Babywearing 101

With the baby girl's due date quickly approaching, I've been giving babywearing a lot of thought. I think having two babies under two will be virtually impossible without slinging the new baby most of the time. I wore Connor a lot for the first 5 months of his life, but stopped shortly after discovering this pregnancy for fear of the awful back pain that I experienced the first go-round. I got a lot of weird looks, but also a lot of interested moms coming up and asking me questions, so here's a list of my personal experiences with different baby carriers.

First, I'll start off with the Moby wrap ($35). It's my favorite for a newborn because they're so close and cuddly, plus if you are doing the Reverse Kangaroo hold (pictured), you don't have to worry about little squishy necks being in odd positions that cut off circulation. Once the baby is snoozing peacefully, you can pull a shoulder strap over their head so that it stays in place while you move about handsfree. We went on plenty of walks, did chores, even cleaned out the garage while Connor slept in the moby. One of my favorite aspects was that I could get the wrap on at home, drive to the store, then pop Connor in and out as I pleased. The only downsides are that it can get hot quickly and the material is stretchy. When Connor was a newborn, I could wear him all day without any discomfort, and when he got bigger and graduated to the Kangaroo hold, I was comfortable for about an hour. While the stretch is a great help to new wrappers, the moby gets a little uncomfortable after the baby exceeds 20 pounds. If you absolutely adore wrapping, there are non-stretchy woven wraps (Didymos and Storchenwiege)that last as long as your child wants to be worn.

I didn't buy a pouch sling with my last baby, simply because I already had a lot of carriers. They are very simple and "poppable" (see above about popping baby in and out), and they don't have a lot of bulk to them, so they are perfect to keep in the car or in a diaper bag. One of my friends offered to sell me hers now that her baby is nearing 18 months old, so I got her Hotsling (pictured, same fabric) for $20! It retails for $66, so I'm pretty excited to try it out. You can buy a nice pouch sling starting at ~$40, and they've even started selling Hotslings at Target. The sizing can be quite difficult, so if you have questions, ask me! I've already tried it out using the hip hold for Connor, but my belly makes it hard for him to wrap his legs around me. Most people use this sling for newborns, but I can't express to you how important it is to KNOW HOW TO USE YOUR SLING. If the baby's chin gets too close to its chest, the baby can die. It has happened before while using pouch slings, so please read the directions, use the weight guidelines, and CHECK ON YOUR BABY often. I'll let you know how it goes!

Connor and I both loved my ringsling (bought it on Ebay for $30) for walks and for things around the house. To be honest, I never quite got the hang of anything but a front carry (where you froggy up their legs and all of their weight is on their butt), so I need to find a local babywearing group to expand my repertoire. Some people find all of the baby's weight on one shoulder uncomfortable, but if you use the shoulder cap correctly, I found the ringsling to be VERY comfortable for about 2 hours.

The Snugli is, sadly, one of the most common baby carriers sold in baby stores. It is the most uncomfortable carrier I have tried, but also one of the least expensive (~$20). I have found that dads are drawn to this type of carrier because it is masculine looking and there is no learning curve. You just put the baby in and snap the carrier on around you, pulling the straps to adjust like seatbelts. It is convenient in that sense, but given my frame, I never felt like it was very secure, and both mine and Anthony's backs hurt within about 20 minutes. All of the baby's weight is centered right between your shoulders, so I can't imagine that it is very good for you either. Don't waste your money.

The Baby Bjorn is the same concept as the Snugli, but it has better back support. It is much more expensive (~$70), but a lot better. Like the Snugli, dads like this because it is not as feminine as the other carriers. I haven't bought one, and won't, because studies have shown that babies should not be carried facing out with their legs dangling for two main reasons: baby can get overstimulated and all of the baby's weight is now on their growing pelvis, which then throws their spine out of whack. I felt okay carrying Connor facing out in the moby for short periods of time because it is much softer than a structured carrier, but it is still not recommended.

Mei tai carriers (Asian Inspired Carriers) go by many names, one of the most common being a BabyHawk (~$120). I bought a mei tai from a Work at Home Mom on Ebay for $35, because the overall pattern is quite simple. It is like a wrap with a few steps taken out for ease. To the contrary, however, I found the mei tai to be very difficult, as you have to sort of hold the baby against you while you try to wrap it. A lot of the babywearing moms I know swear by them, but I could never get both me and Connor comfortable in it at the same time. This could be because it's intented for babies 4 months and older, and I stopped wearing Connor at 5 months. This led me to investigate Structured Soft Carriers, like the one below.

This is the Beco Butterfly. There are a TON of different Soft Structured Carriers, the most popular being the Ergo, the Yamo, the Calyx, and the Beco. They're all investments (beginning at ~$90, up to $150) and all have rave reviews. I had been pretty set on buying an Ergo for about six months, but after scouring the forums on http://www.thebabywearer.com/, I decided to go with a Beco Butterfly. SSCs are basically what would happen if a Baby Bjorn and a Mei Tai had a lovechild. It's still an Asian Inspired Carrier, but it has the convenience of straps and buckles instead of trying to wrap one-handed. My decision to get the Beco Butterfly was greatly based on the fact that is has a built-in infant insert, so that you can transfer the baby from parent to parent without taking the baby out. You can also do back carries by strapping the baby in, then putting the carrier on instead of balancing the baby on your back while you bend over to wrap, which I NEVER felt comfortable doing. What's more is that you can be wearing your baby on the front, then easily scoot them to your back without much effort at all. The specific model that I got had been recalled to be retrofitted with police-style buckles to prevent user errors (think of those buckles on the new shopping carts where you have to press the side buttons AND the center button for it to unsnap). To boot, the Becos are some of the prettiest carriers around. (I got it in the pattern shown).

I'm so excited to babywear again!