babywearing is babyriffic!
Babywearing is continuing to be my favourite way to go about my day, even as Sabine crests 10 pounds.
I am in love with it for all sorts of the wrong reasons -- I read about all these noble goals like how it will help with the bean's cognitive development because she will be present and engaged/watching everything I do on a daily basis and this will help her grasp and understand more quickly the random antlike scurrying that we grunups engage in.
I am in love with it because it is so easy.
It is so much easier to clean the kitchen with the bean right there with me, confident that I will hear and be able to respond to anything she needs or wants. It is so much easier to walk Milo and navigate the thick roots and uneven hills in High Park or the sands along the beach without struggling with a stroller. It is so much easier to wander along the sidewalk, or through a store, without the constant excuse-me dance of stroller encumbrance.
I am also in love with babywearing because this way I am in constant physical touch with my little bean. To kiss her, all I have to do is tuck my chin to her little face pressed against my chest. Given that kissing her is the activity that I engage in the most times per day, this is Very Handy.
I am also in love with babywearing just because it feels good. I don't know why, I don't think it's a throwback to how good it felt to be pregnant. In any case, it feels great for now and I'm having a great time doing it.
I'm currently using three different carriers and I just ordered sort of a fourth one. One of my midwives told me when I was pregnant that I would need several carriers if I was serious about babywearing, and I'm not convinced that she's right (yet) but I am happy with the ones I have.
My carriers:
I also looked at the Ergo baby carrier which is hugely popular right now. It is also definitely load bearing, and there are people who travel around by Subway with their four year olds in an Ergo carrier. The midwife was a HUGE fan of this one, and it's quite the quality product. I tried it but found it really bulky for my short little self. Eventually if we need something that rugged for long hikes when she is bigger, maybe we'll consider it or consider one of the really structured baby carriers from outdoor equipment stores, but that's a long way off.
The only disadvantage of all these carriers, and carriers in general is that our fancy messenger-shaped diaper bag with the little skulls on it is hard to wear at the same time. A sling bag like that can't be worn over the torso since it would squish baby, and worn on the shoulder it's just unbalancing and slides off all the time. I keep wearing it over both my back shoulders like a makeshift backpack, but it's a pain in the ass (literally, it bumps against my ass when I walk) and is uncomfortable.
So yesterday, Sabine and I babywore (babywandered?) our way down to MEC along with a friend of mine and tried out all their backpacks. I'd been researching diaper bag backpacks online for weeks but everything I was finding was either $200, or horrific looking, or both. Usually both.
I wanted something with a laptop pocket too for travelling so that I can have just one carry-on back instead of two, or in case I get off my ass and go spend some time work/nursing in a cafe on Roncesvalles with the bean before summer is too far over.
I found one within my price range (given that at this point I have spent enough on baby carriers that I've almost purchased a whole stroller -- if I would buy just one I would still go with the mei tai) and it's butt ugly but exactly the right size, shape, and number of pockets. Sometime soon I'll start transferring stuff from the current diaper bag over to it. In the store, we loaded it up with my current diaper bag plus other stuff we found on shelves and I wore it AND Sabine around for about a half hour and while it was tough -- as long as I had good posture and kept my abs engaged it was definitely doable.
So there. I'm not just a geek, I'm also a nerd. A baby carrier nerd.
I am in love with it for all sorts of the wrong reasons -- I read about all these noble goals like how it will help with the bean's cognitive development because she will be present and engaged/watching everything I do on a daily basis and this will help her grasp and understand more quickly the random antlike scurrying that we grunups engage in.
I am in love with it because it is so easy.
It is so much easier to clean the kitchen with the bean right there with me, confident that I will hear and be able to respond to anything she needs or wants. It is so much easier to walk Milo and navigate the thick roots and uneven hills in High Park or the sands along the beach without struggling with a stroller. It is so much easier to wander along the sidewalk, or through a store, without the constant excuse-me dance of stroller encumbrance.
I am also in love with babywearing because this way I am in constant physical touch with my little bean. To kiss her, all I have to do is tuck my chin to her little face pressed against my chest. Given that kissing her is the activity that I engage in the most times per day, this is Very Handy.
I am also in love with babywearing just because it feels good. I don't know why, I don't think it's a throwback to how good it felt to be pregnant. In any case, it feels great for now and I'm having a great time doing it.
I'm currently using three different carriers and I just ordered sort of a fourth one. One of my midwives told me when I was pregnant that I would need several carriers if I was serious about babywearing, and I'm not convinced that she's right (yet) but I am happy with the ones I have.
My carriers:
- A ring sling by Maya Wrap.
