Quick Before I Get Sidetrack'd

Those of you who know me (or have read here for a while) know that I’ve fallen in love with babywearing since Boo was born. So, when Steph mentioned earlier in the week that she was going to host a “babywearing stash” link-up I knew I wanted to play along.

Here’s my current stash:

From left to right: Nest baby sling (shore), BabyHawk, Sleepy Wrap, handmade sling I got from eBay

I’m contemplating making some changes to the stash as the arrival of baby #3 approaches – possibly adding an ERGO, maybe selling the green/blue sling, and Matt would really like a Kelty backpack. But this is where I am right now.

If you want to see how other bloggers are babywearing, check out the stash link-up.

Little is pretty intrigued by the whole babywearing thing.  It’s just part of her life (being the only thing she’s known since Boo was born), but it is cute when she talks about it.  Here are a few of her recent comments concerning babywearing…

Several weeks ago she was in the big part of a shopping cart playing with the reusable shopping bags while I gathered the things we needed.  She put the handles of a red-patterned bag over her head, slid her baby doll between the bag and her body and declared, “Baby in sling.”

Most anytime we’re running errands I pop Boo into a carrier and push Little in the cart or let her walk while holding my hand.  A couple of times recently we’ve been running into a store to pick up a single item, and instead of taking the time to get Boo into the sling or mei tai I’ve just carried him on my hip and held Little’s hand with my other hand.  She’s always very concerned when this takes place (and heaven forbid if I put Boo into “her” seat in the shopping cart!) and tells me in no uncertain terms that “Boo need to in ride sling!”

And finally, the other day she was playing with her baby doll.  She was holding baby against her body with her “dee” covering the baby’s body.  For a few minutes she just walked around the living room with baby like that.  Finally, her daddy asked her what she was doing.  Her response?  ”Carry baby in mei tai.”

I think she needs a child’s sized sling or mei tai for Christmas.  Matt thinks I’m crazy.

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?

When Little was a baby I had a standard front carrier with all of the straps and buckles and what-not.  I used it until she was 5 or 6 months old and she was long enough that her feet hit against my legs (almost at my knees; I’m vertically challenged) and she was heavy enough that it hurt my back if I wore her for any length of time.  I enjoyed having her in the carrier, but it made my back ache and I was constantly struggling to keep the straps tight enough to keep her in the right position.

When I found out I was expecting Boo, I knew I wanted to be a babywearing Momma, and I knew that I wanted a different type of carrier.  I did some research, found some answers to questions at Adventures In Babywearing (Thanks, Steph!), and became a little more educated about what types of carriers are available.  In December my nephew was born, and my SIL was singing the praises of her Sleepy Wrap.  Based on her recommendation, I purchased a wrap and started wearing Boo when he was a couple of weeks old.

Boo and I have both loved our Sleepy Wrap.  In fact, it has saved my sanity on more than one occasion when he has been super fussy.  I tie it on, pop him in, and he is generally off to sleep in a matter of minutes.  

Now that it is HOT in my part of the world, we need something that is a little cooler on both of us.  I decided a few weeks ago to get a pouch or sling and began searching for just the right one.  It took me several hours of surfing to settle on this pouch.  I received it a couple of weeks ago, but have had a bit of trouble getting the right size/fit.  After shrinking it yesterday, I think I’ve finally got it to the correct size.  Boo rode in it yesterday afternoon for the first time and seemed to like it; again, he was asleep in minutes.

Then, I was talking to Lu on Monday about different carrier options and the issues I was having with my pouch.  We started looking around a bit at various websites and on eBay and I stumbled upon a ring sling that I fell in love with.  It is an adorable lime green with blue polka dots cotton fabric.  So, I bid on it and won the auction!  I’m awaiting it’s arrival in the mail any day now.

I still want a mei tai, and I’m sure I could come up with a few more if pressed.  And then last night at Lu’s place I saw a link to a great giveaway that I just had to sign up for:  Along for the Ride is holding a contest to Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap).  I mean, what babywearing Momma could resist a chance to win five (count ‘em…one, two, three, four, five) new carriers including the mei tai that’s on my list?

I’m telling ya, it truly is an addiction; I mean, this is more fun than shopping for shoes!