KellyNaturally.com | Babywearing Over the Years

Kelly On Facebook

Babywearing Over the Years

Ever since my first baby was born, I was a babywearer! I didn't wear my babies 100% of the time, but whenever it was convenient for me, or when it was what my babies needed (which, if you have high needs babies, can be very often!). Since I retuned to working very soon after both babies were born (we own our own business), I started babywearing right from the start. My first carrier was a Snugli, which I bought from a big box store out of desperation a few weeks after my 1^st baby was born, and we realized she didn't like the expensive organic pouch I bought while I was still pregnant, and she wasn’t going to be the type of baby who would lie or sit quietly while we went about our work My daughter loved the Snugli – I’d dance around while packing & shipping in our warehouse and she’d fall asleep. She really liked being held upright. I also had the New Native pouch...

Aforementioned expensive organic pouch

which she pretty much hated until she was able to sit up, and we could do the hip carry. When she was close to a year, after a failed attempt at an Infantino sling purchase...

Babywearing in front of the White House - She looks comfy, but my neck is KILLING me

(I bought one, wore it on one trip, ended up with a horribly sore shoulder/neck/back, and returned it afterwards. Though she loved it, I hated it. Interestingly, this sling was recalled several years later), I bought a more supportive and larger hip carry sling called the Mei Hip – which I adored.

Yay, Mei Hip! Okay, this is a weird photo, but still. Yay!

The mei hip is one of only two baby carriers I have hung on to for my kids "baby boxes". Somewhere in the middle of my daughter's infancy, we also bought a frame pack carrier so Adam could carry her (the pouch was too small for him and the snugli required a lot of strap fiddling to go from one person to another), and so we could hike with her (it had a built in backpack area & a bar that clicked out so you could set the pack down w/out taking baby out). We didn’t end up doing much hiking that first year, but it sure came in handy otherwise:

Babywearing at a baseball game!

Once my son was born, I realized quickly that I needed to carry him much more often than my first, because, if I wanted to be able to tend to my 2 year old, I had to have my hands free. My son also preferred an upright position, but did. not. like. the Snugli carrier (I find it so interesting the distinct preferences babies can have!). The Mei Hip didn't work well for infants, and while he did like the New Native, it wasn't that convenient to get on/off. A friend of mine made a padded ring sling for me which was wonderful & we got quite a bit of use out of it as a newborn – it was very supportive, held him comfortably upright, I was able to nurse in it, and it was easy to slip out of if I needed to once he had fallen asleep.

Padded ring sling & my thumb sucking newborn

As we moved into summer though, the padded sling was just too hot, so I was given a used Solar Veil sling, which became my absolute all-time favorite go-to sling (this is the other baby carrier I kept for posterity):

Adam wearing the Solar Veil

I recommend this sling to anyone who asks, as it is versatile – you can carry in many different positions, keeps cool in the summer, offers sun protection, can get wet & dries easily, lasts for years...

Solar Veil back carry at three years old

and is quickly adjustable so anyone can wear it. As he was nearing a year old, I realized though that the solarveil sling kept him very close, and he was getting squirmy and often wanted more freedom of motion - though he didn't yet walk, he wanted to chase his sister! I invested in the Ergo, thinking it would give him a bit more autonomy, while still keeping him close. Truth be told, while the ergo WAS very comfortable to wear, and Adam could wear it to, we never really got the hang of getting it on and off easily with a squirmy toddler, and once my son was back there, he often got “bored” and wanted to be down, or on my front where he could see me, so we didn’t get too much use out of it. Fortunately, there’s a good market for these, and we were able to sell it for nearly what we bought it. Go babywearingsharing!

Relatively comfy in the Ergo

Now that my children are 6 and nearly 4, I look back so fondly on my babywearing years. I miss it! I always loved baby wearing because I could keep my babies close, which made them happy. I could get work done while interacting with them which made me happy. I could keep them up closer to “my level” so they could see what was going on, what I was doing, and were able to interact more with the world around them than from a “stuck” position on their back on the floor or in the playpen or bouncer seat (note: we used all these as appropriate and needed, but I found it much easier to keep my babies comfortable in a sling/carrier – I always felt more intoned to their moods when they were on my body). All told, I had EIGHT baby carriers over the years (yikes)! Truth be told, I could have gotten away with about 2 – the Solar Veil ring sling and the Ella Roo Mei Hip. And as "uncrunchy" as the Snugli carrier was, it sure did serve my colicky first baby well!

