After reading a friend's post on baby wearing I thought I'd expand on just how much I love it! It has truly saved my sanity over the last 6 months. It has allowed me to prepare easy foods, hold hands w/ my daughter while walking w/ Alex, hold Alex during a church service while trying to keep Kairi in the pew, carry both babies along w/ 2 diaper bags and a Bible into church by myself, and to shop w/o the double stroller in stores that just don't provide enough space for my double. And even when it was just Kairi I marveled at how much easier it was to navigate airports w/ the sling than w/ even just an umbrella stroller. Taking walks was awesome while carrying her in the sling b/c I felt like I was getting a better workout and I was capable of walking on really rough sidewalks that the stroller would have had trouble w/.
That being said, it wasn't until the last few months that I really began to dig into baby wearing again. I loved it, but I just stuck w/ my one basic carry. It's a cradle hold where I took a 2 yard length of cloth, folded it twice lengthwise, and then tied a knot just next to my shoulder. Then you position the baby inside the middle fold and waa-laa, a simple sling to make. But recently Alex has stopped enjoying that as much. So I researched different carries and carriers.
HotSling makes a great sling, but it doesn't work for all people, ESPECIALLY if it doesn't fit you right. If you're going to buy one, really look into what the exact right size for you is before making your purchase. The wrong one could hurt your back and/or neck.
Mei Tais are really neat, and although I've never owned one, they look awesome. I do plan on eventually owning one ... one day ... I think they're neat b/c they should work all the way into toddler hood. EllaRoo makes really nice ones.
Moby Wraps are the closest to what I've been making recently. They're basically just long pieces of cloth that you learn to wrap around yourself and slide your child into. They seem to be the most versatile wrap out there.
Ring Slings are recommended by a lot of people, but the price always scares me off in case I don't like it. Although, maybe if I found a pattern that was highly recommended I could get my mom to make one for me .............. hmmmmm: Things to think about.
Baby Bjorn -- I never used one. I wasn't interested in it. But I have heard some great things from several different people. What I would recommend instead of it, though, is the ERGObaby. It's very similar, but is supposed to be much better for your back. ( http://www.ergobabycarrier.com/ )
Of course there are lots of others, but those are the ones that interest me the most. I recently bought myself the following book:
Baby-Gami
It's great at teaching you how to make your own sling/wrap. It also gives swaddling tips and ideas so it's a great book for new parents.
Just as a side note, when I first started baby wearing w/ Kairi, I didn't have the money to buy a sling, so I took a cute twin sized top sheet that we no longer used and folded it lengthwise twice and used it ... It worked and cost me not a cent!
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We had a super busy weekend filled w/ waterslides, poopy swimsuits, soaking wet clothes, slight sunburns, and visiting my aunt's church. But not many pictures to accompany it. More on our weekend later ... for now my son's asleep so I'm headed that way!
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Real fast, Kris Marie, this is the link to the personal account that made me throw my Hyland's Teething Tablets away for good. I've heard similar stories since then. I had an article somewhere about it, but I can't seem to find it ... still looking though.
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Here's the link I referred to in my comments!
2 comments:
Thank you so much for posting that! That is really scary. Have you heard anything about Humphreys 3? I know it uses the same ingredients... I bought Hylands first because it was easier to find, but wanted the other because it was highly recommended. I have both now... I may just go back to what my parents did lol.. bring on the tequila or whiskey lol.
I wouldn't have thought of using a sheet either... & we have several we can't use anymore - so I think I'm gonna try that tomorrow. Did you have to sew anything or do anything special?
I haven't heard anything about Humphreys 3, but if it has belladonna in it, I'd personally toss it. What I've been doing instead is to rub a tiny bit of tylenol on the gums for Alex. I need to go find that liquid that Becky had given me before at our Natural Food Store -- it worked really well. Of course when they get as big as Kairi, you may have to resort to Motrin. It works better than anything else -- and when they're big enough to hurt themselves and/or other things while throwing fits b/c their mouths hurt so badly then you have to do something about it.
I didn't do anything special at all w/ the sheet, although you can in order to make it last longer w/o refolding. I just found the website that had suggested using one to me, so I'll edit and link that in my blog -- it also has several other sling patterns. Just scroll down and it's under wraps. :)
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