The babe has not taken well to slings. He doesn’t like his feet bunched up underneath him but he’s too small and lacks muscle control for much else. There’s always wraps, but for some reason the volume of fabric has been pissing me off. I lack patience, apparently. So here’s what’s been working:

• I have an original style Napsack. It works really well, is very comfy, and if I fold the leg openings in a bit, the kiddo just fits.
• Stretchy wraps work, of course, but like I said, the volume of fabric is annoying me. I only use them when they match what I’m wearing ;)
• Pouches weren’t working at all for me (but H manages) until I tried my Mom and Me pouch with the kiddo lying sideways with his feet sticking out. Just like we hold him actually, but with fabric supporting him instead of my arm. Genius!
• I’ve also used my Babyhawk MT, which worked pretty well if I lifted the baby up and tied the knot under his bum so his entire weight wasn’t sitting on his feet. Incidently I also nursed in this at the zoo — another first.
• The only ring sling I’ve tried is my Kangaroo Korner organic flannel one, but with the shoulder redone in a pleated style. I do love this one — I loved it when the Boo was a baby (it’s our first sling) and I love it even more now with the shoulder redone.

I haven’t attempted much in the crazy department, like putting the babe on my back or anything. That would come in handy instead of him lying down screaming while I cook, but I’m not brave enough to try it with only a three year old for a spotter. It occured to me today that I never made the Boo-baby do that because I didn’t cook when he was a baby. Aren’t I clever. Sigh.

Incidently, I’ve been avoiding The Babywearer website like the plague. My “sling stash” is more than adequate and I love everything I have, and I have enough experience to know what I’m not using now will still come in handy later on. I don’t need more so I don’t want to know what I’m missing!

It’s sort of strange babywearing a newborn when my last experience was hauling around a two year old. Such vastly different needs. Plus the bean doesn’t seem to care too much for being in a sling, preferring bare hands and arms, so I’ve pretty much only used them out of necessity. Which is, of course, why I use them in the first place.

Still.. it will be easier when he’s a bit bigger, can control his head more, and fits into things a bit better. Until then though, we’re managing.

Boo did the cutest thing today. We were at a playgroup and I was showing a mama with a 3 month old baby how to use my pouch. I’ve been using it a ton lately and I really love it.

What I did NOT know was how much Boo loves it too! I was holding him so I could show her how to put her baby in, and then I took it off and handed it over to her. I was still holding Boo, and he got this really alarmed look on his face. He started babbling, pointing at the sling, and patting my shoulder, as if to say, “Umm hey, that’s my sling, it belongs on my Mama’s shoulder, right here, see? See? Right here. Can I have it back please? Umm hello? Sling thief? HELLO?”

Poor baby! I tried to reassure him we’d get it back and then when we did he immediately put it over my head and started to climb into it himself before I was even ready! I’ve never seen him do that before! So very cute, and really quite reaffirming that babywearing has been good for us :)

On another note, another mama at this group said today that Boo and I really looked like good buddies. That’s a nice thing to say :)

I should stop calling it babywearing considering my child is 20 months old now. But oh well. He’s still my baby, right? :)

Anyway! I took one wrap to England. H said I could take one sling. (ONE?! Can you hear my gasps of horror?) My thought process? Well, you can do anything with a wrap, so clearly I’ll just take one of those. A shortish one. I don’t have that many, so I took my favorite, my green Girasol. This was not the best decision.

Girasols are lovely, don’t get me wrong. They are super soft and very supportive for my getting-too-heavy toddler. They are also HOT. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem. Have you seen how far north England is? Well, seems they decided to have a heat wave. Crap. So I didn’t actually use it all that much.

What I REALLY missed was my hemp Hotsling and my blue Zolo. I missed the hemp because it’s so soft, packs up ridiculously small, is very comfy and easy to use, plus it’s really breathable when it’s HOT! I missed my Zolo, probably my most used sling, because I just love that damn pocket. Who needs a purse when you have a pocket on a sling? I could have REALLY used both of them. I really, really missed them. And to be honest, there was plenty of space in our suitcases. Lesson learned: Always take two carriers. One for two shoulders and one for one shoulder carries. That Hotsling is so small, it wouldn’t have made a difference. Sigh.

It’s not that you can’t do a hip carry with a wrap, you most certainly can! Several different ways! It’s more that I couldn’t be arsed. Aside from the heat, hip carries with wraps are kind of fiddly. And then there was the fact that I had the lovely H with me. H loves to carry on with the boy, which is, of course, all well and good. Then there were the extra family members around! Granddad, Nanny, and even Auntie Chloe! There were TONS of people to escort Boo around! I hardly had need for any carrier whatsoever.

I was very glad to have my wrap in London, however, for the one day I was there by myself, i.e. no family members along. It was a lifesaver for helping the distraught boy get to sleep when he was tired, navigating the trains, and walking across Greenwich park. I did get some odd looks though, and one friend thought I might fit in in Woolwich! I hope that’s a compliment :)

So what did I learn? Besides always having two carriers, it’s that when you are alone that babywearing makes the biggest difference. Surrounded by a village? Probably not that big a deal. On your own in a big city with public transport? Bring it on.

