The term “baby wearing” often elicits a visualization of a baby snuggled close against mommy.. not with my boys. With my boys born with one ounce and one inch difference between them, and one being 8lb 14 oz, 22 inches long and the other being 8 lb 15 oz and 21 inches long, no baby wearing gear we have tried so far has been a good fit.
Each pregnancy I get all gung ho about wearing my new baby and getting things done, and after each baby is born we try the different gear and find that, yet again, something is amiss with each one.
Baby Wearing Benefits
There are dozens upon dozens of articles to tell you why you should practice baby wearing, so I’ll keep this section brief. With good gear to practice such, you can have skin to skin contact (great for breastfeeding and helpful for postpartum depression), increased mobility and freedom to get things done, and I’ve even read that baby wearing is suggested to be a factor in reducing sudden infant death syndrome.
With those benefits and many more on the table, who wouldn’t want to at least TRY?
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The Gear
Although I obviously haven’t tried every type of baby wearing gear on the market, I have four different ones at home… structured, unstructured, and two that are somewhere in between.
The Structured Gear
The structured wearing gear sounded great… until I realized it was not good for circulation in my son’s legs (even with the straps loosened) when facing me, yet he was too young to properly hold his head up for facing the world.
We tried the structured gear several times, facing me and facing away, only to eventually conclude that it was too hot (little circulation) and was difficult (nearly impossible) to get in and out of without help… especially with a baby on board.
Although I still hold out hope for this particular baby carrier, it would be best in a cooler climate, and definitely watch the tightness of the (many) straps.
The Unstructured Gear
The unstructured wrap was an unexpected gift from a friend… and let me tell you, boy was there a learning curve!! It seemed that we would never figure out how to use it properly without consulting a video explanation (with repeated pausing) for each use.
Once we finally accomplished the feat (and it was a feat) of learning this wrap, we decided that it ideally needed two people to get on and off as well, but it definitely was more breathable and comfortable for me and baby than the structured baby wearing gear.
The major flaw with this wrap that we found was for larger mamas. As a larger mama myself, we found that it barely fit around me when wrapped properly, leaving very little room to secure the wrap (although safely doable, it might not have been were I larger than I am).
Somewhere In Between
After trying the two above wraps, we purchased yet another wrap… again with high hopes. The sling style wrap seemed like the perfect go between… but baby only fit one way, and it was such a tight fit (with his chin tucked to his chest) and looked so awkward and uncomfortable for baby that we have only used it once or twice so far.
Maybe this wrap would be better for smaller babies… but it was much easier to use, just felt less secure.
Unidentified Somewhere In Between
The other “somewhere in between” baby wearing gear was kind of a sling too… but not a ring sling. Think of a small infinity scarf. Definitely not intended for larger mamas (I could barely get in and out of it) and if you have a larger baby, well… I don’t recommend it. My mother-in-law loves it, but even she (smaller than me) struggles with having a larger baby in the scarf with her.
All of the points go to this wrap for simplicity and ease of use, however (if you are a smaller mama and/or have a smaller baby). Unfortunately, I could not find this type of sling or an example online… the closest I found were DIY projects that would turn an infinity scarf into a baby wrap. This one is a single piece of fabric with a single seam.. the fabric goes on one shoulder, and under the other arm. You tuck your baby in the front portion of the scarf. I have no idea where it came from.
Overall, there are great baby wearing options out there, but I haven’t been fortunate enough to find the right option for me. With numerous benefits, however, I’ll keep looking.
Do you practice baby wearing? What gear do you use? Let me know in the comments below!
Christian, wife, “hybrid” mama, I run the site All Behind A Smile to help others like me.
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