SortaCrunchy Q&A #3 - Choosing a baby carrier

I need more coffee, ya'll. Or more sleep. Somethin. I am so sluggish these days! I feel awful that I am not making my bloggy rounds to see what everyone is up to this fine week. I am just plum worn out. I hope to be up for more socializing very soon . . .

In the meantime, my next SortaCrunchy question is from Elle of A Complete Thought. (VERY insightful and informative writer, by the way. I highly suggest you check her out!) She asks, "I was a baby wearer as well. I loved the soothing aspect for both mama and baby. What benefits would you discuss with a new mama debating whether to Bjorn or sling?"

It's funny, just this very morning at playgroup day at the gym, a mama asked me this question!

Let me start by saying that babywearing is one of those practices that I was sorta forced into by my lovely high needs oldest daughter. She just would not lay in that stinkin' infant car seat (we call it the bucket) while I grocery shopped, and it all it took was one trip through the aisles with her precariously clutched against my chest with one hand while I dragged the cart with the other for me to decide I had to find a better solution. I had registered for a Bjorn, but never received one. I'm a (wo)man of means by no means, so I had to settle for a cheaper knock-off. It worked okay . . . for about a month. Then my shoulders started to ache within fifteen minutes of wearing Jabba the Baby (D weighed fourteen and a half pounds at two months and eighteen pounds at four months!), and by the time I had made my rounds through the grocery store, I would be close to tears.

Again, I knew I had to find a better solution. By sheer chance miracle, I saw a post on my mommy message board about Lucky Baby pouch slings. By this time, D was five months old and could easily ride on my hip, so I ordered one, and my love for babywearing began!

To get back to Elle's question, the biggest benefit, in my opinion, to choosing a non-structured carrier instead of a Bjorn-style carrier is that you will be lucky to get six months of wear out of a Bjorn. A non-structured carrier (pouch sling, mei tai, wrap, ring sling, or soft structured carrier) will take you well into toddlerhood. I was wearing D in our Ergo right up until I got pregnant with AJ. Certainly, any new mama may want to choose the more mainstream and widely available Bjorn and it will work fine while the baby is little. But if she is already planning to spend close to $100 on a carrier (or someone is buying one for her), I highly recommend researching non-structured carriers as an alternative.

(Side note - there are some concerns about structured carriers having some negative impacts on a baby's development or possibly contributing to hip dysplasia, but this would generally only happen if baby were worn for hours on end for several months in such a carrier. Interestingly, there is evidence that a non-structured carrier will contribute positively to a baby's developing spine as is evidenced by this article.)

My personal recommendations, you ask? I will tell you my two very, very favorites are the above-mentioned Ergo and our Mei Tai Baby. Neither of my girls have liked be worn in the cradle carry which is a popular way to wear newborns in a pouch (like Lucky Baby or Hotsling) or ring sling (like Maya Wrap or Taylor Made). Both the Ergo and Mei Tai Baby allow me to wear them upright which is the three of us seem to prefer. I prefer the Mei Tai Baby over the many other makers of mei tai carriers because 1)it has the adjustable bottom which makes it easier to wear newborns and 2) you have the option of ordering one with removable panels so when you tire of the print, you can switch the panel out for a totally new look! So, those are my favorites, but there is great big (overwhelming) world of choices out there.

Again, returning to Elle's question, here's what I would advise a friend who is looking into buying a carrier and wants to go a different route from a Bjorn. (JB and KM, this is for you!)

1) Register for an account at TheBabywearer.com. Once you have registered there, you have access to the plethora of carrier listings and reviews. HUGE help.

2) Sign up for a Paypal account. If you decide to buy a brand new carrier and want to shop from a parent-owned business, there are some who can only accept payments from credit cards through Paypal. You can link your Paypal account to your checking account as well which works out nicely if you are paying cash for your new carrier.

If you decide you want to buy a used carrier, you will most likely need a Paypal account to pay the seller. More on that in a second.

3) Start browsing stores that sell carriers. There are many. Many. Many. Attached to Baby is a great resource. Fox Den Lane is another good one. Then there's Mamas Milk.

Readers - where do you like to shop for carriers? Who would you suggest?

Browsing these stores will give you a good idea of what style of carrier you might like and how much they run brand new. If you are buying new, then you may just find the carrier of your dreams while you are window shopping one day!

