[blparent] baby wearing

[Jennifer Bose]

Hi, listers.

Tara, I'm happy to give you an answer here about learning to use
carriers. I'll start by saying that frankly, I was so overwhelmed by
the idea of impending motherhood that I had to take things one step at
a time, so I only learned very little before my daughter Abigail was
born and then learned a lot more once she was here. My husband and I
were excited about having a baby; it's just that without the baby
being there in the first place, I didn't know what it was going to be
like for either of us to wear the baby in the carrier. So I know I
asked a lot of the same basic questions you did.

Mostly, I learned how to use carriers by having someone show me.
Whether it was my mom, a friend, or someone I worked with at a
terrific store for new parents and their babies that used to be in the
area, I learned by doing, as the expression goes. There are videos
about learning to use carriers that had good information, but the
details were too visual for me to learn exclusively from them. The
person assisting me would tell me how to put on the carrier and then I
would try it a few times with them watching. Another thing that worked
for me, which you could try, is to practice wearing the carrier with a
baby doll or stuffed toy inside it. Someone can show you how to put on
the carrier and you can get the sense of what the weight would feel
like, or what the positioning would be. Of course, with a real live
baby, you're carrying around another person who will sometimes be
content to be carried like that and at other times will be squirming
or fussy about it. After you've worn your baby in the carrier several
times, you'll get the sense of how s/he feels about being there at any
given moment. Usually, they want to be close to someone, preferably
mom or dad, for most of the time.

As I said, I did learn about carriers once Abigail was born and she,
lucky girl, got to be something of a test subject. However, she was
never in any danger since whenever I was experimenting with carriers,
I either had someone around to show me how to do it correctly or, if I
happened to be on my own and practicing, I stopped immediately if I
thought I was about to make her at all uncomfortable. I remember that
one time, I was going to a class for new moms and was preparing to put
Abby in the Baby Bjorn; she was about six weeks old at the most.
Without even having put her in, I had twisted the carrier up so badly
that I thought I was never going to succeed. I just told the
instructor I was running very late, then took the carrier apart and
spread it out in front of me completely before setting it all up again
and seating Abby in it. I always remembered how it worked after that.
With the Moby Wrap, it was like learning to tie your shoes or ride a
bike; I practiced and practiced until it came together all of a sudden
and stuck with me. When my daughter Tara was born two and a half years
after Abby, I still remembered how to use the carriers.

I hope this helps. All the best.

Jen >