"Does this face looked bovered?"
I continued carefully wrapping the fabric around my body while my partner stood by holding our baby. It was the first time I had put a wrap around carrier on in public and without a mirror. I had an audience of extended family lurking by, tapping their feet, eager to get moving. The pressure was on! My sister snapped her bub into a pram within seconds and was ready to go. I was almost finished and feeling flustered but close to triumph when Dad said "Geeze, kiddo, why bother with all that?"
"That's not supportive, Dad!" I bit back. "Oh, sorry" Dad looked down.
Little did he know, I too was asking myself the same question.
I won't lie to you, I have found babywearing challenging at times, particularly when I am learning a new carrying position or how to use a new style of carrier. There have been moments when I have felt beyond all help, totally uncoordinated, inadequate, and told myself that all the other babywearing parents are better than me. I've been known to throw a sling or two in a fit (of course not when a baby is in it!), but that doesn't really work, I just end up even more tangled up in fabric! And I've cried over carriers. But those moments have made up a very small part of my babywearing journey. The rewarding, heartwarming, convenient, funny, easy and intimate moments have far outweighed the challenges of babywearing.
In our college days my partner and I couldn't tie our own bedsheets for toga parties, so we never would have believed you if you'd told us that we would one day be able to strap a child to our backs, sides and fronts with nothing more than a piece of cloth! If we can do it, anyone can!
So why did the toga-challenged bother with babywearing? In no particular order, the answers are:
A year into our child's life we have never had the need for a pram, and we don't foresee the need for one popping up anytime soon. We have never had trouble wandering around - no matter where we go - babywearing is all-terrain! We fit wherever we go, whether that's on public transport, at markets, crowded festivals, cafes and restaurants etc.
Dad wearing his sleeping bub while playing PS2
Mum wearing bub at children's birthday party
Dad & Bub on a train
Mum wearing bub at an engagement party
Mum wearing bub while shopping
Carrying a 1 year old
Carrying a 2.5year old
Once we mastered the art of putting on our carriers it took no time at all to get ready to go out - putting on a sling or a wrap became like putting on a jacket. We feel that we had a lot more freedom of movement than pram using mums and dads, even if it was just one of us out and about, we would have our baby on our front and a nappy bag on our back and we had everything we needed.
Wearing our baby keeps our hands free which means we can go about our daily activities without having to separate ourselves from our baby. We can cook, clean, run errands, shop, take care of other children (for example our niece), etc. It's thanks to babywearing that I was able to attend a friend's birth while caring for my 6 month old child. As my friend roared her baby earthside my own baby slept in a wrap.
I remember at my mother's birthday I cut the cake into slices for everyone while wearing my bub and someone else said "I can take over if you like, you've got a baby". A kind offer, but not necessary. I thanked her and replied "it's okay, that's what the wrap's for".
So why did the toga-challenged bother with babywearing? In no particular order, the answers are:
Convenience
We had watched many a parent struggle with their big prams; getting on and off public transport, navigating shopping centres and busy streets, or trying to squeeze through unforgiving doorways and decided we'd like to avoid that if possible.A year into our child's life we have never had the need for a pram, and we don't foresee the need for one popping up anytime soon. We have never had trouble wandering around - no matter where we go - babywearing is all-terrain! We fit wherever we go, whether that's on public transport, at markets, crowded festivals, cafes and restaurants etc.
Dad wearing his sleeping bub while playing PS2
Mum wearing bub at children's birthday party
Dad & Bub on a train
Mum wearing bub at an engagement party
Mum wearing bub while shopping
Carrying a 1 year old
Carrying a 2.5year old
Once we mastered the art of putting on our carriers it took no time at all to get ready to go out - putting on a sling or a wrap became like putting on a jacket. We feel that we had a lot more freedom of movement than pram using mums and dads, even if it was just one of us out and about, we would have our baby on our front and a nappy bag on our back and we had everything we needed.
Wearing our baby keeps our hands free which means we can go about our daily activities without having to separate ourselves from our baby. We can cook, clean, run errands, shop, take care of other children (for example our niece), etc. It's thanks to babywearing that I was able to attend a friend's birth while caring for my 6 month old child. As my friend roared her baby earthside my own baby slept in a wrap.
Dad plays with niece while wearing newborn
I remember at my mother's birthday I cut the cake into slices for everyone while wearing my bub and someone else said "I can take over if you like, you've got a baby". A kind offer, but not necessary. I thanked her and replied "it's okay, that's what the wrap's for".
