March 2020

4 tips how to best choose a carrier

Leave a Comment / Tips and Tricks / By

These last few weeks have been crazy for my little family and me and I’m guessing that it is not much different for you! In the last three weeks we were in Spain (to visit friends), spent our last days in Germany and decided short notice to fly back to New Zealand before borders were being closed. Once back in New Zealand we went straight into self-isolation and watched New Zealand moving swiftly into lockdown within a week.

And here we are now. Lockdown for 4 weeks or possibly longer. And even though this time may seem a little tricky with a three-year-old, I think it is nothing compared to becoming a new parent. Because this is the time when you would need support from family and friends the most. Someone, who just comes around and drops off some pre-cooked dinner or someone, who answers your countless questions.

I have been wondering how I may be able to help those of you out there who are pregnant, have a newborn or a baby. Are you thinking about buying a carrier (once this is possible again), and are simply overwhelmed by the number of different carriers that are on the market? You are not the only one!

Usually, my first reaction would be to advise you to find a local babywearing group or library or a babywearing consultant where you can try different types of carriers, before you buy one. But right now, this isn’t possible. And in fact, for lots of parents who live rurally this will never really be an option. Therefore, I have written down a few tips that may hopefully help you in finding a great carrier.

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Onbuhimo

Leave a Comment / Carrier Types / By

The onbuhimo babycarrier is the carrier I got introduced to last during my babywearing journey. My local babywearing library didn’t have one for a long time (now they do though), but I had heard about those types of carriers and wanted to try one. So, I bought one and then didn’t use it for a long time as I had other carriers at home which I was used to, and my daughter didn’t want to be carried much anyway.

But, when we flew to Canada in May 2019 for our one year abroad, we decided to take the onbuhimo with us as our only carrier. We made this decision mainly, because it the most comfortable carrier with the widest seat we own, it folds up nice and small and it is easy to use for both my husband and me.

Surprisingly, we have been using it a lot during our adventures. Especially, since we’ve been in Germany, where we don’t have a car and need to walk or use public transport.  

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Does babywearing make babies clingy?

Leave a Comment / Common questions / By

The short answer for me to this question certainly is a big and fat NO!

But then, I don’t believe in anything that makes babies “clingy”. In fact, I don’t like the word in itself. For me, it has a negative feel to it. As if your baby wanting to be close to you is a bad thing and should be discouraged because how on earth will your baby ever become independent?

Well, my own little girl loved to be close to me from day 1 (and hasn’t changed one little bit in the last 3 1/2 years). In the early days she only fell asleep while being held or carried and only stayed asleep in this position too. She still needs me now with 3 ½ years to cuddle her to sleep. And while this can be exhausting at times, I know that soon enough she won’t need me anymore and I will miss those sleepy cuddles.

Me and my husband have carried her most of the time when she was little, but when she started crawling and walking, she became more and more independent. I was sad, when she didn’t want to be carried anymore. Luckily, our current travels in Canada and Germany have allowed me to carry my not so little girl again. Reminding me of those early days of her life – just adding another 12kg to the initial 3kg.

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Babywearing safety

Leave a Comment / Safety / By

If you are a mum like I am, I’m sure your baby’s safety is pretty high up on your priority list. It is something that is very hard to imagine, when you are pregnant with your first child: how your whole universe will all of a sudden evolve around this tiny human being and how you would do basically anything to keep it safe from harm.

Most mums (and dads of course) use a carrier to keep their little one close, without needing to use both hands all the time to hold baby. For this, carriers are amazing. Suddenly you can go for a walk, chase after your toddler, play with your older children or even get some of that housework done.

But even the best carrier is only as good as the caregiver who knows how to safely use it. You will find lots of “rules” for safe babywearing in the world of babywearing. However, I prefer to use guidelines as rules can’t cover all possibilities and may not work for some situations.

Because sometimes it is nice to have a visual reminder (hello early foggy babybrain days) I have created a simple PDF, which you can download for FREE at the end of this post.

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