Babywearing....aka baby snuggles

Let's start out with probably the biggest question-why wear my baby?
It's a great way to get stuff done while having your baby close by.
Great way to get them to nap while on the go.
It's very calming for them, and they feel safe.
The carriers are pretty and cute  and come on who doesn't love baby snuggles :)



My personal babywearing (yes that is really what it is called) journey began before my son was born. Before he was born I had a simple infantino carrier on my registry, thankfully I changed my mind before he was born and invested in a Ergo carrier. I had no idea that one was better than the other for myself or baby. Sadly I knew very little about babywearing, and only wore my son a handful of time in the first 20 months of his life. I just didn't think of it and I didn't really know how to us the Ergo well. I lugged him around in his carseat or had him sit in the cart etc. Well, things all changed when baby number 2 came along. My son was too young to follow me around stores really well so he had to sit in the cart still. Where was I going to put the baby? The simple answer I came to was use my Ergo more. The Ergo I had was simple, black and tan. AKA boring. I started off my journey of motherhood very boring. My first cloth diaper shells were waaayyyy boring, lol. Now I am all about prints and animals. Things change. So before baby #2 even arrived I sold my Ergo and bought a Boba 3G carrier. The reason I did this was stupid, but hey it worked. The Boba was camo print. Those of you who know me well know I have a HUGE weakness for camo anything. :) I was very excited for baby #2 to come and when she arrived and started wearing her right away. I wore her in the Boba when she was a mere 3 days old. Hubby had a softball game to play in and I had to watch both kids at the ball field. Only way to do that was to wear her. Soon after my daughter was born I convinced my hubby that I needed a second Boba, so I could have one in each car. I forgot it one time and it was hugely inconvenient. So I used my birthday money and purchased another Boba I found on craigslist. One for each car perfect. I loved (still do) my Boba carriers, they allowed me to easily go shopping with both kids by myself. It also helped keep strange hands away from baby. :) Here is where I warn you. After purchasing the 2nd Boba it kind of became an addiction. I joined a couple groups on fb and my eyes were opened to all the options for babywearing. WOW! I had no idea about wraps etc. I was dumb founded. I couldn't understand the stash shots, why would one person have several wraps? LOL

Fast forward to now, I have a stash that contains several wraps, a ring sling, several SSC (soft structured carriers), and a wrap conversion. I have churned (bought, tried for awhile and sold) a lot of stuff. So here is what I have learned.

There isn't a wrong way to carry your baby, just different ways. Personally I stay away from narrow based carries like bjorn or infantino for a couple reasons. They aren't nearly as comfortable for you or baby. Studies suggest that they can make any hip issues baby has worse. They are a great "gatweay" or "starter" carrier, but not at all what I would recommend.

If I had to recommend one carrier to someone it would be the Boba 3G-no infant insert needed, much more comfortable than Ergo, works from newborn to toddler, simple and gets the job done. :)

The options for babywearing a huge, here are the basics-

SSC-(soft structured carriers) I personally have tried Ergo, Boba, Tula, Kinderpack, Bamberoo, Lillebaby, & Infantino Union (ergonomic). Tula and Kinderpack hold their value the best by far. Nothing wrong with them at all over the Boba, I just think for the money Boba works just as well. For toddlers I recommend either Tula or Kinderpack carriers in toddler size.

Wraps-yes those "hippy" things. ;) A wrap is a woven length of fabric that is about 30'' wide and varies in length depending on what size it is. They also vary in weave type and fiber type. Wraps come in size 2-8 usually. They are available in MANY different prints/colors and brands. They come in many fiber types, linen, linen & cotton blend, hemp and cotton blend, silk blends, wool blends, all cotton etc. There are many things to consider before buying a wrap. Biggest being what time of year (aka what will the temperature be) will you be using it in? Hemp blends are amazing, so soft when broken in and wrap amazing, but they do tend to hold the heat in, so not great for summer. Linen blends are better for summer, but do take a lot of breaking in to make soft. Wool, silk and bamboo require more delicate care as far as washing and drying. Silk and bamboo do make wraps amazingly soft though.  The next thing to consider is what size of baby will you be carrying with it? Wraps that contain hemp or linen are better for carrying bigger children, not that you can't with other wraps, but unless you do a multiple pass carry, wraps that contain bamboo or all cotton can be very uncomfortable or possibly (rare) even damage the wrap by wearing too large of a child in them. Then consider size of the wrap. I recommend a size 6 to start with. It's a great base size that you can do tons of carries with. I have used everything from size 3 to size 7. I currently only own size 6 wraps. Size 7 is just a little long and size 5 is just a little short. I was never able to find the "shorty love" as they say for the size 3. Also remember wrapping does take some learning where as using a SSC is very simple. It's a fun journey though. Wrapping isn't for everyone, but I really enjoy it.

Ring Slings- I have a wrap conversion ring sling and really like it. I had tried a plain fabric ring sling before my wrap conversion one and it was so hard to adjust and very diggy. For that reason I recommend a wrap conversion ring sling. Much more comfortable and easily adjusts. The ring sling is great for quick ups and downs around the house. I don't love them for long amounts of time because I feel like my one shoulder is restrained a bit.

Mei Tai's- I have a simple Infantino mei tai that I do like and is similar to a SSC but no buckles. Great for someone who finds the buckles on a SSC annoying.You can get very fancy mei tais made from wraps as well.

If well taken care of most baby wearing devices (not bjorn's or non ergonomic carriers) hold their value really well. They are only young enough to wear for so long, so enjoy it. Also remember that most kiddos go through stages of not wanting to be worn, don't lose hope, soon they will enjoy it again :)

If you can find what you want used (groups on fb) I recommend buying used, as you can save a little money and help another momma out. If you aren't sure what you want see if you have a local babywearing group with a lending library, or see if someone will let you try what they have. :)

Happy Babywearing :)

Shanda