Experience: Babywearing, life changer and saviour for parents.

Good day everyone,
Its International Babywearing Week ! Join in my celebration :)

I am a parent of 2 kids.
I know, Most of you must be going, "Wow ! 2 kids. Why? How? How do you manage 2 of them when one is difficult? ...." and on and on....

I can give you a 3 word advice:
Be Prepared Mentally

Basically its: Once Been there, Done that.

I was super busy on the domestic as well as social front during 2nd pregnancy.

I started preparing about Breastfeeding, Cloth Diapering, Babywearing in my last trimester of 2nd pregnancy.

If you have decided you want more than 1 kid and have one already, half your battle is won.

How?

After the first baby, you know what things to take seriously, what to ignore, what is needed, what doesn't even matter, how much hygiene is required and where, when is it a 911 type of emergency and what will resolve on its own etc.

Read about my Breastfeeding journey: Experience: My 2 cents about getting Breastfeeding right with second baby

During 2nd pregnancy, My elder son was 4 year old and apart from in-laws and usual maids as support system, I was his primary caregiver. I had my Work from Home freelancing projects to handle which required going out at least once a week. So I knew that post delivery even if I took a sabbatical, I would be super busy and on my feet most time.


This post will not give out theory and scientific facts about Baby wearing.
This post is more of an encouragement for parents who are thinking about Babywearing their kids.
I would like to share my experiences and how we integrated Babywearing in our lives.

Since our blog posts are more of picture stories, this one will also have lots of pictures. In directly showing off our Babywearing love ;)

For my son we had been gifted a Commercial Baby carrier. I hardly used it couple of times and preferred the Stroller which was the In-thing 4years ago.

Commercial Baby carrier. Note the crotch area and legs dangling. Also the baby's expression :D

Get to know the basics of Babywearing in this article: New to Babywearing? Read on to know about it

I was introduced to the concept of Babywearing in Ergonomical Baby carriers by my friend Kaushal Sovani. She is a Babywearing expert and has her own venture: Zoli, Zabla and more.

I discussed Babywearing with Kaushal when I was 2nd time pregnant. She being a Babywearing expert and consultant was a great point for me. Talk about friends with benefits ;)

I attended a Baby wearing workshop where they teach you how to choose a Baby carrier, How to wear your baby, Tips and tricks, Pros and cons, Rent a carrier before you buy one, Buy carrier and get full support via whatsapp and facebook groups.

Babywearing India is India's first Babywearing community. Join them to know more about the Babywearing scene in India. Know about them: A Babywearing Community that Inspires…

You can go for such a workshop by Live, Love and Babywear or join many Babywearing support Facebook/Whatsapp groups.

I started Baby wearing (pretty late coz you can wear from Day 1 of baby) using my Mother-in-laws six yard cotton saree when my daughter was 3months old. The first 2-3 tries were not perfect but baby dozed off immediately in it.

First try at wearing the baby in a 6 yard saree. Sloppy try.

After that there was no looking back. We started Baby wearing with a borrowed Hybrid Wrap and alternated with the Saree wrap. We attended Birthday parties, weddings, doctor visits etc in our Wraps. If you see most of the pics the baby is sleeping coz it was so comforting and comfortable.

Our friend lent us her Hybrid Wrap. Super comfy.

We got a custom made Meh Dai from Zoli, Zabla and more when she was 8 months old. This gave us new wings literally :)

First try in Meh Dai & we love it. Proof Baby slept off :D

The benefits of Babywearing are many:

• Get errands done without leaving baby at home or compromising on their nap or comfort.
  Example: Apart from regular grocery and vegetable shopping you can do lots. My sister had flown down from USA and was short on time to shop for her friends daughter's Bharatnatyam Arangetram. I made 2-3 trips to different shops to shop for the dresses, jewelry sets, etc all with baby in tow and most times she slept half the time. 

• When can you Baby wear 
  Anytime & Everywhere !
  When Mamma is unwell and needs to tend to her tasks too.
  When Baby is ill or clingy due to teething or colic. Colicky babies get instant relief if worn during evenings and can experience less colic generation as the upright position helps.
  When you cant keep baby down. Example in crowded places, in unhygienic places. In my case, when the house was having cement repair work done.
  You can also nurse(feed) your baby while wearing them. Its a relief, I can tell you that.

• Lunch outs are super peaceful if the baby is well fed and sleepy. 
  We have had many lunch or dinner outs and most times the baby could nap while we enjoyed our meals and interacted with family and friends. As a family we dont like strangers or other people touching the baby or trying to hold/carry them. So at weddings this was super convenient and we rocked the Saree look since nursing in a saree is super simple.

• School and class Pick-drops are taken care off.
  If you dont have a nanny or inlaws at home to handle the baby while you pick-drop the elder siblings from school and classes, Wear and take the Baby along. The baby loves it and the sibling loves to show off :D Win - Win !
  Dress according to weather for both mamma and baby. Our Meh Dai is cotton based, super breathable material and sturdy. Baby loves it and brings the Meh Dai to me when she knows its time for School pickup.
  Get your Walks done with Baby wearing and get fit.

• Walking for long time without cramps and just baby.
  If you have to go for hikes or be on your feet for long duration and have fun, Babywearing is for you. No cramps or swollen arms due to carrying baby in arms for long duration. 

• Keep Baby Calm and Party on
  Babies can get cranky and scared in loud atmospheres and crowded places. If the baby is snuggled to you, it will stay calm and happy. We have experienced this many times. The baby enjoys herself when awake and when it gets too much, she snuggles in her carrier and sleeps it off whatever the noise levels are or the crowds. Many times people stare at me coz I am wearing the carrier and baby is with some one else. When again she wants to be carried, I readjust and wear her again in a jiffy. So its my apron in most pics. ;) :D

• Vacations ! Take them before the kids turn 3yrs old and school starts :p
  Its an old belief that babies shouldnt be out of house for first six months. If you are Baby wearing, you can be out and about in the 3rd month itself. Get those Vacations done before they turn 6 months old and they start solid food. We have done just 2 short trips and enjoyed them totally. Family members love to baby wear too. Great bonding tool.
   If possible avoid nanny's or caretakers wearing your babies.

• Crowded places, Babywear and keep baby close + secure.
  Like I mentioned earlier, Weddings, malls or temple hopping if need to be attended, carry your Baby carrier. It makes life easy for Baby, Mamma and family.
  My Mom and MIL dont like to take kids in crowded places and torture them with hunger, sweat and noise. So when we went Temple hopping, Baby wear relaxed my mom & MIL coz the kids enjoyed themselves and we had a blissful darshan at all places. Nursing in Baby carrier is discrete and super easy if you have practiced earlier and wear nursing friendly clothes.

This is our bullet point picture post about how we have used Baby wearing to the max.

My next target is to try the different carrying positions and different knots/Ties.

Hope this posts relaxes you if you are overwhelmed with too much information on Babywearing.

Do contact us if you need help. All the best and HAPPY BABYWEARING !


Bye. Take care.