Babywearing 101

October 30, 2006 11:03 AM

Celebrity Baby Blogexplains Babywearing, how to do it and what could be the best way to do it for you and your baby. "Wearing your baby is one of the best things you can do to promote healthy bonding and attachment between you and your little one. Did you know that babies that are worn cry less and are easier to soothe? There are four main types of soft baby carriers: wraps, mei tais, slings and pouches. All are excellent for different types of carries and or different aged children."
posted by k8t (44 comments total)

Cool design, cool idea, good for kids and a good explanation. What's wrong with that?
posted by k8t at 11:14 AM on October 30, 2006

Dude, I wear babies all the time. Baby pants, baby shirts, baby shoes. The chicks dig it, cause they're always lookin' at me all the time.

I'm so sorry.
posted by Stauf at 11:15 AM on October 30, 2006

Also see Mamatoto.org, which is modeled after LLL, trying to set up local chapters with mentors and such.

I found it interesting that not all babies want to be worn. I can't get no. 1 son off some days, while no. 2 son tries to get out by diving or shimmying.
posted by lysdexic at 11:18 AM on October 30, 2006

Well, when we bought our sling it was ten bucks at Wal-Mart. Somehow I can't see getting that level of practical input out of a blog that plumbs the depths of narcissism and inanity with it's devotion to the culture of Celebrity With Baby. But if it gets the ball rolling on Chatfilter for baby-wearing I'm all for it.
posted by docpops at 11:23 AM on October 30, 2006

Babies make the best slippers.
posted by loquacious at 11:40 AM on October 30, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Ooh! Someone said Wal-Mart! Let's get this party started! I would also like to add:

1. Fat people
2. Abortion
3. Bikes
posted by synaesthetichaze at 11:58 AM on October 30, 2006

I've got my 10 month old strapped on and just got him to sleep, so thought I'd catch up on some mefi reading. How timely.
posted by itchylick at 12:13 PM on October 30, 2006

"It puts the diaper on."
posted by blue_beetle at 12:18 PM on October 30, 2006

Okay, to add an actual, substantial comment, I wonder if wearing the kid on your back creates the same beneficial bonding that wearing him/her on your front does? My one pal carries his son around on his back all the time. Maybe it works in reverse, and his son will hate him forever when he learns how to have feelings.
posted by synaesthetichaze at 12:19 PM on October 30, 2006

Did you know that babies that are worn cry less and are easier to soothe?

Not when you wear them as a hat!
posted by Cookiebastard at 12:23 PM on October 30, 2006

We had some Mei Tais made for us and sent over from Texas. My son loves being in it and goes straight to sleep most of the time. We're ordering some wraps next as the Mei Tais are a little bit much to pull out and put on when you're just running to the shops.
As our health visitor said to us, "Babies weren't meant to be kept in containers."
posted by medium format at 12:29 PM on October 30, 2006

The problem with wearing babies is that they just don't stop bullets very well. I'll stick with fashionable Kevlar.
posted by moonbiter at 12:33 PM on October 30, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

I slinged all three kids when we were out and about and my wife's back got tired. One at a time might have been a better idea.

Only downside, be comfortable with your masculinity as you get a lot of stares from those less enlightened. Upside: you can carry your beer in one hand and cigarette in the other.
posted by hal9k at 12:37 PM on October 30, 2006

1. Fat people
2. Abortion
3. Bikes

iPod
Cat declawing
Medical AskMefi Questions
posted by fixedgear at 12:37 PM on October 30, 2006

I wonder if wearing the kid on your back creates the same beneficial bonding that wearing him/her on your front does?

My wife and I use a baby backpack quite a lot for excursions, and our daughter's hugely contented in it - she's got a full range of vision, she can smile and wave at people, etc. - and it's hugely convenient as the parent wearing it keeps both hands free, but it doesn't have the bonding benefits the sling (which we also use a ton) does.

My understanding is that said bonding benefits accrue from the fact that in a sling, you're in direct, close, physical contact, plus your kid can see your face. Makes intuitive sense too - if our daughter's toddling around and she gets scared, she leaps up into my arms and instinctively assumes almost the exact position that a one-shoulder sling holds her in.

