BabyWearing

I love wearing my baby. It's so snuggly! And with the right carrier, it makes it so much easier to hold her for extended amounts of time. I generally carry PrincesS on my hip all day cause it's easiest. But it throws my hip and back out of alignment. Not to mention how exhausting it is after about 10 minutes. Even in the cradle hold, a 14 pound baby gets REALLY heavy REALLY fast. This holiday season, we were at a bunch of family parties so I was holding her A LOT. I found the Sling Hold with the Moby Wrap last week and OMG it made standing around chatting at the parties so much easier!

So, babywearing is da bomb baby! But it really needs to be said that the right carrier makes all the difference.

The carrier needs to hold your baby in a safe position. We all know about the recall of the bag slings last year. They put baby in a bad position and ended up making it so they couldn't breath. Yes, that's VERY bad. Check out this PDF I found that explains proper positioning for babies until they have good head control (about 4months).

But just because a carrier isn't going to kill your baby doesn't mean it's not a bad way to carry them. The Baby Bjorn carrier, for example, puts baby in the optimum head-up, tummy-to-tummy position. But it doesn't hold baby in a seated position. Baby is dangling by a strap of fabric across the crotch. For baby boys, this means that their entire weights is being suspended by thier testicals. Talk about OWCH! Proper positioning of baby's legs should be in the frog-position - legs spread across your belly with knees above the level of tush. Baby should be SITTING on a fabric "shelf".

Every adult and every baby is different. This means a carrier that works perfectly for one momma might not fit right for the next. And just because another baby will sleep for hours in one style doesn't mean that your baby will. Finding the right carrier for you and your baby is a matter of trial and error. If you try one and it doesn't work, don't give up on BabyWearing all together. Try a different style/type. You can usually find a shop that sells the various different carriers that will let you try it on before you buy it.