I love you, I wear you

I own 4 baby carriers. I realize some people might think it’s a little excessive, just like some people think breastfeeding at 9 months is a little excessive or that co-sleeping is extreme. Oh well. I believe it’s called attachment parenting and I’m HUGE fan. Annabelle is a very happy baby that loves to smile but she has an awful lot of moments of fussiness, especially when she was itty bitty. Most of the time she would stop crying as soon as I picked her up and would go crazy the instant I tried putting her down again so I could get something done. There’s only so long you can put off doing laundry or washing dishes to tend to a crying baby. And then you discover the joys of baby wearing.

Annabelle was about 4 weeks old the first time I put her in a carrier and she fell straight to sleep. I could actually get stuff done! She was one happy little baby in her baby bjorn. The next time I attempted to put her in it she cried and cried and cried and cried. So we moved onto the moby wrap which is soft and stretchy and oh so comfy, and again Annabelle was in baby bliss. The moby is a little complicated to figure out at first since it’s essentially just a long piece of fabric that you wrap them up in but once you get the hang of it it’s easy peasy. I got a Baby Time ring sling as a gift and I tried and tried and tried and Annabelle was just never happy in it. I still try at 9 months and still nothing, she likes to kick her little feet around while I walk around, maybe because she’s excited, maybe so she can pretend she’s walking too. Some babies love slings and others love carriers, they are equally amazing.

When the Texas heat became too unbearable to keep wearing the Moby I switched back to the Baby Bjorn. By this point Annabelle was big enough to be worn facing out so she could watch the whole world go by and she was as happy as a little baby could be. As soon as I started wearing Annabelle I knew I’d be wearing her for a long time. Not only because of all the benefits of baby wearing but because I can’t imagine anything more amazing than having your special little person so close to you and being able to bond and even feel each other breathe. I take that back, nursing is more amazing. Baby wearing lets dad feel and nurture that special bond too.

Once Annabelle was starting to outgrow the Baby Bjorn I knew I’d have to find another carrier. A lot of the carriers I looked at recommend a max weight of 25lbs. I can tell you right now that I’ll be wearing Annabelle well past 25lbs. I stumbled upon the Fort Worth Baby Wearers that were hosting a Fort Worth Parenting Extravaganza and found the Cat Bird Baby Mei Tei which I am currently obsessed with. I wish I would have found it sooner. It even has a part you can put over babys head to block out the world when they’re taking a nap. (Sometimes when we’re out an about it’s a great way to sneak in a nap instead of rushing home to get her to nap).

There are tons and tons of baby carriers and there are even more benefits to baby wearing than just the convenience of getting stuff done. So let your baby explore the world from a safe spot on your body, or dads. I’m curious to know what kinds of carriers you’ve tried and which ones are your favorite.

Here’s a quick list of just a few of the benefits of baby wearing: less crying, babies are in a state of quiet alertness when they’re in a carrier (that’s the behavioral state in which babies can best interact with their environment and learn, good for mental, emotional and physical development, good for post partum depression. Here are some articles: Dr. Sears Baby Wearer.

Here’s a list of some of the things Annabelle and I do while she’s in my papoose. Laundry, mop floors, vacuum, cook (with no knives), wash dishes, make the bed, clean up, dance, go shopping, go for walks, walk 2 dogs simultaneously. I’m sure there’s a lot more, I just can’t think of it. What are some of the things you like to do while wearing your angel?