Babywearing

I love babywearing.  In addition to all the benefits to the child and the parent, babywearing also is a great way for you to get some things done while holding your baby.  Colin gets a little fussy most evenings after about 5:00 and wearing him really calms him down and allows me to get things done around the house as well.  Yesterday evening, he was overstimulated and overtired from a day of being out and about for 6 hours and even holding him wasn't enough to get him to calm down.  I put him in the carrier and he was out cold... we tried to take him out for a bit to let him rest in the swing and he was having none of it.  So I put him back in the wrap and he was out again.

 

I was lucky enough to inherit different kinds of baby carriers from my sister.  When her son was first born, my friend Bonnie recommended the Sleepy Wrap; she was using it with her 2 month old and loved it so my sister decided to try it out.  I also tried it out when I was out there helping her with her son when he was a few weeks old and I liked it (somewhere there is a picture of me wearing him).  That was my first introduction to babywearing and attachment parenting.  So when my sister passed her Sleepy Wrap on to me, I was very excited.  I had Colin in the Sleepy at day 5, I think.  He wasn't cranky or anything, but it gave me a way to be close to him and also open the computer for one of the first times since he was born.  I wish I had a picture of us when he was that small, but these will have to do.  And seriously, who wouldn't want to look down and see that sweet face?

I also was lucky enough to inherit a Mei Tai from my sister.  I think because of ease of use and structure (definitely has more support than the Sleepy), this is currently my favorite carrier.  You can have the same cuddly newborn hold and it's less cumbersome to put on.  In fact, when we went down to the St Patrick's Day parade on Saturday, I refused to take a stroller so I threw Colin in the mei tai and off we went.  The pictures below are from our walk home from the light rail station.

I also inherited 2 ring slings from my sister and one from a friend at work.  Of all the options, this is probably my least favorite of the options I have but it works - like today, when both the mei tai and the Sleepy were in the laundry in preparation for our trip to Indiana, Colin decided he wanted to be worn so I pulled out one of the ring slings and put him in it.  He did sleep in it but for some reason it's just not as comfortable for me as the other two options.  Maybe once he gets bigger it will be easier since I can do more of a hip carry than the newborn snuggle carry, but we'll just have to see.

Ultimately I would love to move to a woven wrap... but that is in the future, I'm sure, along with a soft structured carrier like the Ergo, which my sister still uses occasionally with my two year old nephew and continue to do babywearing for a while to come.