4) I have only purchased a few of our slings brand new. I am a bargain hunter and hate to pay retail when I can find it for less somewhere. Two places you can shop for gently used slings are Ebay and the For Sale or Trade Forum at thebabywearer. Ebay - ehhhh. I am not a good Ebay shopper and never seem to get quite as good of a deal as I think I am going to. If you are a good Ebayer, maybe you will have more luck than I have had. I prefer the FSOT forum.

5) If you are shopping the FSOT forum, it may be intimidating at first because most every listing will use abbreviations. What you can do is use the "search forum" feature to search only for the specific carrier you are looking for (for example, do a search in that forum for "hotsling").

If you are going to buy from FSOT, make sure to read through the stickied post called "FSOT rules and helpful hints."

Speaking of abbreviating, I should wrap this up. (Get it? Wrap?)

Here's a neat blog I just stumbled across as I was preparing this post - will have to check it out: The Baby Carrier

Would love to hear from anyone who wants to share their babywearing favorites! I am always up for some babywearing chit-chat!

And her nest? It was feathered . . .

*big, huge sigh of relief*

Well, sweet friends, as I sit and type, I can rest in the knowing that if Little Sister decides to surprise and delight her hot, tired, and cranky mama by arriving early, at least we have things prepared for her.

I can assure you that the very fact that we are mostly ready for her to be here will certainly guarantee that she will stay put until the appointed day (September 5th - have I mentioned that lately?). Oh, sure, there are a few odds and ends on the list to be completed (such fun treats as cleaning out and cleaning up my car and making a trip to Sam's to stock up on some household stuff), but for the most part, I feel satisfied in where things stand right now.

And speaking of lists, I wanted to share a few things I have come across in the midst of my nesting craze that I think are pretty neat. (It seems nesting and spending are synonymous in my vocabulary these days. It's shocking, really, the amount of moolah I have dropped on Little Sister . . . perhaps already anticipating and overcompensating for Middle Child syndrome?)

My new carrier dilemma solved itself when I came across a darling adjustable Mei Tai Baby on the for-sale-or-trade forum at thebabywearer.com. I cannot wait to try this lovely out with LS and will be sure to post action pics for everyone.

I could not decide what to do about the nursing pads (reusable or disposable?), so I got some of each. A big ol' box of trusty Lansinoh disposable pads and a set of Imse Vimse pear shaped wool pads. (I really wanted to try the LANA wool pads that Noah so highly recommends, but I just couldn't quite make that big of an investment yet. I would need the medium size in the Ekstra style, so that adds up. I may still get some, though, if the Imse Vimses don't work out.)

Let's see, what else? Oh yeah - I discovered these really great nursing bras, at Ebay of all places! YES nursing bras may very well be the best of the bunch I have tried so far. I'm of the larger-chested tribe of mamas and no underwire bras (nursing or otherwise) usually just don't meet my needs, but I am loving the design this mama has put together. I ordered one to try (I mean, for $17.99 including shipping, what the heck?) and loved it so much that I ordered another in the next size up to get me through those first weeks/months of nursing a newborn voluptuousness . . .

I've gotten newborn cloth diapers and covers galore and I can't wait to share my experience with you as we begin that journey. I love the idea of a newborn swaddled all in cloth from her sweet-smelling head down to her tiny, tiny toes.

And speaking of swaddling, I was thrilled to see new designs available in our family's very favorite swaddling blanket - the Ultimate Swaddling Blanket. D's is the very sweet but very basic lavender dots print. (To this day, that blankie goes with her most everywhere. Such a Linus!) I decided to be a little more bold in choosing for Little Sis, so I picked out the Pink Mod Circle print this time. Fun!

Lots of things swirling about and cluttering this mama's mind these days . . . I hope to get them posted, if for nothing else than to be a record for me to look back on and remember one day. Thanks for your patience during my brief sabbatical. I look forward to catching up with everyone soon!

Bit O' Crunchy, August 3rd: POUCH SLINGS

This week has certainly been full of downtime, though not in the way I expected. Kicking this tummy bug has proved to be quite daunting, but I am feeling pretty hopeful that I am on the upswing. Finally.

I started feeling a bit nostaglic this week as I began to get serious about shopping for a few things we need for Little Sister. Thankfully, we have a wide array of baby gear and sweet girl clothes, but one thing I would really like is a new baby carrier. This got me thinking back to our first "real" carrier . . . a pouch sling.

