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Easygoing Babywearing

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!

Tags: newborn wrapping