My wrapping style, like my parenting in general, has gotten more comfortable and relaxed now that I’m on the third baby.  You know how they tell you that your newborn baby needs to wake up to nurse every two hours, should have 6-8 wet diapers per day, and needs to wear a hat?  These are rules designed to help out new, nervous parents, and they’re designed to reassure them too: baby’s peeing enough, thank goodness!  The rules are training wheels.

Like riding a bike, once you learn to parent you never forget.  And you never need training wheels again.  So I haven’t counted diapers, have no idea how often Cassidy is nursing, or how long he’s slept in between.  I know enough to know he’s healthy and thriving without those measurements.

Wrapping has rules, too, and once you understand what they’re for and what really matters, you don’t need them anymore.  For example, if you know why your baby’s knees should be positioned higher than his or her bottom, you understand enough to know that your baby is positioned well without checking knee-butt level ratio.

Sure a Front Cross Carry is supposed to cross in between your baby’s legs, but as long as your wrap job provides a good seat, you can cross over the legs instead, rebozo style.

Sometimes my baby’s feet are wrapped in the wrap, sometimes they stick out.  Sometimes one sticks out.

And when I lower my baby to nurse, in an upright position, he often ends up reclining in more of a cradle position–without my having rewrapped him.  And it doesn’t matter whether he’s upright or cradle, just that I know he’s supported ergonomically and can nurse comfortably.

I don’t want to give the impression I’ve given over to lazy wrapping.  Rather I feel that it’s effortless (for the most part) and more like improvisation.  Maybe I don’t plan exactly what carry I’m doing.  I just get my baby positioned where I want him and when I’m done, he’s all wrapped up!

And while I’m worrying less about the details, in a way, I pay more attention to them, too.  For example, this baby is my littlest and as such I pay closer attention to his vitals.  I’m not worried, I just want to make sure his face isn’t buried in a blanket, since he’s not as buff as my others (yet).  And by this point in my babywearing career I understand the physiology behind the danger of letting my baby’s chin fall against his chest.  And I recognize that this can happen in an upright position as well as a cradle position, so I am attentive to his chin position and far more likely to tilt his head back, than I am to worry so much about supporting the back of his head.

From this perspective, I have advice for babywearers that perhaps haven’t gained this confidence: RELAX!  Yes, it is important to use your carrier correctly for safety and comfort, but remember that you can adjust on the fly, you can take it off and try again, and you can learn something from every attempt.  So try to keep it light.  And if it’s working, don’t fret over whether it looks just the same as in the picture.  In fact, don’t be afraid to mix it up, some!  Remember, wrapping isn’t just functional…it’s an art!  Art is meant to be a unique expression, not a reproduction!

Double Hammock Carry in Neobulle Vert Anis (thank you, Dana)

I finally put up a page for the Double Hammock Carry.  Photo tutorial now available, thank you dear husband for photographing!

I also have a couple of videos:

This one with my god-daughter Aurora, shows a toddler in a double hammock carry.

This one is my newborn in a double hammock (legs tucked in).

I love this carry, which is also called the Chunei Back Carry.  It is easy, secure, gives the baby a view, and my all around favorite wrap carry.  Check out the new instructions and give it a whirl!

And let me know if there’s anything that I need to clarify.  I aim to serve!

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.

Whenever you carry a newborn you must make sure that the baby’s chin is not tucked against his chest as this closes the airway so that the baby cannot breathe.  A person of any age will find it easier to breathe when the neck is not folded over, and the littler the baby, the more vulnerable to this problem.

When choosing a baby carrier, avoid ones that curl babies up so that this chin-to-chest position is possible.  The bag sling–unlike traditional slings–has baby sunk down in a deep pouch in a curved shape and there is nothing to protect a newborn from this unsafe positioning, or from rolling to the side so that mouth and nose can be pressed against the side of the carrier.

A good pouch, sling, or wrap should always be worn so that your baby is held tight against you–not dangling off your shoulder like a purse.  Even aside from the issue of safety, all the benefits of babywearing are gained by having baby’s body pressed against yours!

Newborns can be worn in an upright position from birth to avoid being pushed into the unsafe position.  As most babies prefer the upright position, it is the way I usually teach new parents to wear their wraps anyway.

However, a cradle position can be used safely if desired.  If your baby seems to sink into a deep pouch of the carrier, you are probably placing your baby straight down the center, or deepest part, of the fabric.  Instead of placing your baby parallel to the sides of the pouch, you should put your baby in diagonally: baby’s head should be towards the outside of the carrier and baby’s bottom should be towards your stomach.  By resting baby’s head on the outer side of the pouch, it is held up (your baby’s head will be higher than his bottom and legs) where it is unlikely to be pressed against the chest and where you can clearly see to ensure that it is not!

In other words, in the striped wrap below, if I had placed my baby parallel to the stripes she would be sunk down somewhere along the purple stripe with her head on my right on the purple stripe and her bottom and legs toward my left side, still along the purple stripe.  This positioning would curl her body up.  Instead she is diagonal to the fabric with her head on the outer gray stripe which is much higher and this keeps her body much straighter along her spine.

Note that this was an upright carry which got lowered and tilted for purposes of nursing, but because of the stripes I felt it was perfect for the purposes of this discussion!

Cradle carry with baby's head toward the outer rail of the wrap fabric.

You should always follow these rules while babywearing:

• Wear baby tight against you so that there is no possibility of rolling or turning in the carrier.
• Do not cover your baby’s face with fabric–you want your baby to get plenty of oxygen and you also want to be able to see him!
• Keep baby’s head from slumping forward–you should be able to fit two fingers between your baby’s chin and chest at all times.
• Do not use any positioning that causes your baby’s breathing to sound labored.

Any carrier that does not allow you to follow these rules is a dangerous place to put your baby.  There are several other brands of bag slings that were not involved in the recall but have the same basic design and inherent risk.  Here is a good video that can help you identify dangerous carriers: Proper Infant Positioning in a Baby Sling

Babies sink down into bag slings so that their heads can curl forward onto their chests--dangerous for a little baby!

Cradle carry with a Storchenwiege Wrap holding baby's upper body (head to butt) in more of a straight line so the chin isn't tucked.

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 uncomfortable 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!

Reinforced Rear Rebozo Rucksack

Reinforced Rear Rebozo Rucksack

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.

Nursing on the Ferris Wheel

Goat, Annabelle, and I

Sideways in the Front Cross Carry

Above you can see where I put Annabelle in the front cross carry sideways.  I figured it would give her a view while still supporting her in a physiologically safe way, and giving her a way to cuddle against me before she became overstimulated.  I think it’ll work great, but the fact is that right now all she wants to do, especially in a noisy public place, is nurse.  So she soon ended up tummy to tummy again.  Also known as mouth to nipple.

Once or twice we ended up stuck behind a clunky stroller trying to maneuver through the muck of the fair.  I was glad not to be so burdened, and also not to be burdening my fellow fair-goer!

Today I experimented with a rucksack.  I found that I could do the entire carry, bringing the straps over and under the legs, while my 7 week old baby was very low on my back.  Then a few bouncing tugs on the tails hiked her up to my neck.  Voila!

I’m so good, I even had it together to make a video!

Not so good that I’m getting the video uploaded today, but it is coming soon, and I’ll add the link to this post.  The video is dedicated to Dana, whose baby outgrew this problem before I solved it.  Sorry!