I say "real" because my first foray into babywearing involved the unfortunate purchase of an Evenflo Snugli. I am sure these work wonderfully if the baby you are wearing doesn't top out the scales past the one hundredth percentile at each well-baby visit. D did. The Snugli was not a good choice for us.

By the time D was 4 months old, I realized I had a high-needs baby on my hands. She wanted to be carried all the time, everywhere. A friend of mine on a parenting message board posted about how happy she was with her recent Lucky Baby sling purchase, and when I began to investigate, I knew I had found what I was looking for. And so a Lucky Baby pouch sling became the first "real" carrier in our babywearing stash:


July 20, 2005 - who can believe it's been over two years?!

POUCH SLINGS - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

1) Pouch slings are sized. This means you will need to take careful measurements to get the best fit. A pouch sling that doesn't fit right will be uncomfortable for you and for baby.

2) Pouch slings are either padded or unpadded. The Lucky Baby (and pouch slings from mynestlings, another favorite company of mine) are unpadded. A very popular pouch sling that is padded is the Hotsling. These have a light layer of padding around the edge to allow for a cushier fit around baby's legs. Hotslings have become so popular, you can even find them at Target!

3) As long as you get a pouch sling with the right fit, I think these are a great "starter" sling. No ties, no buckles, no rings . . . just a simple design that has lasted through many eons of mamas needing to wear the baby. This is also a sling that could feasibly last you from infancy to toddlerhood, and the price point for this style of carrier is reasonable for those who are working with a tight budget.

Looking forward to questions and comments!

Babywearing photo tag!

I'll tell ya what . . . this moving business is seriously interfering with my computer time! I can't say nearly as much as I want to! As I am packing, I have written countless posts in my head and feel quite confident they will have disappeared by the time we settle in to the new house. *big sigh* Anyway.

Sweet Friends Lori and Shannon have posted pictures for Whitney's photo tag of babywearing, and I wanted to get one quick picture up while I have just few minutes!

My favorite picture of D being worn is this one:

This is one of my favorites of many babywearing pictures because the sling I am wearing is a CassieBeanie Ring Sling, made by my Sweet Friend Shannon. (Yes! I know the shoulder desperately needs to be ajdusted. It was one of those off moments!) We have had a lot of slings come and go in the ol' stash, but this is the only one made by someone I know. It's the perfect length and perfect fabric for us. I still carry it in the car for "just in case" even though it has been a long time since I could get D's long ol' legs to fit in.


I got hooked on babywearing because D refused to lay in her carseat carrier while we grocery shopped. (Think of that unique newborn shriek little ones can let loose with when they are not happy, and that is what I mean by refused!) One trip through the store with her in one arm and pushing a cart with the other was enough to convince me we had to find a better solution. My very first ever carrier was an Evenflo Snugli. *blush* Then a friend in an online community posted pictures of her wearing her son in a Lucky Baby pouch. Just one look . . . that was all it took . . .

Right now, our carrier stash is pretty sparse. I have an Ergo (on loan to a friend), our CBRS, a Chicken Scratch Ring Sling, and a WAHM made pouch (can't remember where I got that one). Before Little Sister arrives, I would like to get a Moby for those newborn days, and then I will have to have another Mei Tai.

Fun tag, Whitney! Thank you!

Blogging advice, The Momma Code, and a GIVEAWAY!

DONE AND DONE!

Somehow, amazingly, I have finally gotten caught up on my blog reading. Thank you, dear Google Reader, for allowing me to skim thoughtfully read and reflect upon all sorts of wonderful posts from the vast array of feeds you deliver so faithfully to me everyday. And WHEW! I feel a great burden has been lifted now that I am caught up. I didn't get to comment as much as I would like to, but please know I have read.

Anyway, a couple of posts stuck out to me as I was reading from the last week:

1) I hope each and every one of you have, by now, added Scribbit to your feeds because she is just the coolest. Last week she published Ten Housekeeping Tips for Your Blog. Definitely check this out! Even if you don't feel you want to or can incorporate everything she suggests right now, this article still offers some great direction and advice!

2) Another treasure from last week was Shannon's republication of The Momma Code. Very much worth the read! Such truth.

3) Finally, SO EXCITED to tell you about Stephanie's latest giveaway!! A $75 gift certificate to MamaKanga!!! Don't ya just love how easy (and generous!) Stephanie's giveaways are?