So, do/did you babywear? How many slings/carriers did you have?

**This post was written for inclusion in the “Baby Carrier Fashion Show Link Up” at A Ruby in the Sunrise blog. Do you have a babywearing post you’d like to share? Link up!**

Posted: Apr 10 2011, 12:08 by kelly | Comments (11)

Currently 0/5 Stars.
1
2
3
4
5

Filed under: Attachment Parenting | Babies | Natural Living

Ten YearsI do know one thing:Where you are is where I belong.I do know, where you go is where I want to be. ...Three YearsSo it happened. I’m no longer the mom of a baby. My youngest is now three: not a b...Natural Parents Network Holiday Gift Guide Welcome to the Natural Parents Network Holiday Gift Guide! If you need to complete your holiday s...

Comments

Joni Rae said:

I *love* seeing how your children grow and change through the pictures... This is a great post!

<3

# April 10 2011, 14:19

EileenDalla said:

You young people are so lucky, my baby wearing consisted of carrying my babies around on my left hip. Learned how to do a lot of things one handed, from cooking to do laundry. lol
I think it's wonderful that you now have a way to get on with you life and keep your baby near.

# April 10 2011, 14:39

kelly said:

@Joni - Thank you! :) I had a lot of fun going through years of photos last night. We even watched some old videos of our little ones. Sigh.

@Eileen - I did a lot of hip-carrying & one-handedness as well (my left arm got super-strong when I had babies!), but you are so right, I am blessed to have access to mamas who are crafty who can make & gift me things, and knowledge that baby carriers even exist! I've given away most of the carriers I had - hopefully other mamas will get as much use as I did. Thanks for visiting!

# April 10 2011, 15:27

Dana K said:

Love it! Thanks for sharing - I added one of my Babywearing "photobombs" to the linkup.

# April 10 2011, 17:43

Erin said:

I love the inclusions of the carriers that didn't work/were painful. I've so had my share of carriers that everyone loves that just didn't work for us (I'm looking at you, Baby Bjorn...) Also- the back carry! I'm trying to convince my husband to help me with this one as we've only done front carry because he's worried I wouldn't know what our son was doing/what if something happened (arrhhhh!!!)

# April 11 2011, 00:30

Danielle @LifeBeyondTheBump said:

Thanks for writing this! I hadn't heard of many of these carriers before, and it's interesting seeing all of the different ones out there, and what worked/didn't work for you.

I LOVE babywearing. Without it, I think my sanity would suffer. :) My favorite carriers are my linen ring slings and my cotton gauze wrap. The ring slings are great for quick trips to the store or chores around the house. I use the wrap for times when my daughter will be carried longer, when I'm going to need two hands, or when I need to bend over or squat down. I think these two carriers together cover all my needs for carriers, and my daughter loves both of them. Another plus, they were ones I could make myself.

# April 11 2011, 10:20

Rebekah C said:

I enjoyed this post SO much!

Now, lemme see....

The first sling I ever had was a pouch sling I made from a pattern I found online. I got a lot of use out of it but eventually came to the realization that my back and "one shoulder" slings didn't get along. Over the years (and three kids) I've owned and used a pouch, a ring sling (I had several) a couple of different wraps made out of various fabrics, a mei-tai and the Ergo. The last two were my all time favorites with the wrap winning for the most versatility. I still get a lot of use out of my Ergo and wish I had bought it years ago, lol.

# April 11 2011, 12:00

Ado said:

In my opinion you are a baby wearing black belt! A baby wearing warrior! I loved wearing my children (they were so fashionable...just kidding). I had a sling and a Baby Bjorn. It was just the best. Both kids had strong preferences in the Bjorn to face outward - a telling sign of their future outward-looking personalities. but some babies like to face their mommy.

I miss those days!

# April 14 2011, 18:25

Lisa@Granola Catholic said:

I miss those days of baby wearing too. My babies are now 13-10 and 7. It has been 4 years since I have carried one of them. We used most of the baby carriers you mentioned but even improvised at times for tired toddlers using slings, sweatshirts and blankets. All you baby wearing mama's out there enjoy your time at this stage. It will end too soon.