[blparent] baby wearing

[Jennifer Bose]

On 1/17/14, Tara Briggs <tarabriggs at utah.gov> wrote:
> Thanks. I have been reading a book called The Baby Book: Everything you
> need to know about your baby From Birth to Two Years old. It is on the
> download sight from NLS. The book talks about wearing your baby and it
> seems like a good idea to me. How does the ergo work? How soon can you use
> it to carry your baby?
> Thanks
> Tara
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blparent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Star
> Gazer
> Sent: Friday, January 17, 2014 6:27 AM
> To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List'
> Subject: Re: [blparent] baby wearing
>
> My oldest is almost 7, so Ihaven't worn her in a long time.
> My new baby isn't here yet, so I haven't worn her either.
> I love the ergo and absolutely hate the bjorn.
> What is driving your questions?
> I never took metrics on how often I wore my oldest. I suspect my youngest
> will be worn a lot more because she'll be a younger sister.
> The ergo is probablyone of the  most user friendly carriers out there. It
> uses buckles so you don't have to guess at how to roll the fabric.
> Be careful with slings. Anybody can make one if they can sew, and the
> problem with this is that you don't know if they did it properly, so you
> don't know if the sling can bear the baby's weight properly or provide
> proper support.
> Also, the sling requires that you place the baby safely. You wouldn't
> believe how many people do it wrong. I had an idiot at Babies-R-Us say to
> lay the baby in the sling whichyou never ever want to do because the
> fabric can cover their face. Also, you need to be sure the baby's chin
> isn't on their chest.
> With the ergo, you really can't screw it up, though with anything else,
> you'll want to practice.
> Some people love slings so if you want to go down that path, you can. Just
> make sure that the people advising you are giving good advice and not
> people you like. The two are not always the same and you need the wisdom
> to know the difference. Unfortunately learning that wisdom can be harder
> then it looks.
>

Hi, everyone.

Tara, you have good questions about baby-wearing. It's a good thing to
do, especially when a baby's very small. I wore each of my two babies
in carriers. When my older daughter Abigail was small, I used the Baby
Bjorn and another one that hasn't been mentioned here, the Moby Wrap.
That one takes some practice to use, but it's very comfortable once
you get used to it and doesn't feel like extra weight on the body.
Oddly enough, I couldn't figure out the Ergo at all, but I didn't
really get to have that one demonstrated to me the way I did with the
other carriers. When my other daughter, Tara, was small, I used the
same carriers. Wearing a baby is convenient for the wearer and
generally comfortable for the baby. When babies are brand new, they
spend a lot of time sleeping, and if they're being worn in a carrier,
they can snuggle up against you and just sleep. Once they're older and
want to look around and have more control of their muscle movements,
such as being able to hold their head up, they can face outward but
still be worn safely in a carrier. If you're doing something at home
and don't want to leave the baby in its crib in another room, you
could wear the baby in the carrier and have it sleep there instead for
a while. If you're out for a walk and are wearing the baby, it will
very often feel comfortable in the carrier and will be lulled to sleep
by your walking. Whatever carrier you choose, it should be easy to put
on and then take off if the baby needs to be fed or changed. I tried a
few carriers with a friend who was familiar with all of them, and she
showed me how to use each one until I was sure about how to do it. I
wish the Ergo could have worked out, but I'm glad other people like
it. My favorite is the Moby Wrap.

Jen