Wrap Your Baby

My son and I at the Big Muddy this summer.  He is 5 months old in this picture.

I thought I would share with you the wrap I made and am using with my son.  It is made from 100% cotton and I just bought the fabric at Walmart for about $5/meter.  To make a wrap you need about  5 meters of fabric (it is advisable to buy extra as you can always make it shorter but it is more difficult to make it longer.)  Cut the fabric anywhere from 25 to 30 inches wide and hem it all around.  That's it.  You can find more detailed tutorials if you search the web but basically it is just a piece of fabric.  The tricky part is wrapping your baby in it.  I highly reccomend the site Wrap Your Baby.  It has lot's of videos and instructions for wrapping your baby.  The two I use most often are the cross carry (I like this one because you can pretie it on you and easily pop your baby in and out) and the the front wrap cross carry (this one offers a little more support for longer hikes). 

With my other children I had a snuggli and that did work well but I thought I would try something new this time.  I was also looking for something I could nurse in.  I did nurse in the wrap a few times but honestly I prefer taking the few minutes that is takes to feed my son to sit and relax.  Wrapping does take some practice to get it right and sometimes you have to readjust it but it is very comfortable to wear when you get it right.  The fabric is long and bit difficult to deal with but if you pretie on a cross carry before you leave the house you can leave it on and pop the baby in and out as you run errands.  I do have a stroller and use it regularly but I love having the option to carry my baby.  I live on a farm so the ground isn't exactly stroller friendly and we have snow at least 6 months of the year which again isn't exactly stroller friendly.  Also in the cold weather I can wrap the baby to me and zip a large coat over both of us so that I know that he is warm.  I also use the wrap sometimes to get some work done around the house when my baby is fussy. 

However, I have not yet been able to put my son in a back carry (there is video instruction at wrap your baby on how to do this but it doesn't seem secure to me and I am worried he is going to fall out).  It is difficult to do some things when your baby is in front of you.   Now that he is six months though I can carry him in the hiking back pack that I have.  This is also a comfortable way to carry your baby and I have done many dishes with a child on my back.  The back pack is nice in that I can easily put in on and off by my self and I can set it down with the child in it.  I will say that the wrap cost me around $25 to make in 2010 and the backpack cost $150 in 2001.  However, I definately got my money's worth out of it as it is now on child number 3 and I used it until each child was 2-1/2 or 3 years old.

My youngest daughter and I July 2005.  She is 20 months old in this picture.

So there are the two things that I use regularly to carry my son.  What is your favorite way to carry your baby?