Babywearing 101

I was not going to be one of those mothers.
I was not going to "cave" and carry my child around as much as he desired.
I was not going to spoil him and train him that he had me wrapped around his pinkie
I was going to let him "cry it out" from day one
I was going to teach him that he was a part of our family, not the center of it, by teaching him how to self soothe from the very beginning - by giving him forced alone time in his crib (during which I assumed he'd play quietly. As a newborn. what was I thinking?)
By this method surely he would become socialized, he would be pleasant, he would rarely cry, and everyone would comment on what a well behaved baby he was. Right?

The truth?
This child cries (a lot) more than I expected. Especially between 5pm and 10pm. Usually all of those 5 hours are spent trying to get this child not to cry. Now, mind you, the remainder of his day is spent sleeping, but those 5 hours are, without a doubt, the most difficult of our day. So what do we do? we cater to this child as much as we possibly can. We carry him, bounce him, swaddle him, bathe him, and yes, wear him... and the wearing part - well, I love every minute of it (until my back and shoulders remind me it's probably time to put him down)

We are now the proud owners of three babywearing devices. See below:

This is a moby. Levi HATED the moby at first (until we realized he really didn't hate it, he was jus desperately hungry. Problem fixed) then we learned to put him into babywearing devices while he is assleep. Wow, that worked!


This is an Over the shoulder baby holder. It's a sling. Old school, I know. But this devise allows me to sit down while wearing him. It gets uncomfortable after a while, but in the short term it's a great pick.


This last one, thanks to my sister Shelly, is the well known baby bjorn. Probably the easiest of the three for me to maneuver all alone, this carrier is great for walking around. It distributes weight evenly and fits him well. The downside? it's not as snug and womblike as the previous two so he doesn't tend to sleep as long (that is the goal, you know, more sleep for him and more getting-things-done for me).

Do I wear my baby all day? obviously not. You've seen pleanty of pictures of him in the swing, the bouncy seat, his crib, the bassenet, etc. But what these carriers do (like the swaddle) is keep him from starteling himself with his hands. That alone is pricesless. Just priceless. As are these few moments I'm using to update you all on the goings on of a new family. It's amazing what can be done in just a few short moments. Cheers.
- Melissa