Controversial parenting topics: Babywearing
This post in part of my series about parenting decisions that can be controversial or divisive, or in this case, just something some parents do a ton and some don't at all! Sharing what worked for us in case it is helpful for others! (See the whole list below.)
- Breastfeeding
- Sleep training
- Co-sleeping
- Babywearing
- Baby-led weaning
- Cloth diapering
- Potty training
- Daycare vs. nanny
- Transitioning from the crib
- TV time
Babywearing
I guess this one isn’t really that controversial, but it’s definitely something that some people swear by, others don't find that helpful. I discovered when Otto was a week old that when he was ready for a nap and I wore him in the wrap, he would fall asleep immediately or quickly, and in fact, could bring on a nap almost 100% of the time. Because I just wasn’t confident with the "drowsy but awake" thing with him, I wore him to start a lot of his naps.
With Lucy I was sort of forced to figure out getting her to put herself to sleep because I was also dealing with a toddler, so didn't start her naps in the wrap quite as much. But during the 4-month sleep regression we learned that we could extend her 30-minute naps by wearing her in the wrap if we couldn’t get her back to sleep by patting and shhhhhing... so we did that a lot at that age!
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| I wish I had more photos of myself with this thing on cause... I spent a lot of time like this with both kids! |
So I have done a lot, a lot, lot of babywearing, mostly in the soft wrap (my favorite is basically this one, I think it’s a knockoff of the Solly wrap). I would almost always wear the baby still swaddled, too. Obviously this was better in the cooler months. But it kept them sleepy and cozy and with the 5 S's principles for helping babies sleep.
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| This is from a party we went to when Otto was about 3 months old. We arrived, I fed him, I wore him for a nap and we hung out for a couple hours, then he woke up and partied! This technique also worked great during our housewarming party, when we were giving tours of his room during naptime! |
I also wore Lucy a ton in a structured carrier, though she never or almost never slept in it. In fact she loved this thing so much starting around 6 or 8 months she would start clapping and bouncing up and down when she saw it! She still really loves going for walks so she knows when we go to the front coat closet and start to get things out that she'll get excited and hope we're going outside. It’s pretty funny, when we say "carrier!" or show it to her her eyes light up.
When she was little I could wear her front-facing, but now that she’s bigger I face her toward me and we snuggle and take walks. (Although I think we're about toward the end of that, since she likes to walk herself now!) This thing is also really great not for going outside but just for getting stuff done around the house. When you have a fussy baby who is old enough to crawl or get into things and who doesn’t want to be left alone, but you just have to go upstairs and get something or start some laundry or whatever… This thing is a lifesaver! This one was my favorite.
Honestly, though, when I think about babywearing, I think of it as a lifesaver for baby sleep when nothing else is working or you can't do all the baby sleep solutions every nap. I used it a little too heavily with Otto (I had bad back pain postpartum and it didn't help, and didn't teach him to sleep by himself as soon as we could have), used it during that really tough sleep regression with Lucy, and generally have good memories of snuggling and managing things with it. Do check out this post and resources I link there if you want to actually solve baby sleep problems, though... but in a pinch, I highly recommend swaddling the baby and wearing!
The posts in this series are meant to be me sharing my personal experience only. 100% no judgment if you did things differently! If you don't like the sound of what I did, no worries! I'm just sharing for those of you out there who are interested. Best wishes to you no matter what you choose!
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