to another, looking for whatever she could grab or destroy. Nope! Not the antique desk. Ahh! Stay away from the machine replica that is labeled “Watch Your Fingers”.
When I transitioned back to holding her, she was happy to be in my arms…but my necklace became the object of her grabbing/pulling/chewing tendencies. She yanked on the coral beads with surprising strength, and I could picture these little beads scattering all over the museum floor. So again I put her down. Then had to pick her up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Ad nauseam.
This isn’t the first time I’ve had the experience of a baby that wants to grab, chew and pull on my jewelry. In fact, my experiences with her led to launching our new line of toddler friendly mom nursing necklaces! The existing silicone bead designs were just too, um, chunky for my tastes. And as a company, our goal is to introduce products that inspire a love for the cultures, art, and traditions of the countries our refugee artisans come from. Cue the African rope necklace.
We’ve seen so many gorgeous beaded rope necklaces in Masai and Zulu traditional styles, as well as numerous artisans creating necklaces with rope & Ankara fabrics. But in all our research, we can’t find anyone making these in a way that is safe for moms who have babies and toddlers yanking and chewing on that nursing necklace.
From this inspiration, along with our desire to use sustainable textiles whenever possible, came our new line of wax print rope nursing necklaces!
Here’s what sets them apart:
- We don’t use any toxic fabric glues or small beads.
- We use jersey fabric reclaimed from discarded clothing (well-washed, of course) to create the “rope” innards of our necklaces.
- We make our necklaces to be washable so that you can clean it up after a drooly, teething session.
- These necklaces have stretch and texture so your little one can pull on and feel it to his or her heart’s content.
- And as always, these necklaces are just for moms, not for their kiddos to wear.
We’ve got a wide range of African Rope nursing necklace styles and are constantly working on more! Head to our Persona Grata Goods Etsy store to browse the currently available styles. Use code GLOBAL to get 10% off your purchase.