Money
Our parents both offered to buy us a pram when our first baby was born, and we looked into what we might want in a pram. We were shocked to discover just how much a pram could cost. And we weren't sure we were going to use a pram anyway so it seemed a waste of money in our case.
For a quarter of the cost of a pram we could buy one wrap which would be versatile enough to carry our newborn right through to her toddler years and beyond in a range of different positions. And if we felt so inclined we could have made our own wrap for a fraction of that price again.
For a quarter of the cost of a pram we could buy one wrap which would be versatile enough to carry our newborn right through to her toddler years and beyond in a range of different positions. And if we felt so inclined we could have made our own wrap for a fraction of that price again.
Bonding
There is nothing quite like the feeling of your baby safe and snug against you in a wrap or sling. I'll never forget the first blissful time I felt her little head resting close to my heart. while I was going for a walk. My partner recommends babywearing to everyone, saying that wearing your baby is "like having one really long hug, but you're hands free".
It's great for the little one's too. Sadly we often see little babies lying in prams crying out for someone to pick them up and hold them. Our baby has never been upset in a wrap or sling, for the first four months of her life she tended to sleep peacefully while being worn. After that age she enjoyed being able to see the world from on high.
Being worn means that babies and children can be easily included in the everyday activities of their adult relatives. This fosters greater attachment between family members. After nine months of being cosy inside their mothers, it only makes sense that babies will find peace and security in being worn close to their parents bodies. In the womb babies live with the rhythm of their mother's heartbeat as their background music, and with wraps and slings babies can hold onto that comforting womb connection by being worn close to the heart.
Newborn snug as a bug
It's great for the little one's too. Sadly we often see little babies lying in prams crying out for someone to pick them up and hold them. Our baby has never been upset in a wrap or sling, for the first four months of her life she tended to sleep peacefully while being worn. After that age she enjoyed being able to see the world from on high.
Asleep on the go
Being worn means that babies and children can be easily included in the everyday activities of their adult relatives. This fosters greater attachment between family members. After nine months of being cosy inside their mothers, it only makes sense that babies will find peace and security in being worn close to their parents bodies. In the womb babies live with the rhythm of their mother's heartbeat as their background music, and with wraps and slings babies can hold onto that comforting womb connection by being worn close to the heart.
Newborn snug as a bug
Parents often talk about "arsenic hour", a period when nothing seems to comfort baby and she or he appears inexplicably upset. Some babywearing families find that popping bub into a carrier at this time provides a solution. Indeed, my partner and I found that when nothing else could help our baby drift off to sleep a quick walk around the house in a wrap usually did the trick.
Babywearing helps children and adults settle!
Babywearing helps children and adults settle!
Babywearing also makes a great foundation for future cooperation in household maintenance because the children have always been involved in the cooking and cleaning by virtue of their place as overseer in their carrier.
Bub watches on as Mum cleans bathroom
Healthy Development
It goes without saying that a good bond between parents and children leads to health childhood development. In addition to this,babywearing offers children opportunities for better physical and mental development.
A baby who is worn instead of laid in a pram or bouncer is given greater opportunities to develop head, neck and general muscle strength. Being up high on their parents means that babies and children are exposed to different activities and see the world from a different angle, which leads to greater learning. I'm sure out baby has learned a lot from watching us prepare food, she has shown great interest in the different sounds frying and boiling can make and the pretty colours of different chopped vegetables.
Dad prepares dinner with baby
Being up high on a parent, rather than down low in a pram also affords children more opportunities for social interaction. Every time we leave the house our baby meets someone new, and engages with them. Being higher means she more easily makes eye contact with other adults.
There are plenty of things in our lives that when new to us can be awkward and confusing, but once mastered are well worth the brief period of adjustment. Babywearing is one of these (though not necessarily, to some people using slings and wraps comes very naturally). For all the wonderful benefits that come from babywearing for parents and babies alike, it is definitely a valuable skill for any kid wrangler to try his or her hand at.
There are plenty of things in our lives that when new to us can be awkward and confusing, but once mastered are well worth the brief period of adjustment. Babywearing is one of these (though not necessarily, to some people using slings and wraps comes very naturally). For all the wonderful benefits that come from babywearing for parents and babies alike, it is definitely a valuable skill for any kid wrangler to try his or her hand at.
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