This week is International Babywearing Week and I have set myself a goal to finally master a back carry for Sophie. I’ve tried a couple of times to wrap her in a back carry but each time got as far as getting her on my back and then struggled to secure her before she got too wriggly. After watching lots of YouTube videos and getting some help from my local sling meet, tonight I finally managed to get her in a back carry for the first time! It’s not perfect – I’ve been told that a deeper seat and higher knees will make it more comfy for both of us, but it’s a start.
The theme for this week’s International Babywearing Week is ‘Share the Adventure’ and so I thought I’d share some of my experiences of babywearing over the last three years. I love babywearing – it gives me the chance to have lovely snuggles whilst keeping my hands free. It’s often easier to wrap Sophie and let Jessica walk when we go out and about, especially if we’re going somewhere where the buggy is more awkward to take – on the tube or if there are steps to negotiate.
When Jessica was a tiny baby, I had a Kari-Me stretchy wrap which I loved – once I’d mastered the basic knot, it was so easy – I could get it wrapped and ready and then just put Jessica inside it. I loved being able to snuggle her so close. Unfortunately it was too small to fit my husband, but we bought a soft buckle carrier so that he could also carry Jessica when we were out and about.
The Kari-Me is suitable for babies up to 15kg but I found that because it was stretchy, as Jessica became heavier, it started to put more strain on my shoulders and back. I still remember a day out in London when she was 15 months old where I wore her in the sling all day – thank goodness I had a chiropractor appointment a couple of days later! She’s still not yet 15kg but there is no way I’d be able to carry her for any significant period of time in that wrap any more.
Sophie was a heavier baby and so by about six months, she also started to feel a little too heavy for the Kari-Me and so I bought a lovely Colimacon et Cie woven wrap. This felt much more comfortable on my back and shoulders because the fabric wasn’t stretchy and therefore wasn’t pulling on them. I still find this wrap very comfortable with Sophie now that she is almost a year old and weighing around 9kg. I’ve also carried Jessica in this wrap and found it comfortable (although admittedly haven’t carried her for long periods of time – so not sure how long it would be comfortable for).
Whilst on holiday, I found another soft buckle carrier in a second hand shop for the bargain price of 5 euros. Whilst this was nowhere near as comfortable as my woven wrap, it was fabulous for carrying Sophie in the hot weather as there was much less fabric covering her and it was also very quick to use so got quite a bit of use over the summer. Now that Sophie is getting heavier though and the colder weather is coming, I think I’ll be sticking to my woven wrap.
Linking in with PODCast for What’s the Story? and with Let’s Talk Mommy for Share with Me:
Lucas says – Cool!!! I think they should make these for older children too. The Mother wouldn’t mind carrying me…………..
Grace says – Lucas! These are for smaller children so you will have to keep walking.
The Mothers say – This is a great post and we think these look very comfy and must be great for bonding. #whatsthestory
Thank you – Lucas, you made me laugh at that – I agree with Grace on this one! They are very comfy and have loved carrying both my babies in them at various times 🙂
Interesting post – I only discovered non-buckle slings late on with my 7th baby sadly – I loved mine!
Oh what a shame – I was lucky enough to be aware of them long before I had my own babies so I knew exactly which one I wanted to buy when Jessica was born. The buckle slings are quicker and easier in many ways but I find the wraps more comfy and love the snuggles.
I wanted to baby wear with mine, but they were both such sicky babies, thanks to reflux, that it wasn’t really an option, unless I wanted to be permanently covered in sick – I didn’t! Lovely post and photos of your journey x
Ah yes, I can see why that would be a problem! Jessica had quite bad reflux after her second op and was sick quite a lot – I don’t remember her doing it whilst in the sling though so perhaps we got lucky there x
We love baby wearing 🙂 I started with a stretchy wrap too (a moby), then an ergo and then discovered the connecta which is my fave now Arthur’s a bit bigger. I’m hoping to get a post written about adventures in toddlerwearing before the week’s out! X
I think from what I’ve heard, the moby is very similar to the Kari-Me and I’ve heard good things about the Ergo and Connecta – haven’t tried them myself though. Will look out for your post on toddlerwearing and look forward to reading it x
I carried mine when they were tiny, but I found that once they got a bit heavier I just couldn’t manage it for any length of time, and I’ve tried a couple of different carriers, although not a wrap. We do have a rucksack though and my husband used that quite a bit. I couldn’t lift it on to my back, let alone carry it 🙂
It does get hard to carry them for significant amounts of time once they get bigger – haven’t tried to carry Sophie for longer than about 30 minutes at a time now that she is bigger but she is definitely still fairly comfortable for that amount of time. I’ve never tried a rucksack style carrier – think my husband would quite like one of those – will have to investigate! 🙂
Hello there, I loved baby wearing but didn’t do it as much as I should have as I was a bit nervous of the wrap and doing it up properly! It’s a lovely thing to do though and little man always dozed off happily whenever he was snuggled up. #sharewithme http://www.letstalkmommy.com/2014/10/share-with-me-wk-36/
Baby wearing is lovely and I can understand about being nervous about whether the wrap is done up properly – it took me a while to be confident about it.
Hello there, yes I should have been a bit braver! Great idea though xx
This is fab!! I’m getting back my baby wearing spark at the moment! With our trip away at Xmas we figured we will be doing lots of walking so have really got back into baby wearing (uhhhh toddler wearing I guess it is now!) on our walks to get him used to it again!
I’ve only got a moby wrap do you think I can use that to do a back carry?
I think you can do a back carry in a moby – I managed it once in the Kari-Me but needed my husband’s help to get Jessica in it and I didn’t find it particularly comfortable, possibly because it’s a stretchy wrap. So far the back carry in my woven wrap has been comfortable although I haven’t tried it for any significant length of time as still a little nervous about it. Good luck with toddler wearing! 🙂
I love all your baby wearing photos. I am so sad I never got the chane to wear either of my children. Neither would let me put them in any carrier (I have try numerous ones) without screaming ten seconds later. It was the one thing I really wanted to do as I think it makes them more confident children. Maybe if I ever have a third he/she will let me. Great post. Thanks for linking up to Share With Me and making me incredibly broody! #sharewithme
Thanks Jenny – what a shame your little ones didn’t enjoy the carriers though. I think your children come across as being very happy and confident though from what I read on your blog despite not being in carriers! Lovely to link up with you again 🙂