What's more, slings are simple, light, not at all bulky, and so cheap you can keep a couple on hand. (Unlike the sucker-bait hundred-dollar ones linked off the blog, we got ours at the local consignment store for $30 Canadian.)
posted by gompa at 12:41 PM on October 30, 2006

Previously discussed here.

And as I stated in that thread, my kid did not enjoy being worn. Just hated it. Thank goodness I'm having another baby in March so I can finally wear it like the celebrities do!
posted by jrossi4r at 12:52 PM on October 30, 2006

"I wonder if wearing the kid on your back creates the same beneficial bonding that wearing him/her on your front does? ...Maybe it works in reverse, and his son will hate him forever when he learns how to have feelings."

Japanese kids, traditionally, don't have big problems with parental dislike, and back-slings are traditional here.
posted by Bugbread at 12:55 PM on October 30, 2006

Reminds me of an old SNL skit of yuppies showing up to a party with their kids suspended in increasingly absurd baby holders. One was slung in a swing between the guys legs...

If only there was a resource for finding old TV clips so I could show you all exactly what I'm talking about because I know you'd all find it just as hilarious.
posted by sharpener at 1:00 PM on October 30, 2006

Back-slings were used by some native american groups as well, I believe. - As seen on the Sacagawea dollar, in fact.

Somewhere, in the archives of the local newspaper, there is a shot of me as a baby in such a carrier on my mother's back. It seems to have done me no harm.
posted by Karmakaze at 1:17 PM on October 30, 2006

The thread that jrossi4r linked to was a well researched, interesting introduction to babywearing that inspired a lot of thoughtful comments. It even had a great punchline (check out that 'elude' link.)

This one... not so good.
posted by maryh at 1:19 PM on October 30, 2006

has any baby wearer experienced symtoms of separation anxiety as the kids get older?
posted by moonbird at 1:22 PM on October 30, 2006

one corollary benefit of the sling - it kept snotty, disease ridden, sin-infested stanky mitts off junior when she was an infant and at that point where people lose all propriety and try to touch their heads.
posted by docpops at 1:53 PM on October 30, 2006

It seems like once the kids get bigger, the slings would cause back/shoulder pain.
It seems like a better option is one where some of the weight gets distributed to the waist/hips.
posted by Sprout the Vulgarian at 2:01 PM on October 30, 2006

This is how we do it in Ghana (and most other West African states I've been to!) It's very convenient and frees up the hands to do the laundry too!
I was carried that way myself and i don't think i have any issues, separation anxiety or otherwise! I've carried nephews and nieces that way and i must say it does make it more comfortable for the baby if the human carrier has a, um...a well rounded protruding derriere that the baby can actually sit on!!
posted by ramix at 2:04 PM on October 30, 2006

When my brother and I were little ones, my dad and mum would carry us in backpacks or slings. It stopped around the same age kids stop using strollers. I don't recall any particular separation anxiety, although we were they type of kids who crawled into our parents bed on Saturday mornings.
posted by muddgirl at 2:06 PM on October 30, 2006

I thought this was about 'babyswearing'.

I really wanted to read that.
posted by smackfu at 2:11 PM on October 30, 2006

We love the Snugli, its a great way to keep the baby occupied without having to use an arm. Much easier to fry chicken or throw darts or juggle knives.

Anyone that gives me strange looks when I've got my son in the Snugli is an idiot. Or doesn't have kids. They also probably stare at people with handicaps too.

And yes, he sleeps quite well while in it.
posted by fenriq at 2:18 PM on October 30, 2006

My wife and I both wore our kids (now ages 9 and 11) for as long as we could -- using both slings and then regular backpack carriers as they grew.
I loved the sling, and missed it afterwards. If you can do it, I recommend using a sling. I carried them in slings while walking, while doing house work like dishes and sweeping, even while picking strawberries (I've got the picture of my son, at about a year old, slung at my back, and sound asleep while I'm kneeling in the berries.)
The sling felt weird and ungainly at first, but after no time at all I was completely sold. Best way to carry a baby.
posted by mooncrow at 2:24 PM on October 30, 2006

I'll help, smackfu: go cocksuck a little momcrapper! Fuck yourself with my urined pants!
posted by Powerful Religious Baby at 2:27 PM on October 30, 2006

Mei Tai
posted by emelenjr at 2:34 PM on October 30, 2006

after much wearing of slings, subsequent back ache and research, I found the ergo. highly rec'd.
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 2:35 PM on October 30, 2006

Okay, I just had a kid last week and got about a million slings at a babyshower, and have just spent the whole day trying to figure out how to get this 7 pound bundle of maternal anxiety affixed to my body... and there is NO WAY I feel confident enough to trust my baby to one. Maybe you need an actual person to show you how to do it? I love the idea, but not yet.

