With my 4 month old I’m doing a lot of quick nursing. It seems that nursing is ALWAYS an emergency and once baby starts crying, the pressure is on!

So try to practice a few times when it’s NOT an emergency. In this video, my baby was not yet asking to nurse, so it goes pretty smoothly

This one shows nursing in a Front Cross Carry. This only works if you’ve got baby wrapped up with both legs beneath both crosses, a FCC variation I like a lot as it holds my baby very close to me and is great for impromptu nursing sessions!

So I’m putting up the video for nursing in a Front Cross Carry and a second video showing how I put Cassidy into the FCC variation in the first place. I’ll try to do a similar video for Front Wrap Cross Carry soon.

Switching to a Nursing Carry

Wrapping Baby Under FCC Crosses

The Front Cross Carry is perfect for lots of ins and outs with a new baby, but the two of you will only enjoy it if you wrap baby high on your chest.

If baby tends to sink down deep into the wrap, try holding your baby and putting the wrap on around him or her for more of a custom fit.

As you go, be sure to pull each part snug across the entire width of the wrap. Take it slow and steady. Do it when your baby is happy just being held so that baby stays content while you take the three minutes to get this just right.

Be sure that the middle of the wrap that is behind your back is high on your back–right below your armpits is probably good. Make sure there are no loose or floppy bits of wrap back there. Do this by pulling carefully on each strand of the wrap as you make the first pass over baby, and just as carefully with the second pass.

Front Cross Carry is most convenient when you pretie, but wrapping it around baby for a couple of days can transform your pretied FCC into one that stays snug. Remember that your baby should be high enough to kiss!

Last night Barefoot Birth hosted a Night of Babywearing at the Labor of Love birth center in Lakeland, Florida.  I was late, and missed the other carriers being played with, but I brought my big basket of wraps for everyone to play with and Annabelle helped me show the people what we do with them.

It’s always tough to decide which carries to demonstrate as the wrap can be used in hundred of ways, and every mother-baby dyad has their own favorite that works best for them. So I try to pick the ones that are likeliest to work best and come easiest for the most people.

I picked the Front Cross Carry, because it’s easy to pretie and pop baby in and out of, and it’s easy to adjust for nursing.  That made the FCC my favorite newborn carry (and this was a largely pregnant crowd), and it’s still my favorite now that she’s five months old.  The Front Wrap Cross Carry can be easier for a newbie to get snug and tight, but the two advantages I mention to the FCC make it worth practicing a few times until it’s perfect.

Annabelle was desperately hungry, so we demonstrated nursing, and while she nursed we talked about leg positioning, and safe babywearing to ensure your baby can breath.  One of the benefits of babywearing is that your baby is never left unsupervised!

For a back carry, I chose the Rucksack Carry because it’s easy to understand and remember.  Then someone asked for my favorite carry and I demonstrated the Double Hammock Back Carry.   I love the Double Hammock!

Annabelle took a bathroom break and when we came back, we were pressed for a quick explanation about elimination communication, and Belle got a round of applause from the admiring folks.  As an EC’ing parent, it’s always difficult to decide whether to reveal that all babies are able to communicate their elimination needs, or to just accept it when people attribute advanced skills to my baby . . . “Yes, it’s true, she is a genius, a prodigy, and NASA is already working to secure her cooperation for some advanced research projects . . . ”

Then the mommas got to play with the wraps–it’s the best part!

“I just had a question about using a wrap here in Florida. My daughter is 12 weeks old and loves being in the wrap, except she sweats so much! When I take her out she’s soaked in sweat, and I was just wondering if that was ok? Is there a better blend of fabric recommended for the intense heat we have here in Florida?”

Timely question, and I wanted to address it for everyone.  I’m in Florida too, and this is what I do with my five month old:

• often she is naked or in diaper only inside the wrap.  Honestly, I don’t dress her for shopping, the park, or anywhere, when we go out in the Summer.  She’s a baby, and she can get away with it!  The exception is if I think she’ll get too much sun and I want to cover her skin.  When in the wrap, I often put a hat or scarf on her with no clothes since the wrap is covering her.
• I keep her hydrated with plenty of nursing.  Water isn’t necessary for the exclusively breastfed baby.
• I often use carries that put fewer layers of fabric over her.  For front carries, the kangaroo carry or the abbreviated FWCC put only one layer over the baby.  The front cross carry is very similar to the front wrap cross carry, but with only two layers instead of three.  The front wrap cross carry itself can be used with the crosses bunched on either side of her and only the one layer over her body.  A rucksack is the perfect cool back carry for mom and baby.
• I tend to use an airier wrap–gauze is the thinnest, coolest wrap and the EllaRoo wraps are also much cooler than most of the popular German Style Woven wraps (such as Storchenwiege and Neobulle), and I find myself reaching for one of these during the hot months.
• Sometimes I use a shorter wrap so there’s less fabric around both of us.  A shorter wrap can be used for a rucksack, abbreviated FWCC, hip cross carry, and some other great Summer wrap jobs.  It’s nice to have the option of different sized wraps.