Now, if the babywearing gods smile gently upon me and I should somehow win this giveaway, oh what would I buy? I have to say I am torn. For wearing Little Sister, I have a trusty pouch and several lovely ring slings. I am thinking with $75 to spend, I would want to go with a Mei Tai. Or maybe a wrap. No, definitely a Mei Tai. But I hear such great things about The Gypsy Mama wrap! But I have never tried wrapping before, and I feel a little intimidated. But look how lovely! Ahhhhhh, the choices. So fun to shop and drool.


So those are my highlights from the week. If I can possibly fit it in, I am hoping to participate in Chilihead's Blogging Story carnival. Such fun to read everyone's blogging stories!

Have ya'll made that chocolate cake yet? Let me know when you do.

SortaWhat? Part Two

Wow, I will tell you what . . . There is nothing like being out of town for the better part of a week to allow a mama to see how much she does around the house on a daily basis! D and I got home Friday night and I am just now climbing out from under the piles of laundry and dust bunnies.

(And on that note, I am so terribly, TERRIBLY behind on my blog reading. Reading the blogs of both my friends and the amazing women whom I have "met" in the blogosphere is such an important part of my day. I am suffering from tremendous blogger guilt and frustration in not being able to read and comment as much as I would like to, and Google Reader is just taunting me by reminding me I have 100+ posts to peruse! Anyway, soon and very soon I will be back in the swing of things.)

So to continue the conversation on why I choose to identify myself as "sort of" crunchy (yep, Katherine, as in granola-y . . . mmmmmmm, granola . . .), I am just going to outline the natural family living (NFL for short, but not the kind of NFL your man wants you to appreciate) practices that are an important part of my life.

Natural Family Living Philosophies/Beliefs I practice:

* child-led weaning
I used to say "extended breastfeeding," but I have taken a step away from that term for now. Breastfeeding advocacy is very important to me, but at the same time, I want to emphasize that I believe in a mutual weaning process. I have friends online and in my community whose babies simply would have nothing more to do with the breast after nine months or six months or some age earlier than a year old. In these cases, the breastfeeding mother would have loved to have practiced "extended breastfeeding" (general term for breastfeeding past a year), but saw the need to balance her desire to breastfeed with her desire to respect and follow her baby's desires.

I found that Kellymom was a great place to start in researching common questions and concerns regarding breastfeeding past infancy.

* cloth diapering
I have a ton of posts about cloth diapering which you could easily access through my Blogger tags. When it comes down to it, I love cloth diapering because I think it is best for the environment, best for baby's skin, and definitely best in overall cuteness. :)

* babywearing
Although that particular "label" may be new to some, the art of wearing a baby is as old as time. You've no doubt seen mainstream versions of babywearing in the form of Baby Bjorn and New Native carriers, but those carriers are just the very tippy-top of the babywearing iceberg.

I had toyed with idea of buying a carrier before D was born; I had no idea the high-needs baby about to be delivered to me would make it a necessity rather than luxury to have some kind of device by which to keep her on me for the majority of the day. I have worn D in ring slings, pouch slings, Mei Teis (Asian Baby Carriers), and my personal favorite for toddlerhood - the Ergo.

TheBabywearer.Com offers a vast array of babywearing information. These articles say it all much better than I ever could!

* emphasis on whole foods (organic when possible)
I feel guilty even mentioning this because pregnancy triggers within me non-stop cravings for junk! and sugar! and junk! and comfort foods! and junk!

But in my normal, non-pregnant life, I try to make the healthiest cooking and eating choices available to me and my family. Last summer, The Coach and I went vegetarian for a while and really enjoyed the change. D is a born vegetarian (seriously, the only meat the child will eat is turkey lunch meat and corn dogs from Sonic *red-face*). We love to shop the local farmers' market and are thankful we don't live near enough to a Whole Foods Market to shop there because we manage to spend astronomical amounts of money on each visit to that holy mecca.

* shared sleep (co-sleeping)
EDITED - It wasn't until I went upstairs to lay down with D for a nap that I remembered that we also practice shared sleep!
We never intended to be co-sleepers, but again, it was one of those things that just sort of happened. Now I cannot wait for Little Sister to be here so we can snuggle a wee one between us in bed again. Big Sister sleeps in her crib full-time now (well, with the rare exception - like last night when a bad dream awakened her and her daddy said, "Just let her sleep with us . . ."), so I miss that snuggle time at night.

