Top Seven Questions About Baby Carriers

Scanning my parents’ group message boards, there are certain questions that pop up more frequently than others when moms and dads are discussing which carrier is best for their baby.  Here’s a run-down of the top seven questions and their answers:

1. “Is the BabyBjorn safe?  I heard it wasn’t.  Why?”

Some of what you’ve heard is true for very young infants, birth to eight or twelve weeks.  For the smallest and youngest, the Baby Bjorn …

Make it a Double: Baby Carriers for Twins

Congratulations!  You’ve been riding the multiples roller coaster since you first saw two (or more) cute little bean-shapes on the ultrasound.  Months later, they’ve arrived and the questions have surely piled up.  Do we feed them at once?  Should they sleep at the same time?  Will they wake each other up?  Will we, their parents, ever sleep again?  When are the grandparents coming to help?  I know carrying them is a great way to soothe …

Slings Make for Easy Breastfeeding in Public Places

Most women who have tried to breastfeed and met with any degree of success know that it doesn’t come without difficulties.  These difficulties range from trouble latching, mastering the football hold and other tried and true methods, learning the lingo of nurses or lactation consultants, wrestling with the noisy beast, er…I mean… breast pump, and figuring out how to squeeze in a shower and some sleep. And this is all before you leave the house.  …

Baby Carriers: The Wearable Cure for Colic?

Trapped gas bubbles after eating, tummy upset, painful bowel movements, and acid reflux are all contributors to the discomfort your inconsolable baby experiences with colic.  As the digestive system matures, colic tends to disappear between 3 and 9 months.  Of the 25% of babies with colic, 90% are free of it by 9 months.  With numerous medicinals, swaddling techniques, and “guaranteed” colic remedies circulating in parent lore, its amazing what a simple baby carrier can …

Memory Devices for Most Popular Wrap Ties

This is a follow up to my related article, “Untangling Baby Wrap Tying Techniques.” Here, we’ll unwrap the directions for two popular carrying styles – the hug wrap is covered in the previous article.  Reading that one before continuing here will help clear up how mnemonic (memory) devices, as they apply to baby wraps, can be helpful in quickly learning to use your wrap.
The Cradle Hold (Great for Nursing and Newborns)
This tie technique puts …

Untangle the Baby Wrap Tying Techniques

If you’ve purchased a wrap-style carrier like the Moby, or if you’re thinking about it, take a lesson from your high school or music teacher.  Remember “I before E except after C” or “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge”?

We may be parents, but we’re not too old to use mnemonic (memory) devices to ingrain techniques for using baby wrap carriers.  This article will explain how …

Why Moms Love Moby

Not named for the whale or the musician, the Moby is meant to evoke the image of the Mobius Strip – that figure-eight looking shape you can make by taking a strip of paper, twisting it once, and bringing the ends back together to form an unending band of paper.  And the Moby Wrap holds …

Swaddle Your Baby: Which Carrier is Best?

If you’re a new parent, you’re probably getting used to the unexpected.  Did you ever anticipate that properly swaddling your infant would be the holy grail, the well-publicized highly-touted key to happiness for both of you?  Even swaddled, your baby still must be carried in the hammock of your arms, unless you can find a baby carrier that’s best for swaddling.
Swaddling: The What and Why
It’s the first thing the nurses will do when your baby …

Carriers that Wrap Around Your Baby

When I lived in West Africa, all of the new moms I saw used lengths of bright fabric to create their own wraparound baby carriers.  These wraps looked so comfortable and versatile.  While the village moms would shop or tend crops, babies would explore their world or – more often than not – sleep.

So, is a wrap right for you and your baby?  Let’s look at the most common wraps and compare their materials, longevity, …

Does a Lightweight Infant Carrier Fit Your Lifestyle?

Ever notice how guys offer to carry our heavy stuff and their own? I thought it was chivalry.  Turns out it’s weight distribution.   So it is with baby slings.  You want to find a model that is lightweight, but all infant carriers are not equal in their equal distribution of baby’s weight.

Pound for pound, all soft-framed carriers, slings, and wraps are – themselves – very light.  Soft-framed carriers are on the heavy end because …