Wear Your Baby, Michigan!

I’ve had several friends tell me things lately like “I can’t believe she will just sit in there like that, my son/daughter/baby/etc would never have done that at her age, they are just too active/independant/stubborn/etc.”

Interestingly enough, my daughter is all of the above.  Her hands and feet rarely stop moving, she throws fits (I mean really fits, kicking and screaming, yelling, etc when she doesn’t get exactely what she wants) at 9 mos of age and she has been what I consider pretty “high maintenance” from day 1.

But she has also been worn from day 1.

Without babywearing and breastfeeding her I am convinced that I would have had a difficult time really bonding with her.  I would be extremely stressed from all the crying and tired from all the in arms carrying.

I know that when nothing else makes her happy, when nothing else will help her calm down, when nothing else stops the crying, when nothing else will get her to be still, even sometimes offering to nurse doesn’t do the trick………I can put her in a sling or carrier and she will snuggle up against me and start to relax into me and we can have that quiet time together.

Most people don’t realize this because when we are out and about she is almost always being worn so she appears so calm, happy, relaxed, etc.  My family or our close friends from out of town that have stayed weekends at our house know what I mean…they’ve all made comments about how “she sure gives you a workout in a day, huh?!”

So I agree that if she had never been worn before and had this temperament and we all of a sudden tried it at age 9 mos or older, we would likely be met with some resistance.  But I am OH SO THANKFUL that we did it from the start for the sake of both my sanity and our bond and relationship with eachother.

We just got back from a trip to Disney World. We rented strollers at the parks, but the Babyhawk Mei Tai was essential in getting around on the buses and walking into the parks and back to our hotel. My 2 year old just did NOT want to walk along. So, my husband wore him on his back. Also, strollers could not be used in lines for rides, and the Mei Tai kept ds2 from taking off. He also drifted off for short naps in the carrier, which kept him from getting too cranky.

I was disappointed at not seeing very many babywearers there, however. We only saw one other mom with an Ergo, and only a couple with a commercial carrier. I was surprised, as it’s becoming much more common around here to see moms wearing pouches, at least.

A few weeks ago, my husband participated in an conference for people in the stereo / hi-fi audio hobby. They rented out two floors of a hotel and each room had either a vendor or hobbiest displaying their stereo system or selling wares. My husband had a room and was quite busy with it, but still wanted to take his daughter around and listen to some music with her - one of their favorite bonding activities.

So, we headed out there on Sunday to make a day of it and the only carrier I brought was a short rebozo length wrap (a very simple piece of cloth). My daughter is 18 months old and I expected her to be on her feet most of the day. Boy was I wrong. On the drive over, she fell asleep, so I carefully got her out of her carseat and arranged her in the rebozo still sleeping on my hip. She slept through the check-in process and then started to wake up with all the commotion. Then I was so glad she could stay attached to me, because there were a lot of big, loud (mostly men) that she didn’t know. She was glued to me - if not for the rebozo, my arms would have gotten quite tired quickly.

She calmed down and enjoyed herself quite a bit, then it was time for lunch. They had a salad bar type thing in the hotel, so we went to eat. Well, she just wanted to run over to a water fountain and would not sit still. So onto my back she went! I tied the rebozo differently and she was safely perched so she could watch (but not help) me get our plates of food.

After a bit more listening, she began to get tired, and with all that noise, there was no way we could expect her to nap. So I tied her on in a hip carry low enough to nurse and started walking around the very peaceful atrium of the hotel (complete with running water for white noise!) She was asleep quickly, and I found a comfortable couch to lay with her and rest myself.

I got more comments about the piece of cloth and every time I had her carried in a new way, everyone was amazed it was the same cloth! I can’t imagine how we would have made that day work without it.

With my first son I could not for the life of me figure out how to use a ring sling comfortably.  I had no one around to show me and I saw these great pictures online but just could not wrap my mind around how to get mine like the pictures.

Before starting the TC babywearing group I paid a visit to the group in Grand Rapids….and brought along a ring sling determined to figure this out even though my “baby” was over 2 years old by that point.

Duh.  That’s all I have to say.  Duh.  I was making it wayyyyy harder than it needed to be and now with my second baby I am loving the ring slings!  She loves them too.  She loves how she can cuddle up on my shoulder just like if I’m holding her.  I love how fast I can get her in and out when I want to run in somewhere quick.

For longer carrying I still prefer a two shouldered carrier but I am certainly using the ring slings much more than I thought I would!

I feel like I should make a babywearing workout video because man, did I “feel the burn”!  My 8 mos old is getting her 2 front teeth right now and has been quite a mess today.  She could not seem to fall asleep for a nap this morning so I put her on my back and set out to do some yard cleanup.  After picking up some sticks and then pullling out a bunch of old plants and weeds from our garden area I realized that squats with an extra 18 lbs or so on your back are quite effective!

So next time your baby is fussy and you need to fit in a workout - throw them on your back and try some squats and lunges!

I got back last week from a week-long trip to visit my family in Wisconsin.  I took both kids (3.5 years and 7 mos) and hit the road for a 7 hour drive by myself.  Crazy?  You might ask……maybe a little!  Really it went pretty well.

There were several times on the way there though that it struck me how much I rely on my carriers.  How else would I manage to help my 3 year old in a gas station or wayside bathroom if I couldn’t wear the baby?  You can’t fit a stroller in there.  You certainly wouldn’t set her on the floor.  However having her right on me, securely attached with my hands free made it very easy.

It’s always an adjustment for me to babywear in the town my parents live.  Here in Traverse City ring slings are very common and other types of carriers are fairly common as well.  At most I usually get smiles and questions about where I got my carrier.  My parents live in a very conservative, not at all “crunchy” city in Wisconsin.  I have actually never seen another person wearing a baby in anything other than a baby store/discount store type carrier there and even that isn’t very common.  I get a lot of stares.  Several times people have talked about us loud enough for us to hear as if we aren’t even there!  Maybe someday it will catch on there!

Our snow is finally melting here in northern Michigan and starting friday we could really play outside.  So thank goodness for my carriers so I can chase and play with my preschooler and my 7 mos old can join in the fun too!  Friday my daughter got to try out a back carry for a longer amount of time for the first time while we walked along with my son riding his bike.  She loved it!  Another family with a baby in a stroller stopped us to comment on how happy she was back there.  (I had her in a medium size body mei tai.)

Saturday my husband and son were building a nesting box for our yard to try and attract either some American Kestrels or Screech Owls (for more info see www.wingsofwonder.org ) so I decided to take my fussy girl for a walk in a wrap to see if she’d take her nap.  I snuggled her up in a front carry and she was out in less than 2 blocks.  I got some exercise while she got her nap.

I’m so happy to finally be able to get outside more without layers and layers of clothing!

My 18 month old daughter is working on two molars today.  She’s fine one minute, then breaks out in tears the next…  and when she’s hurting, all she wants to do is nurse.  I’m happy to comfort her with nursing, but I do have a few pressing issues I need to address, like laundry and dinner.  After nursing her twice before 9am, I quickly realized how my day was going to go and I put on a carrier (a short cuddly rebozo length wrap).  Everytime she got fussy and needed comfort, I’d pop her in the wrap, tighten it up and keep going about my business.  I think she was even more secure and happy in the wrap than if I had stopped what I was doing to sit down and hold her.  She really liked the cuddles - and so do I - she’s quite a busy toddler, and it’s not every day she slows down enough for a good snuggle!  She also nursed less than I thought she would, content to ride along close to me while I went about my chores.