She and I get soaked with sweat all the time in or out of the wrap.  When I nurse on the couch I have to peel her off me afterward!  And any mom who uses a carseat or stroller can attest to how hot their babies get in those.  Just make sure she is peeing normally, her soft spot isn’t unusually depressed, etc.  All the usual precautions for Florida!

Front Wrap Cross Carry with straps bunched for fewer layers.

Abbreviated Front Wrap Cross Carry--short wrap tied under the baby's bottom instead of in the back.

Rucksack Carry

So here are some tips:

First, make sure you have your baby wrapped high and tight on your chest.  You should be able to kiss the top of your baby’s head easily.  My last post had some tips for tightening baby up to the right height.

Next, realize that your wrap is probably wide enough for a toddler, and that width may be swallowing up a little baby.  I personally like a wide wrap with a little baby.  The width is nice to have when you know how to use it.  You can choose where to spread it, and where to bunch it.  In the pictures below, the wide, alternating stripes of orange, green, yellow, and red, make it easy to see where I’ve bunched and spread the wrap.

The middle two stripes are spread, and the outer edges are bunched.

The upper half of the wrap is spread, the two lower stripes are bunched.

The lower half of the wrap is spread, with the top half bunched.

The wrap can also be evenly bunched over baby.  The trick is to make sure that the tightness along the length (from your shoulder to opposite hip) is uniform no matter how it is bunched.  And if you find that the edges (orange and red stripes in above wrap) are tight enough, check to see if the middle of the wrap is also pulled tightly, otherwise you may have too deep a pouch that your baby can sink down into.

Another thing that you can do to keep your baby above water, is just to poke out one of your baby’s arms.  My tiny infant often slept against me with the wrap supporting her head while one arm and shoulder hung out.  When awake, both arms can be out if the baby is supporting his or her own head.

Baby's right arm is out of the wrap.

Both arms and shoulders are out of the wrap.

And you may find it helpful to flip the top edge of the wrap over the ball of your shoulder to bring the edge down a little lower.  Here’s an old picture of me with my now five year old, but you can see that I’ve flipped the shoulder.

Pulling the top edge of the wrap over the ball of my shoulder.

This holding and tightening is demonstrated here in a front cross carry:

Holding baby with one hand to find the slack in the wrap.

Pull on the slack for a snug fit.

I pull the slack all the way around to the knot and retie.

And I have a very servicable video showing the same technique here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko2a_V3KmbY

One detail to note is that the width of the wrap can be tightened all together, as above, but one can also tighten just certain strands.  The wrap pictured above has four colored stripes: orange, green, yellow and red.  You could tighten just along the orange stripe, or any one of those colors, or more than one together.  For example, the green and yellow stripes (the center) might need to be tightened if baby is sinking too far down, while the edges–the orange and red–might be sufficiently tight already.

You will know where to tighten because you are taking up all the slack until the wrap is nice and evenly snug all around your baby.

Hands Free Nursing and Pushing Two Girls on the Swings

Front Cross Carry with Mary EllaRoo

Current favorite carries are:

• still the Front Cross Carry (FCC) most often and anytime we go out because she is still nursing a lot and it is still the easiest to adjust into nursing position, and simplest for popping in and out of as we drive from errand to errand.
• still Double Hammock Carry (DHC) for a back carry because it is just so easy, solid, and comfy, and I can do it with the same size wrap that I want with me for the FCC
• DHC’s shorter cousin the Reinforced Rear Rebozo Rucksack (RRRR) because it’s even faster and simpler than DHC with the same sturdiness and a great high back carry for hot weather since it can be done with 3 meters

And I think maybe I’ll play with some hip carries today and keep you posted!

Our kids slept amazingly well in the sleeping bags as loud, drunk people shouted past and stumbled into our tent throughout the night.  It was so cozy having the four of us cuddled up so closely on out tiny, portable room.

At night we all listened to the sound of rain on the canvas ceiling and walls and in the morning Belle gazed up with joy and awe at the glowing tent walls billowing in noisy wind.  It was SO nice that my husband is seriously considering my crazy plan to live in a yurt in the mountains!

Belle gazing at the tent walls.

By day we weren’t much in the tent and Annabelle wasn’t much out of the wrap!  I kept the Front Cross Carry tied on and out of the mud.  The mud was so prevalent that there wasn’t anywhere to put a baby down when we weren’t in the campgrounds so she came out only for the occasional potty/diaper change, and to listen to Kimya Dawson’s childrens show while Ada went onstage to join the band!

Kids at Harvest of Hope 2010.

Belle listening to the concert.

Ada plays with Kimya Dawson at 2010 Harvest of Hope.

Wrapping liberated me to go camping with my kids and I am so glad!