Things We Love: Baby Wraps

After my c-section, the doctor told me I wasn't allowed to carry anything heavier than our baby for the next six weeks. Six weeks! After a little experimentation, I determined that the warning was hardly necessary in those early days. I wasn't capable of lifting anything heavier than Conner even if I'd wanted to. That meant no baby stroller and no baby bucket (i.e., the baby carrier that attaches to the stroller -- sorry, but it's a "bucket" to me), and I was facing our first outing without any Daddy assistance. How on earth was I going to get a tiny, squirmy newborn safely through the parking lot and all the way up to the pediatrician's office at the back of the third floor, when I was still wincing in pain myself?

Enter the baby wrap. A friend gave me her lightly used Ultimate Baby Wrap shortly after we announced that I was pregnant, and it was the only solution I could think of. The night before our appointment, I read the directions, popped a teddy bear in the wrap to test it out, and it seemed like the perfect solution. I now had yards of stretchy cotton jersey taking much of Conner's weight out of my arms.

I noticed the first difference the next day as we made our way through the parking lot to the pediatrician's office: Conner and I got plenty of attention. We'd already made this trip twice before, but then Conner was in the stroller and it formed a bubble of anonymity around him. We'd hardly earned extra glances from passers-by on those trips. But between the rarity of baby wearing in suburban Chicago and the fact that people could actually get a glimpse of Conner, suddenly he got attention from everyone we passed. I almost worried about getting to the doctor's office on time because so many people stopped us to ask questions about the baby or the wrap.

That outing was good for both of us. Conner had a good checkup and I proved to myself that I could get out of the house and manage on my own. I got home and started looking around on the web to learn more about baby wearing, and found some new methods that worked even better than the first one had. Now I'm addicted, and I even use the wrap around the house at times. Have baby wrap, this momma is gonna travel! I recommend it to anyone who feels homebound thanks to the hassle of dealing with strollers and heavy baby buckets.