Even More Babywearing
Yes, I still wear my baby!
Marcus loves being close to me when we're out and about--I wear him in the supermarket and on the subway virtually all the time. If we're in a restaurant and his patience has run out, I'll wear him and calm him down a little. When I'm making supper, and it's the end of a long, active, toddler day, I'll pop him on my back and he'll rest and watch and sometimes snooze. I wear him on the walk home from daycare to reconnect after a day apart, and I wear him in a ring sling down to meet the UPS guy just to have my hands free. Don't worry, Marcus still has plenty of time to walk around and explore the world, but when he wants to be up to cuddle, I'm happy to oblige.
In the last six months I've discovered the wonders of the FSOT (for sale or trade) boards at thebabywearer.com, and I've gotten to try out lots of different brands of wraps and slings and mei tais. It's fun to try out different carriers, and then it's fairly easy to resell them if you're tired of a color or if you find a particular brand doesn't work well for you. There are so many beautiful carriers out there, and Marcus and I are lucky to have gotten to try a bunch. Right now I have good, supportive carriers that work well for his size and weight: they spread the weight out across my chest and back, so no, babywearing is never painful for me. It's the brightest spot of my days.
At nineteen months, Marcus is slim but tall (just over 22 pounds, and maybe 33 inches--hard to get a good height measurements as he won't stand or lie still, really). We are obviously still babywearing, like mad. It's been great to try out all sorts of things and pass on the ones that weren't perfectly to my taste. It's like trying to find the perfect pair of jeans for yourself--every maker has different sizes, cuts, and styles, so you can't just assume that what works from one company for one woman will also work for another.
Here are some pictures of carriers that have passed through here. . .
and some pictures of some that have stayed:
Right now we are loving ring slings (both a Sakura Bloom Luxe double silk, so soft and strong, and converted Girasol wraps) for around the house and for quick errands with up-and-down moments, while we mainly use mei tais for front carries outside of the house--back carries occasionally, maybe more now that it's finally getting warmer (and even if it doesn't warm up soon enough, I now have our Kindercoat/babywearing jacket that can go over both me and Marcus, even in a back carry).
I still love my Storch Inka wrap, of course, which has just gotten softer and floppier with each passing month, but I don't use it on a daily basis since the mei tais provide such great support for my little leaner.
Sometimes, these days, Marcus brings a sling or mei tai over to me, in the house, and indicates he wants to go up--those moments are really sweet, as are the mei tai snuggles (in our Panama Hopp Ball Baby Overall wrap conversion) on daycare pickups. Robert has occasionally worn Marcus, too--never outside of the house, and never for all that long, but I think he finds it more appealing than he (Robert) would like to admit.
