Not so long ago, I had a consultation with new parents to a preemie baby. When I went to see them, they were just a few days out of hospital. Their beautiful daughter was still so tiny and loved to curl up with her legs up really high. But she was also very sleepy and content. The perfect baby for practising babywearing for the first time.
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Woven wraps are the most versatile carrier there is and can be used from newborn up until toddler. It doesn’t matter what body type your baby or you are, a woven wrap will always fit. They fit around your baby nice and snug and you can use them for any kind of carry (front, back, side).
However, most parents I meet shy away from woven wraps and quickly put them in the too hard basket. Even parents who have used a stretchy wrap during the first months – and therefore have mastered wrapping techniques -, often want to continue with a soft structured carrier. Assuming, that a soft structured carrier will give better support.
Hopefully, my tips will help to take away some fears you may have and encourage you to have a go at wrapping your baby!
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Carrying your baby on your back: for some it is the easiest way to carry their child, for some it is the next step in their babywearing journey and for some it might not be necessary at all.
I personally was more than happy when I mastered the skill of carrying my daughter on my back when she was about 8 months old. This meant that I could cook dinner more easily – with the bonus that she would often fall asleep on my back. Nowadays, my big four-year-old girl only ever gets carried on my back.
My husband however, continued carrying our daughter on his front. He loved the cuddles that he would get this way with her. He only started carrying her on his back when she was about 3 years old and we only had an onbuhimo available during our travels.
Besides personal preference when you would like to start carrying your baby on your back, I often get the question when it is safe to start carrying a baby in a back carry. Let’s have a look at different carriers and safety aspects!
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First, I would like to say that I do not have any personal experience with wearing twins in a carrier. However, I did recently complete further babywearing training and one part of the training was about babywearing with twins. We had a mother at the training who shared with us her own journey of wearing her twins and how to successfully carry both of her babies at the same time.
I have found this very inspiring and would like to share my new knowledge in the hopes that there will be parents of twins who would love to carry their babies.
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When you first start looking at babywearing and the options of carriers you have, it can feel rather overwhelming! I get that. And I’m here to help you narrow down your options and give you confidence in your choice of carrier.
You may have been told about a specific carrier or even been gifted one. This is great! But you may not be quite sure if this is the right type of carrier for you. Only because a family member or friend have found one type of carrier to be great, it doesn’t mean that this will also be the perfect carrier for you and your little family. And that’s ok.
After I’ve been busy the past weeks writing in-depth articles about each type of carrier. I think it is about time I write an overview for those who just want to quickly see the difference between each type of carrier to help decide which carrier might be best for YOU.
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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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Woven wraps are quite often seen as the type of carrier that only caregivers with a lot of babywearing experience and knowledge use. However, I don’t think that this needs to be true. A woven wrap can be an ideal carrier to start with right away if the caregiver isn’t afraid of a little learning in the beginning. A woven wrap can also be an ideal follow on wrap from a stretchy wrap. If the caregiver has enjoyed the benefits of a stretchy wrap it is not such a big step to learn how to wrap with a woven wrap.
I personally started using a woven wrap when my daughter was about 10 months old and my aunt gave me her woven wrap, which she had first used more then 18 years ago with my cousin and which had been used with countless other babies in between.
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