Guess my celebrityhood will have to wait.
posted by DenOfSizer at 2:59 PM on October 30, 2006

1. Fat people
2. Abortion
3. Bikes

iPod
Cat declawing
Medical AskMefi Questions

Macintosh
Windows
Atheism

What's interesting to me is that I've just been reading that a lot of what is being said about carrying babies also seems to apply to carrying pet birds. There is a girl at one of the pet stores I frequent who is trying to raise a young cacique (or maybe a lorrie.) She lets it crawl all over her, but it seems to be most happy in her shirt pocket.

It's quite sweet actually.
posted by quin at 3:01 PM on October 30, 2006

There is a girl at one of the pet stores I frequent who is trying to raise a young cacique (or maybe a lorrie.) She lets it crawl all over her, but it seems to be most happy in her shirt pocket.

You sure those aren't tits?
posted by hal9k at 3:30 PM on October 30, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

If they are, they are without a doubt, the most vocal breasts I've ever heard. I'm thinking that anyone who could train her boobs to chirp and talk like that, would stand to make a lot of money in a sideshow.
posted by quin at 3:39 PM on October 30, 2006

Nah, no way a boobie could fit in a shirt pocket.
posted by luftmensch at 3:54 PM on October 30, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

has any baby wearer experienced symtoms of separation anxiety as the kids get older?

No, in fact, just the opposite. My sling baby is now a marvelously curious and confident 6 year old. The whole idea behind attachment theory is that meeting a baby's need when they are most vulnerable helps them develop that confidence as they grow.
posted by Biblio at 4:20 PM on October 30, 2006

So, is there any statistical/scientific evidence to back up the separation anxiety claims?
posted by wilful at 4:25 PM on October 30, 2006

This is how we do it in Ghana (and most other West African states I've been to!)

I've seen some people here in Seattle wear their babies that way -- and swear by it.

We had a sling and a Bjorn. I got the Bjorn, mommy got the sling. Pretty quickly, though, mommy came to hate the sling because of where the weight was. The girl was great in the Bjorn, though -- she could hold her head up on a limited basis at four weeks and so got to face forward pretty early. But she grew fast and was pretty much out of the Bjorn by one year old.

But our big crunchy granola thing was the Amby baby hammock. Did wonders for getting the girl to sleep at night. And everyone we've loaned it to agrees.

Odd that it hasn't come up on any MeFi threads before.
posted by dw at 5:22 PM on October 30, 2006

Yeah, the "strange situation" test, which shows that securely attached babies, while upset at their mother's departure, handle the strange situation with more aplomb than insecurely attached babies, who are extremely distressed by the separation. The unattached babies are the scariest, as they show little or no affect at all.

When I spoke of my child as being very secure, I was referring to him as a preschooler and young child. He certainly would have protested a bit at being left with a stranger when he was an infant.
posted by Biblio at 5:27 PM on October 30, 2006

So I always wondered what would happen if a baby-wearer slipped and fell- on the stairs, or on some slippery surface? What happens to little baby then?
posted by GreyFoxVT at 1:13 AM on October 31, 2006

This thread seems to have taken a rather odd turn.
posted by DenOfSizer at 6:52 AM on October 31, 2006

So I always wondered what would happen if a baby-wearer slipped and fell- on the stairs, or on some slippery surface? What happens to little baby then?
posted by GreyFoxVT

You rebalance really hard, really fast.

That actually happened to me once in a parking lot. At church. I got lucky. He was itty bitty, and was tucked fully in the sling, so there was no whiplash, fortunately.
posted by lysdexic at 7:07 AM on October 31, 2006

Flickr has a babywearing group.
posted by callmejay at 7:18 AM on October 31, 2006