(As a side note, I wish I had had the forethought to order a Calin Bleu gauze wrap ahead of time and had it shipped to the ‘rents. For one thing, it’s a summer weight and would have been PERFECT. For another, you can’t get them in the US, only Europe, so I’m really curious what it’s like. Argh!)

Mommies with Style has a given a fantastic review of my personal favourite Mei Tai (MT) baby carrier, a Babyhawk. I love the way she says she didn’t have anything against babywearing, it just wasn’t for her. Until this.

Although I’ve always been crunchy enough to love babywearing, that was my thought too when I got my first Babyhawk. THIS is cool, people. Won’t everyone want one? Shouldn’t Angelina and Britney and Jennifer G. and every other celeb in the world have one just so they can show everyone ELSE how cool they are? Because they are seriously cool. Here’s mine:

It reverses too, to a pretty and very functional starburst pattern. I will post a pic of that later, none on the computer ATM! Anyway, I love this thing. Admittedly, I use MTs mostly on the front because I like wraps better for the back, but still. That’s just me. MTs rock. Everyone should have one. SO happy about this review!

Twice now Boo has fallen asleep on my back while walking back from Fremont. Both times he had fallen asleep in the car that morning, was grouchy in the afternoon, but refused to nap.

Ah ha.

Normally the boy refuses to fall asleep in carriers, he’s far too interested in what’s going on around him. He has to see everything. Every once in a while though if my walking is rhythmic enough (i.e. not stopping every block for lights), he will be overtaken by the dream fairy. Fabulous discovery if I do say so myself. AND what’s even better, is he hasn’t woken up when I’ve gently dropped him to the bed when we got home. I am cooking dinner right now with a baby asleep in the other room. Do you have any idea how MONUMENTAL that is? I’m so chuffed!

There has been a lot of babywearing on TV lately! Just recently there’s been Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives (although I’m not watching the housewives until the DVD comes out but someone told me about it). I believe, but don’t quote me, that both shows used a Premaxx which looks like a really uncomfortable sling, but that’s just me :D

I’ve also seen babywearing on Family Guy and My Name is Earl, both Snuggli/Bjorn types. Joy even had the baby on her back, which I didn’t even know you could do!

Too cool! For once mainstream media is making me happy!

ETA: Okay so Joy wearing her baby on her back does not mean you are actually meant to do that ;)

Zolowear has a blog! Zolowear is one of my favourite slings. In fact, right now, we have a cornflower blue ring sling that gets daily use. I mentioned before how I want a silk one although still not sure about the price. Why do I love my Zolo? Let me count the ways!

1. I had never purchased a zolo before because I generally make my own ring slings and of course it’s cheaper to make your own. However recently my kiddo just keeps getting heavier (perish the thought!) and some of them have started slipping. Uh oh! I had heard that zolos were particularly hard to adjust and finally that seemed like a good thing. And it is! This puppy doesn’t budge. Yay!
2. The quality and detail of this sling is amazing. The webbing, the shape of the shoulder, everything about it is really beautiful. I could *not* do this at home. I do wish I had an easier time with the shoulder, it’s a wee bit narrow for me, but frankly the looks make up for it.
3. The DVD. This sling came with an instructional DVD which I didn’t actually look at for a little while — I mean I’ve been doing this a while, ya know? Well I finally did and damn if I didn’t learn a thing or too. Very cool. Would have been FABULOUS to have in those early months when I had no idea what I was doing!

So I’m glad Darien has a blog. Very cool to keep up with one of my favourite WAHM companies!

My brother’s wedding is coming up and I’d really like to get a silk sling for it. I really like the green silk Zolowear sling but I’m having trouble convincing myself that $159 is reasonable. It’s going to be a long day and I’m sure Boo will want to be carried a bit despite being almost two. So it’s not that. It just seems like a lot of money and I’m not sure quite how often I’ll use a silk sling, ya know?

So, I’ve thought about making my own. Would be substantially cheaper although still a wee bit expensive. Plus I can make the shoulder more comfortable, I think. I’ve started to look for brocades, but am having trouble finding some! The best selection so far is at thaisilks.com. I really like the black blossoms, pewter blossoms, the gold dragons on different colors (dark pink? purple? light blue? black?), olive dragons, and the multicolored butterflies. But angels aren’t singing for anything, so I’m still looking!

I have been wearing Nathan in a sling every single day since we arrived, and I’ve never been so happy doing so! I have not received a single wierd look, I have not been made to feel like perhaps I have Leprosy, and most people just comment on how cute my kid is (but of course!).

Today was our longest stretch yet. We were walking around downtown for a good three hours (interrupted by lunch and some play time but mostly walking) in a Babyhawk MT and it was bliss. Boo had fun, I had fun, all was good. Yay for Seattle the land of tolerant people!