Double Hammock with Crosses instead of Rebozo Passes

The Double Hammock Carry is a back carry done with two rebozo passes over baby.  They are like hammocks because they do not cross between baby’s legs, but support baby’s body with legs sticking out from underneath.  Well, a stray comment on TheBabyWearer inspired me to try doing the Double Hammock Carry with the crosses between baby’s legs.

Verdict?  It was fine.  Spreading the wrap across the torso is kind of silly, though, because the wrap is bunched up from under baby’s legs as it comes around your torso, and the spreading isn’t going to be tight and supportive as it is with the standard double hammock where the wrap comes around your torso above baby’s legs and is already spread wide and flat.

I didn’t find it uncomfortable or saggy with my little baby, but I doubt it would hold up for long with a bigger child.

The front of the modified Double Hammock Carry tied with a half knot.

The front of the modified Double Hammock Carry tied with a half knot.

You can see that the wrap crosses between her legs like a Back Wrap Cross Carry.

You can see that the wrap crosses between her legs like a Back Wrap Cross Carry.

The wrap comes from under her leg to spread out over my chest.

The wrap comes from under her leg to spread out over my chest.

Standing in the Wrap

Sometimes as I wrap Belle she stretches her legs out to push against the bottom of the wrap.  Usually she’ll eventually bend her knees and sink down some and my wrap job may not be as snug around us as I’d like, anymore.  It’s easy to reach through and just bend her knees so that she is in position and I can snug the wrap job.  Here it is with a Front Cross Carry:

You can see that she is standing up in this Front Cross Carry.

You can see that she is standing up in this Front Cross Carry.

Reaching in under the crosses to bend her knees.

Reaching in under the crosses to bend her knees.

Side view of reaching under the crosses to position her legs.

Side view of reaching under the crosses to position her legs.

Nursing in One Cross of the Front Cross Carry

I’ve recently hit upon my new favorite nursing position.  I guess I’ve been wrapping Belle with legs out more often.  Now I’ve found that if I start in an upright Front Cross Carry, I can get a really comfortable and rock-solid nursing position (meaning truly hands-free) every time by lifting one of the crosses out from between her legs so that she leans sideways.

Let me explain, then I’ll post some pics to clarify.  I loosen the wrap a little, then lift Belle’s body so her weight’s not on the wrap, then I pull one of the crosses down from between her legs and around her body so that both legs are sticking out one side.  If I’m going to nurse her on my left side, then the cross coming over my right shoulder is the one that I’ll remove from between her legs.  Now that cross will be coming from my right shoulder, around her body, and around my left hip.  Her cute little legs will be sticking out on my right side, with the other cross still between them, and her head will be positioned at my left breast.

And I suspect that this is one of those cases where a picture is worth a thousand words so without further explanation…

Legs sticking out of one FCC cross.

Legs sticking out of one FCC cross.

At the nursing end of the Front Cross Carry.

At the nursing end of the Front Cross Carry.

Something about this particular position is very easy for me to get adjusted just so and does not require adjustments thereafter so I’m what you call a fan!

Cleaning House While Wearing Baby

Saturday my mom took Ada to spend the night with her, and David and Annabelle and I cleaned the living room.  It was so nice to just dedicate myself to cleaning for an hour or so, without distractions or interruptions and it was VERY nice to have a clean living room.  I’ve been taking pains all week to keep it nice because I think we’re all happier when our space looks lovely.

Wrapping Belle meant that I wasn’t interrupted by a baby needing to be picked up.  Wrapping her on my back meant that I was even able to lean over the washing machine, and there was no bundle in front of me to interfere with sweeping!  It also meant that Belle was a happy baby, cuddled up to her momma.  Having just  nursed, she happily went to sleep and my body movements kept her asleep for the duration.  Lucky kid woke up to find all of the work finished!

Sweeping while Belle snoozes in a Reinforved Rear Rebozo Rucksack.

Sweeping while Belle snoozes in a Reinforved Rear Rebozo Rucksack.

Doing laundry with Belle on my back.

Doing laundry with Belle on my back.

Shopping with Two Kids

I’ve got it pretty easy.  My big kid is five–a much more cooperative and responsible age than, say, three–and my little kid is only two months old, which means she’s easy to keep track of!

So shopping is not difficult.  I buckle in Annabelle.  Ada buckles in herself.  When we get there, Ada lets herself out, carefully staying near the car, while I unbuckle Annabelle and slip her into my wrap (pretied in a front cross carry).

When we get into the store, Ada rides in the shopping cart and this is the only tricky part!  With a baby wrapped on my front, it’s surprisingly difficult to lift Ada straight up and into the seat.

Out is easy.  If I take the cart to our car, Ada enjoys climbing out into the trunk of our minivan and from there into her seat.  I just hold the cart still.  That is her preferred way but she can as easily climb out of the cart into the open side door next to her booster seat.

If we don’t take the cart into the parking lot, I just turn my back to Ada, and she climbs out of the cart onto my back and slides down.  This is actually not awkward, difficult, or incomfortable at all.  I should have my husband video tape it sometime to demonstrate!

But getting Ada in the cart is difficult.  I can manage it, by picking her up toward my side so as not to squash her sister, but always prefer to have her climb in without me if she can.  We look for steps, or short walls that give her a boost into the cart.

