i think it's getting popular for a number of reasons. the celebrity thing definitely helps. second, people really have the desire to buy stuff and feel that they need stuff for their baby. a lot of other aspects of attachment parenting are so liberating because they don't require stuff (no crib, no bottles, etc) - but people like stuff. and babywearing is so varied these days, there are so many styles and designs and pretty fabrics and such, it's possible to accumulate quite a lot of stuff (not that i think that's totally bad, i have quite a collection of babywearing devices myself). probably a reason for CD's getting more popular too. third, i think it appeals to people in our active never-give-yourself-a-break society because everyone is always trying to multi-task and be on-the-go and that's hard to do with a small infant unless you're babywearing. those stupid buckets are huge and heavy and a pain to schlepp around, and don't leave you with a free hand. people see someone like me walking with my baby on my back and holding the hands of my other two kids or pushing a grocery cart through the store and have literally chased me down to ask me where i got my carrier. it just looks useful and liberating, i think. the fact that baby is so happy in there is just a bonus for some people i think, rather than the reason to babywear in the first place IYKWIM.
but i wouldn't get too excited about breastfeeding being next, especially after all the press that UA Violation Hanna Rosin is getting
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