Page 68 - South Mississippi Living - April, 2016

KIDS natural parenting community
BABY LOVE
Luna Babies creates a community for parents of all kinds
story by Lisa Kröger photos by James Edward Bates
Gulfport business Luna Babies is more than just a baby store;
it’s a community for parents of all kinds. When the store
opened a year ago, owners Tera Smith, a certified professional midwife,
and her daughter, Codie Weinkauf, wanted Luna Babies to feel less like a retail store and more like a “natural parenting community center.”
Smith has five children and Weinkauf has two of her own, so together they know just a little bit about parenting and babies. When they first moved to the Gulf Coast from California, Smith and Weinkauf were shocked to find there wasn’t a place where they could
buy natural baby products such as cloth diapers.
“Our struggle was having to buy
the cloth diapers online,” explained Weinkauf. She noticed her friends and her mother’s midwife clients were experiencing the same thing. As a solution, she said, “We created our store. But we didn’t want it to only be a retail store. We wanted to do classes as well.” They envisioned a place where new and expectant mothers could come to find answers to their questions.
The store offers everything a mom or dad could want, from natural
toys made of baby-friendly wood to breastfeeding support items such as nursing bras and covers and lactation
cookies. Of course, as in any baby store, customers will find cute baby clothes— like the always popular “RuffleButts” brand — and baby items including pacifiers and teething accessories, but Luna Babies is unique in that most of its stock is organic or eco-friendly.
“With natural parenting, you try
to listen to your instincts more than anything else, whatever comes naturally to a mother,” Weinkauf said, as she explained the philosophy behind Luna Babies.
Luna Babies offers classes in its “mothering lounge,” a cozy, homey space with couches, where parents can learn everything from childbirth education to cloth diapering and
68 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • April 2016
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