Baby Carrier Wrap

Materials needed - a 6 ft long cloth by 3-4 ft width - folded lengthwise twice - so it makes 4 layers of clothing.

 

Fold the cloth lengthwise once - cloth now measures 6 ft by 1.5-2 ft width. Stitch along the sides or all over in stripes. Stitching is not mandatory.

 

Fold the cloth again lengthwise - cloth now measures 6 ft by .75 - 1 ft wide. DO NOT STITCH the cloth. Find the center of the length and hold it around your waist - the center part on your stomach - with the open fold above - hence forming a pouch. That is where you put your baby's butt.

 

Take the two lengths of the cloth and criss cross it on your back and bring the ends on your shoulders and towards the front - as shown in the pic. The open folds towards your neck inwards.

 

Pick your baby, Put his / her butt in the open fold at your waist. Cover his / her butt upto the knees in the pouch kind of thing formed at your waist. Put both the baby legs towards your sides until he / she is comfortably sitting in the pouch.

Hold the baby there with one hand and pull and tighten both ends of the fabric until he / she is snug in the pouch. Take one end of the cloth (say on your right side) and put it across baby's back and butt. Take the cloth under the baby's opposite leg (on your left side) and around your waist to the back. Hold the cloth there tightly. At this point, you can let go of baby and hold the cloth at your back with one hand.

With the other hand, take the other end of the cloth and do the same on the other side (left side of cloth across baby's back and butt and under right leg of baby towards your back). Pull it as snug as you want. In the process, you can leave baby's hands in or out as shown in pics.





Tie both ends at the back or if you have a lot of cloth left - cross them behind your back and bring them to the front and tie the ends on your stomach or on the sides - entirely left to you.

There - you are ready to explore the world with both hands :) Also, dont forget to do a safety check on the baby in this position. Listen for baby's breathing, and dont tie the wrap too tight to suffocate either you or the baby.

Dont worry, it might be tough the first few times, but you will get it soon.

Baby Carrier Issues

From the past couple of weeks, I have been trying to find a better option for a baby sling / baby carrier. The one that I had was store bought and served the purpose well up until few months back.

Chhavi turned 1 yr and the sling which was initially just enough for her, started becoming smaller and since Chhavi grew taller and heavier, it was proving to be quite difficult to carry her in that one. As it is, it was a strain on my shoulders and neck, and now it was even worse. It was a cross-belt on my back. So the cross-belt was pinching on my neck everytime, bcoz of Chhavi's weight.

I decided to do some alterations on the sling and when I went to Mangalore to my parents house, I got my mom to attach some cloth to the sides and remove the cross belt and make it into a H shaped belt in the back. It served well for a short while and when Chhavi got bigger, the side seams seem to be strained too much and the H belt again started moving upper. Also now since the sling was bigger, Chhavi was able to move more in the space and she started jumping - which distracted me from riding my bike.

From the past few days, I was researching online on how to tie a baby wrap and found a lot of options or ways to do it. I was actually surprised that I dint do it earlier. I always thought that using a home made wrap would be tedious and not very safe and what not... the usual thoughts that a mom gets regd the safety of her baby. However, I decided to try it out once to see how it would feel and how tough it would be.

I was super surprised with the results. It almost took none of my time (2 mins or so). Was very comfortable on my neck and shoulders, gave Chhavi ample amount of moving space - yet kept her confined. And best of all, it was super super easy to do. Also, the best part is that you can carry a newborn to even as big a baby as 3 yrs. The most important development from this is that baby can sit in an ergonomic position, not putting any strain on his / her pelvic joints (as opposed to how a baby is carried in a store bought sling). Essentially baby sits in a frog like position.

Instructions to come soon - in next post - with photos.