This is the first carrier that I bought, and my least favourite. It's quite pretty and hippy looking, but the one-shoulder carry doesn't have the best weight distribution and is hard to wear just right. I had to go back to the store where I bought it to be shown how to use it properly. It is also only good to 15-20 pounds, so if I still have the courage to be babywearing when the bean is toddling around I won't be able to use in anymore. That being said, I'm glad I bought it. It's advantage is that now that I know how to use it, it is VERY quick to slide Sabine in and out of -- not complex wrapping or tying. Since I hate carrying the carseat around, it is very handy for things like midwife visits where I take her out of the car, slip her in, and can take her in and out quickly for weighings, etc. In the house, I've used it to hold her briefly while I make breakfast, or run downstairs for a quick chore but plan to be back at my desk or seated again shortly after, and it isn't worth it to tie on one of the bigger carriers. - The second carrier I bought is the Mei Tai by Babyhawk which is part of the family of "ABCs" -- "Asian Baby Carriers". (I also tried a Podaegi, which is a korean blanket wrap that feels a lot like the babyhawk. I liked both equally but found the mei tai fit my body a bit better. I still think about the podaegi though but it really is so similar that two would be utterly redundant.) I bought the mei tai because it is lightweight, soft, comfy, EASY TO USE (easier than any other carrier I've seen) and I wanted a two-shoulder carrier since the midwife had warned me that the sling wasn't so comfy for long wearing. I LOVE IT. I wear it daily. Even when I was using it wrong, it still felt good. (When I went back to the store they noticed I was wearing her too low and showed me how to adjust it better and now it's SUPER comfy!) It's easy enough to use, if you use it wrong it feels heavier but isn't likely to hurt baby (with a sling they might slip out if you don't know how to tighten it!) and it's quick enough to put on and off. The only drawback is that the really long straps trail on the floor when you are putting it on, so when you are using it to take baby out of the car/carseat to go for a wander, the straps get pretty dirty and I worry about them getting caught between cars.
- I then bought a Moby Wrap because wraps have EVEN BETTER weight distribution than the mei tai, and I was finding I was wearing the mei tai ALL THE TIME and wanted something else to wear when the mei tai was in the wash. I tried on woven wraps, the non-stretchy kind. They are by far the most beautiful, and the sturdiest -- but they are a bit harder to wrap than the stretchy ones like the moby. The other advantage of the stretchy ones is that you put the wrap on first and THEN the baby, so you can pretty much wear it all day (except for breastfeeding unless your latch is REALLY easy). I put it on before a trip, carry the bean to the car in it, take her out of the car and slip her into it without any re-tying required, walk around with her feeling light as a feather, then slip her back into the car with no fuss. It's super convenient for road trips, or anything where she has to come in and out of the carrier often.
- This morning (after iolarah suggested it the other day), I also ordered a Water Sling. I decided it was worth the money for a couple of reasons. Firstly, for days where the bean isn't napping and I NEED to get showered to make it to an appointment, I can shower with her strapped to me in one of those. Eventually I will be able to put her down near me in the bumbo which is waterproof, but for any work related trips a sling packs away much better and I definitely won't have all my help-me-shower seats and tricks with me in hotel rooms. Secondly, I TOTALLY want to wade into a lake or ocean with my little bean in a water sling at some point this year. What better excuse to go to Cuba in the winter?
I also looked at the Ergo baby carrier which is hugely popular right now. It is also definitely load bearing, and there are people who travel around by Subway with their four year olds in an Ergo carrier. The midwife was a HUGE fan of this one, and it's quite the quality product. I tried it but found it really bulky for my short little self. Eventually if we need something that rugged for long hikes when she is bigger, maybe we'll consider it or consider one of the really structured baby carriers from outdoor equipment stores, but that's a long way off.
The only disadvantage of all these carriers, and carriers in general is that our fancy messenger-shaped diaper bag with the little skulls on it is hard to wear at the same time. A sling bag like that can't be worn over the torso since it would squish baby, and worn on the shoulder it's just unbalancing and slides off all the time. I keep wearing it over both my back shoulders like a makeshift backpack, but it's a pain in the ass (literally, it bumps against my ass when I walk) and is uncomfortable.
So yesterday, Sabine and I babywore (babywandered?) our way down to MEC along with a friend of mine and tried out all their backpacks. I'd been researching diaper bag backpacks online for weeks but everything I was finding was either $200, or horrific looking, or both. Usually both.
I wanted something with a laptop pocket too for travelling so that I can have just one carry-on back instead of two, or in case I get off my ass and go spend some time work/nursing in a cafe on Roncesvalles with the bean before summer is too far over.
I found one within my price range (given that at this point I have spent enough on baby carriers that I've almost purchased a whole stroller -- if I would buy just one I would still go with the mei tai) and it's butt ugly but exactly the right size, shape, and number of pockets. Sometime soon I'll start transferring stuff from the current diaper bag over to it. In the store, we loaded it up with my current diaper bag plus other stuff we found on shelves and I wore it AND Sabine around for about a half hour and while it was tough -- as long as I had good posture and kept my abs engaged it was definitely doable.
So there. I'm not just a geek, I'm also a nerd. A baby carrier nerd.