Quick, before I get Sidetrack'd

November 12-18 is International Babywearing Week and to celebrate Steph of Adventures in Babywearing is hosting a carnival where she’s invited all of us to share our babywearing stories.  She’s also giving away a Nest Sling and a Hatchling Sling courtesy of Nonny & Boo to lucky participants.  (I would love to have one of these beautiful slings).

When Little was born a little over two years ago I’d really never heard of “babywearing” and all of the slings, wraps, and other babywearing accessories.  I did, however, feel drawn to the closeness and convenience of having her in a carrier as opposed to pushing a stroller or, especially, toting around an infant carseat everywhere we went.  I registered for and received an Infantino buckle carrier and so began my babywearing career.

I used the front carrier with Little for about 5 months, but it was never really comfortable for me; I felt like I was constantly tightening and adjusting the buckles and straps.  (Not to mention that she’s tall and I’m short, so it wasn’t too long before her feet were hitting me in the knees.)  When Little was several months old I found Steph’s blog and through her writing and a few other resources became very interested in wearing my future babies.  As soon as I found out I was pregnant with Boo I started contemplating babywearing, what types of carriers I wanted to use, and how helpful it would be to wear baby since I would have a not quite two year old in tow as well.

My first carrier was a Sleepy Wrap; I purchased the wrap before Boo was born on the recommendation of my SIL.  I started wearing Boo in the wrap almost immediately.  He was about two weeks old when we took him out for the first time, so that was his first ride in the wrap.  I loved having my tiny baby so close to me and with the wrap I was able to cover his head if needed when we were in crowded places.  It also discouraged random people from asking to touch him which was a very nice benefit.  Any time I wrapped him he fell right to sleep and would sleep the entire time he was worn.  The Sleepy Wrap saved my sanity several times in those first few weeks and months when he was fussy but I needed to be doing something else with my hands (cleaning, cooking, helping Little, etc.).

When Boo was a few months old I gave myself heat exhaustion wearing him in the wrap (black) at the zoo (in June) and decided it was time to invest in a new carrier.  I tried a pouch sling and couldn’t get one to fit properly, so I bought an adorable blue and green ring sling.

I wear my ring sling all the time and love the convenience of slipping it on to run in to a store real quick and for times that we have several errands to run.  It stays in the car so that I always have a carrier handy when I need it.  I do need to learn some new carries (for older babies) because Boo is getting a little cramped in the kangaroo carry and doesn’t like to bend his legs nicely to go into the tummy-to-tummy carry.  Any suggestions for different carries?

My current favorite carrier is my BabyHawk.  We got it before we went to the beach a few weeks ago and I love, love, love this mei tai.  Boo loves to ride in it and look around or sleep sweetly against my chest.  He’s big enough now that we can use the back carry some, and I’m looking forward to trying out the back carry with Little sometime.  It is pretty much guaranteed that he’ll fall asleep in the mei tai if he’s the slightest bit sleepy, so I’ve used it more than once to get him to nap when he didn’t want to lay down.

Babywearing is not a big thing in our area.  I’ve seen a few other moms out and about wearing, and I’ve gotten a ton of questions and more than a few strange looks as we’ve been seen wearing Boo around town.  I’m happy to say that several of my friends are planning to babywear (at least sometimes) as a result of hearing me rave about how much Boo and I enjoy the experience.  Hopefully they will love it as much as we have.

I love having Boo close.  I  love the extra snuggles and kisses I get to sneak in as we go about our day.  I love having my hands free to chase Little or do the things that I need to do.  I love this babywearing thing, and I’m so glad that we’ve chosen to make this a part of our parenting plan.

In fact, I’m trying to convince Matt to add “Babywearing” as a line item in our budget.  Think it will work?