The Sears site has some great information (including VERY important safety tips) on co-sleeping.

* Attachment Parenting
One need not practice NFL in order to practice Attachment Parenting, but by and large, the same parents who are drawn to natural living also find they connect with the Attachment Parenting philosophy. I will not try to reinvent the wheel here on what AP is. A great deal of information is available at askdrsears.com including What Attachment Parenting Is and What It Is Not. Some time ago, I also shared how it came to be that Attachment Parenting chose me.

Natural Family Living Philosophies/Beliefs I Do Not Practice (or Why I Am Not One Hundred Percent Crunchy)

At this point in time, we believe we are led to send our children to public schools. There are many in the NFL community who choose to homeschool for a variety of reasons. The Coach and I feel a special call to have our children in public schools, but we are open to whatever God leads us to do at any given time for any of our children.

Also at this time, if we are blessed with a son, we will choose to have him circumcised. This is very unusual in the NFL community as a whole, but it is an issue about which The Coach holds strong feelings and I am at peace in following his leadership in this area.

D has been vaccinated on schedule. You will find many families who practice natural living choose not to vaccinate their children. After much discussion and thoughtful consideration, we feel vaccinating is a good choice for us at this time. The two of us are currently in negotiations over whether or not Little Sister will be vaxed on schedule. I would like to follow a delayed vax schedule, but that is not set in stone yet.

Finally, as I have recently talked about, I am choosing an elective repeat c-section for Little Sister's delivery. As much as I fully support and strongly believe in the beauty and power of a natural vaginal delivery, there are factors that complicate and muddy my situation that have turned what could be a black-and-white issue into a big gray area for me.


So there ya have it! A fairly concise picture of me straddling the fence between crunchy and mainstream. Thankfully I am not posting an actual picture of me straddling anything! My big ol' pregnant self does not need to be shown straddling anything at this moment in time.

That reminds me, I think I owe ya'll a belly shot . . . no fences. I promise.

Super! Cool! Contest!

Oh, friends. This is exciting!

First of all, thanks to AnnaLiza at Ventanahoos Candid, I have had the joy of discovering yet another amazing and super cool blog. And this blog mistress is having a very cool, very fun contest - but it ends Friday morning at 9 CST, so hurry, my friends! Hurry over Adventures in Babywearing to enter her giveaway to Mason & Matisse! Since we are having a little baby boom in my online community, I know I don't have to twist anyone's arm to browse the hip and chic collections Mason & Matisse carries . . . and while you are there, check out this toddler bedding! Rad, right?

But, so yeah - how I have not stumbled across Adventures in Babywearing before tonight?! Although I don't write about it nearly enough here, babywearing is a serious passion of mine. So looking forward to reading more from this cool mama. Ahhhhhh, yes. Babywearing. That reminds me. I've got some serious shopping to do . . .

This is just to say . . .

This is Just To Say
by William Carlos Williams
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

I don't know why, I just love that poem. Perhaps because I use the phrase "this is just to say" quite a bit in my thinking and writing. Who knows. Maybe it's because I love plums, too. Especially cold, sweet, and spoken-for ones fresh from the icebox. And they are about to go out of season. How do I know this? Because I just stumbled on the most amazing whole foods resource: The World's Healthiest Foods. I am all flushed with nerdy giddiness about this little gem. I could spend waaaaaaaaay too much time reading through the A-Z list there. Delish!

Fun babywearing moment from today --
I always have to pop D in the Ergo (we call it The Backpack around my house, although it most certainly COULD be worn as a front carrier, too; linkage in the We Love It list on the right!) to shop the farmers market because said market is set up at the far end of a very large parking lot and the aforementioned toddler has no qualms at all about taking off running through this parking lot, much to the horror of her mother. So the Ergo saves my life. Again. So anyway, today I was loading her up into the Ergo and I noticed an older woman (mid 60s-ish) getting out of the car next to me. I kind of braced myself anticipating a scolding for attempting such a dangerous maneuver with no help (it looks way more scary to others than it really is), but instead she just smiled and said, "I always wanted a papoose like that when mine where little. But back then, they didn't even have such a thing!"

And while technically mommies and daddies have been babywearing for thousands of years before the Ergo came on the market, these dedicated babywearers were mostly limited to blankets, sheets, and shawls. So hurray! for the luxuries of modern babywearing! And hurray! for words of confirmation from mature mamas in the parking lot!