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Baby wearing


EmmaNZ
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Can you tell me what this looks like at your house please?I usually wear my 4 month old whilst out of the house, but not in. In the house he will lie on the floor for a bit, or is sitting with me or one of the older kiddies. I like the idea of baby wearing, but practically I can't envision wearing him more than I do. Should I be popping him on as soon as I get up??

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My friend does that. She wears her babies almost all the time. It really is personal preference, though. I am more like you, only really when out and about (I'm a nanny...I don't wear my 13 year old LOL!) unless they are ill or I need to for some other reason. There is no "right" answer. ;) It is what works best for you and what you are most comfortable doing.

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All mine kids are beyond the babywearing stage, but when I did, I'd usually use the bouncy chair first in the day, until the baby had enough of that. After that though, the baby usually was in the wrap most of the day. Reasons including that I just needed to get stuff done, didn't have a place I felt was truely safe to put him/her down, that's where s/he was happiest. After nursing, I'd usually try somthing else (floor, bouncy chair), but if that wasn't going to work, I didn't waste time trying.

If what you're doing now works for you, then that's great. If you want to wear the baby more, just pick a time, like after lunch, and wear for a while. I love seeing other mom's wearing outside the home. It seems so rare in my area.

Wearing really save my mind. I don't know how I would have gotten anything done without it.

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Wore a cranky 1 year old while making dinner last night, and he dozed off so I wore him while serving and eating dinner as well. I usually don't wear inside the house, but being able to is a lifesaver at times.

 

I'm also not a SAHM so who knows, I might wear him more if I was with him 24/7.

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I think it really depends on both you and the baby. With my son I wore him a lot, but that was simply because wasn't happy if he wasn't nursing or in a carrier or wrap. He went through a very long phase where he wouldn't nap unless he was in the Moby. Even my mom and my husband would wear him in the Moby for naps! It was cute. Also, we have a farm, and at some point I really needed to just get back outside and back to normal chores. So, into the wrap he'd go, and I'd go feed the horses and chickens and whatnot. At some point I remember we started using a stroller outside when I did chores. Until he started getting really mobile, he was happy to just hang out and watch all the goings-on from the stroller. But we still did a lot of babywearing, and I always wore him out of the house. We never took the stroller anywhere, never took the bucket seat out of the car, and never put him in the shopping cart (as an infant, anyway). And that was just because he was happier that way and we liked it, not because we were opposed to any of those things.

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I am way past this stage, and wearing babies was not done when dd was tiny. At least mot where we lived. So my perspective may not hold much water.

 

That said, I would think that baby needs time on the floor, both tummy and back, to develop muscle tone. I can't see how wearing or old fashioned carrying all day would be good for either mom or babe.

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Actually wearing a baby counts as tummy time and helps develop those muscles.

 

That being said when my were itty bitty I wore them in the house as needed. If they were fussy I'd wear them, if I needed them away from their siblings I wore/wear them. Other then that they hang out on the floor or when really little in the swing, depending on where they were happiest.

 

Now DS2 is rarely worn in the house, normally only when super fussy, other then that he is on the go. In general though none of mine were worn more then 3 or so hours in the house a day give or take, maybe a bit more for DD because she would only nap in the carrier and only fall asleep for bed in the carrier for a few months, but normally it was 3 hours or less and not all at once.

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At least one culture never puts baby down at all until a certain point in his/her life--where is that? Thailand? Baby carrying and holding is actually quite good for mom and baby's muscles and bones, if done in good body alignment.

 

Anyway, I wear my littlest (21 months) while making dinner or cleaning up the house if he is particularly unhappy. The end of the day is not easy for him, and it helps us get through that time with more peace.

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Mine are also passed this stage, but I did wear them both. My son it was mostly out of the house -- I HATED trying to maneuver a stroller in stores and around people I wanted him close to *me*. I don't recall wearing him much in the house, occasionally if he was fussy and no other location (including Dad!) made him happy.

 

DD on the other hand was a WHOLE 'NOTHER STORY!! She was my super attached to Mommy baby right from the start; she was also >10 lbs at birth, so my arms would get TIRED. She was my bottle refuser as well. When I went back to work when she was 3.5 mos old, she would not take a bottle. She nursed continuously from the time I got home at 6p, till I left the next morning at 7p; she slept all day for her SAHDad....

 

I wore her A LOT; or I would never have gotten anything done!

 

Each baby/mother pair is different. If your baby is happy away from Mommy for periods of time, great! Use it. If he/she is happier with Mommy and you can do it, wear her/him. It takes some getting used to and some practicing with different positions, but I could do ANYTHING while wearing her/nursing her.

 

~coffee~

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It depends on the baby. My youngest hates being worn and wanted down to be a big kid practically from birth. But boy, I could never put the other ones down! I wore them alllllll of the time. I have more carriers than I need and love them very much. I would try out several kinds. Especially with homeschooling or multiple littles, I found it important to pick out one I could get out of quickly and easily.

