When my first son was born, I knew that I wanted to start wearing him in a baby sling as soon as I could. I had read a great deal about babywearing, and at my baby shower I was lucky enough to receive not just one but two baby slings. Before Dylan was born, I read the instructions that came with each of the slings, and they both stated that they were designed for babies weighing eight pounds and up.
When Dylan was born, he weighed under seven pounds. It seemed as though I would not be able to use the baby slings for a while. I did not do much research or look for another sling or carrier to use as I waited for him to grow into the slings. Eventually he reached eight pounds, and I started using the baby slings all day every day. Dylan loved being in his sling, and I loved wearing him. To this day we both share stories of the fun things that we did while he was a baby, while he was sitting in his baby sling. We took walks, we had our own booth at the Farmers’ market, and we went on all kinds of wonderful adventures.
As soon as Iearned that we were expecting another baby, I started looking for information about how to wear a baby as a newborn. Since I would be caring for Dylan and his little sibling, I knew that I needed some type of carrier that I could use as soon as the baby was born. After doing a lot of research, I decided that I would use an Ergo carrier with an infant insert that is designed to enable safe babywearing as soon as a baby is born. Even though I had a C – Section, I was able to start using the Ergo within a few days of Blake’s birth. I wore him all of the time, and I think that being able to wear Blake helped him to feel included in all of the things that I did each day with Dylan. Once Blake discovered crawling, and especially now that he is walking, he wants to be worn less because he is busy exploring.
If you are pregnant and wondering about wearing your baby after he is born, I would highly recommend learning all that you can about choosing a baby carrier that will fit your body and your lifestyle. Babywearing is not only good for babies, it is good for parents too. I will always treasure memories of wearing Dylan and Blake close to me when they were babies.