International Babywearing Week is November 12-18 and in honor of that Stephanie at Adventures in Babywearing is hosting a blog carnival to spread the word and have some fun. If you would like to participate click on over to THIS POST that has the details and sign up on Mr. Linky to get in on the action. In addition to the carnival she is also offering prizes. Who doesn't love prizes?! What prizes, you ask? You could win a Pop Nest Sling or a Sparrow Hatchling Sling from Nonny & Boo. Beautiful, no?!
Now that all that official stuff is out of the way, I would like to take you on a short (ok ok it's not the shortest thing I've ever talked about) journey through babywearing with me.
It all started with my just about 18 month old K-Girl. One of my friends told me about her Kangaroo Korner Adjustable Fleece Pouch that she got as a gift from a babywearing friend. After a while I decided that I had to have one and so I did. My addiction soon started. It took me a while to get a hang of it but I loved it. I loved having my hands free and being able to do things with a clingy little one - or shopping and not having to have a stroller.
Soon after I fell in love with my pouch I decided that it was wonderful and all, but carrying a large toddler in a sling was hard on your back. I started looking into different things and soon found the wonderful world of mei tais (pronounced may*tie). I found out about The Kozy Carrier and have to admit that when I saw the picture of Kelley's husband "wearing" her (scroll down about 3/4 of the page in the middle column) I thought it HAD to be better on my back than the sling. My dear husband bought me one for my birthday - a month before K-Girl turned 2. It was love at first use. I could now carry her around on my back. We could be together and it didn't hurt at all. I could carry her this way for quite some time with ease.
But sadly she grew and preferred using her own legs more and more.
Then came E-Man. For those of you that have been around from the start know how high touch E-Man has been. He's been a Momma's boy from the start and life without carriers would have been a very difficult life indeed. My obsession grew a bit with E-Man. I pulled out my Kozy and wore him froggy legged on my tummy most of the time.
And he was quite content to stay here for his entire naps. That was the only way I got him to nap at all.
In fact, when he was 1 month old I had a birthday party to pull off for K-Girl. Without babywearing I am confident that K-Girl would not have had a cake for her birthday. I had The Husband help me wear E-Man on my back and life was good - for all parties involved. This was SO comfortable, but I must say I wouldn't have done this position without The Husband around to help me.
We broke out the Kangaroo Korner Adjustable Fleece Pouch (KKAFP) again too and we LOVED that. It was nice and snuggly. E-Man absolutely loved to be snuggled up nice and tight in a cradle position. The only bad thing about the KKAFP was that, well, it was summer. It was great indoors in the a/c but outside it was just too hot.
Enter Moby & Hotsling. Moby was a favorite when there was housework to do or he was going to be in it for extended amounts of time like naps or shopping or something to that affect. He would sit in the cradle hold for such a long time and be oh so content.
But the Hotsling was wonderful when we had quick trips to do. And not to mention that my Hotsling was gorgeous.
I purchased this on the morning of my friend's wedding that I was a bridesmaid for. I was worried about what I would do with E-Man during the evening. It was a lifesaver. I did not wear him during the ceremony - although I'm positive he would have been much better if I had. Instead, my poor mother-in-law spent the entire time in the parking lot with him screaming. Luckily it was a short 15 - 20 minute ceremony and as soon as it was over I put him in the carrier and we had a great time at the reception. I mean come on, he made the perfect accessory of my dress, don't you think?!
Later I read about making your own wrap out of gauze material and bought some at JoAnn's and made a no sew wrap. I was worried about the Moby being too warm for a trip to the amusement park in 90 degree weather. This was perfect. We were comfortable and he slept a lot of the time.
K-Girl gained interest in babywearing too. She wanted to wear her puppy like Momma wears E-Man. I had some fabric left over from making my own wrap that was the perfect length to use on K-Girl.
And once E-Man was a bit bigger we enjoyed using the slings in other positions as well.
Now during this time we loved our wraps and slings, but I longed for my mei tai. You see after a while, E-Man decided that he no longer liked to be froggy legged inside the carrier. He wanted his legs out. Only problem with this was that the body of the Kozy was wide and made his legs stretch further than he was comfortable with and so any time I tried to use it resulted in his crying. Not fun. I decided there had to be something better out there that was perfect for us. And there was. Meet my Silly Goose Baby Carrier...
It is an adjustable bottom mei tai. PERFECT for little babies that want their legs out but are small that they shouldn't have their legs spread so far around a bulky carrier. What made this carrier even better was that I worked with them to make my own custom carrier with the Heather Ross Fish in Bags fabric that I absolutely love. Again, all was well in the world.
...but if I wanted to I could still carry K-Girl even at 3 years old. It had novelty now that E-Man always gets to go for rides. And since the Silly Goose had a weight limit of 35ish pounds the Kozy still got love.
But carriers were a love. A new carrier was always an interest. I signed up to be a tester for a WAHM (work at home mom) that made this carrier called a Duo. This is strictly a front facing carrier but can be used facing in or out. And unlike a sling you have support on both shoulders. There is nothing to tie or buckle. You simple slip it over your head like a t-shirt. I really liked this carrier. Only problem at all was with my grabby gus. I could never keep his hands off of things facing out and he was always stretching for this or that. No fault of the carrier just started not working for us. But I HIGHLY recommend one of these for people who may be intimidated by babywearing. It doesn't get much easier than this! And she's a fantastic woman to work with.
Then another of the dear mommies at our playgroup saw me wearing E-Man and told me she had a ringsling for me. She brought me this absolutely gorgeous ring sling and gave it to me...for free. All because she's not really into babywearing. Girl, I don't understand. ;) I love this sling.
See the part that I didn't add to this little history is that I ordered a ring sling for myself when E-Man was still in tummy. I was excited because it coordinated with my diaper bag and everything - you know the important things. But I could not get that thing to work. And I could not understand. I read everywhere how ringslings were the best kind of carrier and that anyone could figure it out, etc etc. Well I could not. No matter how hard I tried. I sold the sling and went on my way. Until this one. I will say that my first ringsling had plastic rings and it just was not great quality. This has metal rings and it is absolutely FANTASTICALLY made and gorgeous. I think quality may have been a reason for why I couldn't get it to work for me and I love this one (short tail and all - even though a longer tail would have been nice for a nursing cover).
But really I'm a mei tai Momma. I love love love my mei tais. They are strong. They are supportive. They are comfy and they do not have that much of a learning curve. Please don't let those straps intimidate you.
I'll take a carrier over a stroller for the everyday every time. And I do believe if you asked him he would tell you that same preference.
Oh and yes, I can still carry K-Girl if she or I would like to as well. ;) At 50 lbs and 4 1/2 years old she's no little load, but honestly not that bad.
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