It would be much easier if I had Annabelle on my back but she is almost always nursing while we run erranhds so for now, we make do.

I’m lucky my big girl is so willing and helpful!

A Family Affair

Reinforced Rear Rebozo Rucksack

Reinforced Rear Rebozo Rucksack

Reinforced Rear Rebozo Rucksack

Reinforced Rear Rebozo Rucksack

Front Cross Carry

Front Cross Carry

Front Cross Carry

Front Cross Carry

The Ridiculous Infant Seat

It’s not that I don’t think moms everywhere can use all the help they can get.  As far as I’m concerned, mothering is the most valuable  job there is and I don’t know a single mother who thinks it’s easy.

So I apologize in advance to all the moms who carry around the infant car seat, but I don’t think we should make it easier to carry!

Flying Falcon Car Seat Harness

Flying Falcon Car Seat Harness

Holding your baby is one of the best things you can do for your baby.  Sure, this culture makes it difficult sometimes.  While driving, for example.  And that’s why the car seat was invented.  But putting a handle on it was going too far, and putting a strap on it is another step in the wrong direction.

Instead of making it easier to keep your baby at arms length, maybe we should brainstorm ways to make it easier to hold your baby.  Instead of making it more convenient to mistreat your body by carrying one of these heavy, unwieldy contraptions, perhaps we should rethink the lifestyle that requires it.

I do not condemn a parent for using the infant car seat to carry their baby.  But it’s an inconvenience that should remain inconvenient to encourage us to find a better way

Arguments for the car seat harness:

It won’t increase infant seat use, just make it easier for when it is used. I disagree–new moms are bombarded with gadgets to make their lives easier that really won’t.  And those gadgets get in the way of their finding out about the simple things that can make a difference…like a functional baby carrier.

It’s easier on mother and baby to let the baby continue sleeping peacefully when you get to your destination. Easier, maybe, but not better.  Most babies can be transferred easily from carseat to a wraparound baby carrier without waking up, or will settle right back to sleep with their heads against our hearts.  For those who insist that their baby will wake up and scream through the entire errand, may I recommend learning to nurse in the wrap?  It’s a rare baby who isn’t appeased by the boob.

With more than one young child, the infant car seat is a necessity. I applaud parents of multiple children.  I want a herd myself.  But the more kids you have to wrangle, the more you need your baby content and your hands free.  It is the wrap, not the carseat, that will provide that.  In the wrap you are not carrying significantly more weight than your baby.  You have two free hands.  You are able to run if need be.  You can pick up an older child.  You can hug other children.

You can’t wear a baby when you are pregnant. Yes you can!  Much more comfortably than you can carry an infant carseat, which I would not think would be advisable while pregnant!

It makes eating in a restaurant so much easier. First, I find it very easy to eat in a restaurant while wearing my baby.  If I’m eating with family, I usually don’t even get to wear her because everyone wants a turn and she is passed around.  Second, even if it made it easier, it is not worth it to me.  Being there for your baby, physically, is so much more valuable!

There’s no sense taking baby out of the warm carseat in frigid weather. This is the argument I am most sympathetic with.  But I still wouldn’t do it.  The wrap is a very warm place, and transferring baby into a pretied front carry takes less than a minute, so unless it was really cold, I would do this, and close my coat over both of us.  When it’s seriously cold, I suppose one could climb into the car to transfer the baby with the door closed, if possible.  Or carry the carseat inside and then remove baby, but if you’re at the mall, you still have to carry the carseat at this point!  So I would expect to limit mall trips on freezing days.

Using the infant seat allows me to put my baby down and get some chores done. Hey, the wrap allows you to hold your baby AND get some chores done!

I don’t actually hold my baby constantly.  I pass her off to friends and family.  I put her down on a blanket on the floor or on the grass.  She sleeps in our bed, not on my chest.  But when we’re running errands?  That’s not a time to put her down.  That’s a time to keep her close.

And for those parents who find the occasional use for the infant car seat, that’s fine.  But let the inconvenience of the thing give you pause to consider whether the situation really warrants it!

Front Cross Carry

Front Cross Carry

I was never a fan of the Front Cross Carry until now. I don’t know if it is because it shines brightest when wrapping with a newborn, or if my love affair with the FCC will continue as Annabelle gets bigger. I’ll let you know.

What I know so far is that it is the best for pretying, for popping baby in and out of, and for nursing.

It is also very versatile. After tying the front cross carry you can choose whether to wrap baby with legs tucked in or legs out, whether to put baby in a cradle position, or tummy to tummy, or in the high shoulder carry or a sideways position–both of which allow for a view of the world.

My Front Cross Carry instruction page was always lacking because I just wasn’t crazy about the carry. Well, no longer! I’ve done more videos of the FCC than any other, and now several of them are available on my website and demonstrate how to use the FCC for the positions mentioned above, how to nurse hands-free in the FCC, how to raise and lower the baby in the wrap, how to pretie and insert baby, and how to tie the wrap around your baby.

Uses for a Rebozo

A rebozo is a short wrap.  In Mexico they are scarves as well as baby carriers, and serve many other uses.  Here’s one:

Rebozo Comfort Measure in Labor

On the Farm

I took Ada to pet the new lambs at a local farm.  She wanted to babywear too, so here we both are, wrapped up on the farm:

Ada and I wrap our babies at the farm.

Ada Wrap