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I don't think there is a 'should' involved. Both my boys were on me all the time because that is what worked for us. I had a large collection of slings depending on the day, the size of the baby, etc, etc. But, both my boys had acid reflux and needed to be upright all the time. If I put them down they screamed. On top of that, ds1 was a preemie and I was instructed to sling him as much as possible for as long as possible. He was small so he was on me for at least two years. That sort of set the stage for ds2. It just seemed normal to have them on me all the time.

 

Sigh.... now I miss it.

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At 4 months, it depended on the day, but generally, I'd have the baby in a carrier for large parts of the day. Typically, I'd throw on a ring sling to make breakfast, if I wasn't dressed already, and at whatever point I was dressed for the day, I'd put the baby in a wrap, and he'd sleep while I did schoolwork/dishes/etc. (I'm really short, so I have to switch to back carrying fairly early when cooking and doing dishes too, but I'd try to time that so the baby didn't fall asleep for a long nap on my back.) If he was awake, he wasn't happy (and that's been the case for all of my babies) in a carrier on me if I was sitting, so I'd try to time things so that I saved certain things for while I was holding/nursing the baby. (Like, it was easy to read history while nursing/holding the baby, so I wouldn't do that when he was asleep in the wrap.) If no big kids were available when I needed to shower, and the baby was awake, I'd put him in his carseat, and I'd occasionally lay him on a blanket or in the carseat if I needed to use the bathroom, take something out of the oven quickly, etc. Also, in the afternoon, so that I could tidy up/make dinner/fold laundry/etc. quickly, I'd sometimes lay him down on the bed for a nap. Sometimes my back just got tired, and the truth is that it's faster for me to do some things while not wearing him. I cooked a lot of dinners with him on my back, though, my Ergo being my preferred back carrier. (Alternately, I'd wait until DH was home to hold him. My big kids were really helpful, but I tried not to rely on that too much so that they didn't feel overly burdened; they loved when it was their turn to hold the baby, and I wanted to keep that, not have it become a chore.)

 

But yeah, at 4 months, I wore him around the house a lot.

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I'm glad you asked this! I've been wondering too. I've used the Moby a few times at home, but most of the time she is either needing something (i.e. diaper change) or going to sleep, and she's been sleeping okay without being worn. So far she seems happy to hang out in the bouncy seat for a little while when awake, and she's been napping in the swing (lifesaver!). I don't necessarily mind her sleeping while I wear her, but if she'll happily sleep in the swing, it makes getting things done easier. I'm also thinking I may want to try another carrier--a sling, probably. She goes right to sleep in the Moby usually, but she almost always wakes up *screaming*. I'm not sure why--I may need to make it a bit tighter. She's still in the newborn hold (she's 7 weeks old), and she ends up scrunching/slouching down. She's secure, but it doesn't look like it would be comfortable!

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I'm glad you asked this! I've been wondering too. I've used the Moby a few times at home, but most of the time she is either needing something (i.e. diaper change) or going to sleep, and she's been sleeping okay without being worn. So far she seems happy to hang out in the bouncy seat for a little while when awake, and she's been napping in the swing (lifesaver!). I don't necessarily mind her sleeping while I wear her, but if she'll happily sleep in the swing, it makes getting things done easier. I'm also thinking I may want to try another carrier--a sling, probably. She goes right to sleep in the Moby usually, but she almost always wakes up *screaming*. I'm not sure why--I may need to make it a bit tighter. She's still in the newborn hold (she's 7 weeks old), and she ends up scrunching/slouching down. She's secure, but it doesn't look like it would be comfortable!

 

 

Scrunching may be perfectly comfortable -- after all, she is still used to being scrunched up from the womb. However, just be careful that she's not letting her head drop onto her chest; that can compromise breathing. I would try tying the Moby tighter. I'm an ex-leader of our local babywearing group, and we tell people that if you put your hand on the baby's back, and she curls up, she's too loose. How are you wrapping the Moby? With a newborn, I prefer to wrap so that the X crossed parts are supporting the baby, with the cummerbund part across the belly on the outside for an extra support. (Otoh, when using a woven wrap, I prefer to put the cummerbund next to the baby, X on the outside) I tie a Moby really tightly with a newborn.

 

A sling might help, but a lot of people find that those are tricky with a baby who still needs head support. I would keep trying with the Moby, and if it doesn't work, look for a mei tai, like a Kozy. A stretchy wrap like the Moby works for me up to about 16 pounds before it just sags too much too quickly. And yes, I do a lot of popping the baby in and out -- I prefer a woven at home for the long-term support, but the stretchy wrap was my favorite for being out of the house because of the poppability.

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I LOVED the moby for my second baby. That was a game changer for me. He had to be kept upright all the time and the moby was the only thing that made that possible. I could spread those straps all the way across my back and it was so comfortable. I did everything with that thing. I could empty the dishwasher, knead bread, mix cookies etc.

 

For a mom with a very unhappy baby, that moby was a life saver. I only wish I had it when my first was born. He was a preemie and a moby sling would have been optimal.

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