The Ergo Lady Gets a Facelift!

I've been working on and off over the past few months on a facelift for The Ergo Lady. Then I had some nasty computer issues and nearly lost everything. I am slowly recovering. Tonight is the initial version of the renovated Ergo Lady website. The focus is more on information and more will be coming soon. All the information will be generic to most or all Structured Baby Carriers.

Feedback is welcome! Gorgeous Ergo Baby Carrier photos are also welcome!

Baby Carrier and Bra Fittings

The first time I got fitted for a bra, I thought the process was bizarre. Didn't you just measure in two places and grab a bra off the shelf? No, apparently. It's much more complex than that. The first time I had a bra fitted to me, there was lots of measuring and startlingly invasive poking and prodding. It was reminiscent of the book scene where Harry Potter gets his first wand; the size she originally calculated had little to do with what I wound up walking out wearing.

I was mortified to learn there was a proper way to place the girls in the bra! There is a whole technique to it to get optimal placement. Who knew? And yes, I can see it does make a difference under clothing.

It's funny that women take so much time with "the girls" and yet often so little consideration goes into choosing a baby carrier. It turns out that the process of getting a baby carrier to fit properly is both a process of trial and error to find one that works well for your specific body type, and a process of learning how best to use it; it might be necessary to reposition your baby within the baby carrier.

And if you aren't "feeling it", don't feel pressured to make a decision. It could just be a bad babywearing day where nothing feels quite right, or it could be that the choices you were able to try weren't appropriate. Real babies, unlike "the girls", get fussy so it might take more than one visit if everything doesn't line up just right. Before making a final decision, give a baby carrier at least 5 to 10 minutes to make sure it's still comfortable. It's a shame you don't get the same option with a bra!

Maya Wrap - The Real Story

Just in case you are getting in a panic having heard tidbits from various sources about a Maya Wrap Sling, please read the actual story. No one has been hurt. Testing is ongoing. More news will be available within a week.

Connecta Baby Carrier

I got a Connecta Baby Carrier today! Until very recently, these were absolutely not available in the USA. But now Hannah is able to send them over here so I got one of them for my very own!

I am going to be honest here. I am surprised. I loved it!

You know me by now; I am the structured baby carrier lover. And true, this can kinda sorta fall into that category. But I'm forever going on about how mei tais don't work for me. And the Connecta, like a mei tai, doesn't have any padding at the waist, so I assumed I'd run into the same issues.

But curiosity got the better of me.

Before I tell you more, I must say that the quality of this carrier is perfect. It just doesn't get any nicer. Ever seam detail is pleasing. The straps are made of nice nylon. It's very simple but very nice.

I had a quick scan of the instructions, which I don't normally do, but this was a bit different from what I'm used to and I wanted to get familiar with it. I noticed that it's suitable for newborns so I am going to have to take it to a babywearing meeting so I can see that in action. Luckily, the next meeting is in a few days so I won't have to wait long! I wish my camera charger could be found so I could take pictures - perhaps I will unearth it in time.

So anyway, my little one allowed me to do a back carry right off the bat, even though she is pretty much only into front carries these days. For a back carry, there is no need to cross the straps in front like you would with a Sutemi. There is an optional strap that you can use as a chest strap but I didn't need it. I really thought the shoulder straps would fall right off. I guess the baby's low center of gravity holds the straps down and back. Not sure. I have heard that some people use the Sutemi without crossing the straps and I never had the guts to try it but now I am going to have to give it a shot. I am about to loan most of my SSC stash to someone who's going to do an article but I keep finding reasons to hold off one more day before shipping them off. I guess the moral of that is that research is never done so I should just quit for now!

Later, I tried a front carry and it is a bit trickier to do than in an SSC with the straps already buckled. I didn't love that I was back to dragging on the ground. I always find that so icky and it's part of why I feel the SSC love so deeply. I suppose it's possible to close the buckles and put the child in from the top. I might give that a whirl at some point if my daughter will allow me any more attempts.

It took a bit of fiddling to get the buckles closed and tightening the straps seemed backwards; it would have been much easier to pull forward rather than backwards. But once I got it adjusted well, it was, well, super! I just don't get it. I didn't feel it dragging on my shoulders the way a mei tai does.

My husband tried it this evening and he wasn't feeling the love. It totally did not work on him. I tried a few adjustments but he just grumbled. I think he has found his love in the Ergo and now he is simply not willing to try anything that is at all uncomfortable. Not to say a baby carrier should be uncomfortable but for so many years, we both struggled along in varying degrees of pain and discomfort so once we both got the SSC bug and realized how good it could be, there didn't seem any point in ever suffering again. So if it's not 100% amazingly luxury comfortable, he just won't bother at all.

Baby Won't Be Put Down

Well I was just peeking at what search strings people use to come to my website and I noticed someone searched yahoo on "baby won't be put down". My website comes up first for that term. That is well-earned!

I write from the heart because babywearing is not just some passing fancy. My older daughter absolutely would not be put down. Nor passed to anyone else. She was my little girl and when other people wanted to hold her, I couldn't imagine what they were thinking; it was just not going to work so why bother torturing my baby? It absolutely amazed me that people didn't hear or respect that as they reached for her and she screamed and cringed. And it was a total shocker to me for a while that other babies could be passed around.

She was also a...um...rather plump little girl. She was around 27 pounds at a year and probably 35 by two and not overly tall. To put that in perspective, my second daughter finally hit 25 pounds sometime after her third birthday.

My older daughter also very likely had undignosed poor muscle tone. She carried like a sack of potatoes. She just didn't help out in any way at all. She went totally limp forced me to hold her up, even to the point of supporting her back. Just having her sit in my lap took a whole lot of energy. This is a photo I just found of her at around age three. You can see I am totally holding her up.

So yeah, when I have on my website that you might consider babywearing if you have a baby that won't be put down, I sure know where I'm coming from! Babywearing was a total life-saver for us.

I didn't really think my second daughter would want to be worn as much but in the end, I did wear her just as much until she retired. She got worn for some very different reasons. As a strong, fit, independent little person, she felt it her birthright to run off and got a real giggle out of being chased. Having seen that sort of behavior in others' kids, I was able to totally nip it in the bud. If we were going across a parking lot, I simply never let her walk. Ever. And if she was tired or hungry, into the carrier she went. She loved the snuggle time and instantly relaxed when I did this. Through babywearing, we were able to avoid a whole lot of dangerous running into traffic stage stuff.

Sadly, her independent streak won out and at around her third birthday, she retired from babywearing. Thankfully, she had enough sense by that age to walk along next to me or hop in the stroller. (Yes, we use strollers. True, mostly for groceries, but I am most definitely not anti-stroller.) She'll still let me use a new, never before seen baby carrier just one time, and if I wake her from a nap when we have to leave, she'll often allow me to pop her into a snuggly front carry, but other than that, she's just on my hip, in her stroller, or walking. When she first "retired" from babywearing, I could barely hold her with one arm; my muscle strength just wasn't there. But now I can carry her on my hip with one hand no problem! And it's all good; it's nice to get a bit of upper body strength back.

If you can't see, close your eyes!

Today I was buckling my daughter into her booster seat. It's so hard leaning in and trying to get that strap to buckle when you can't see what you're doing. I have learned to close my eyes. In fact, whenever I am trying to do something fiddly and I can't quite see, I close my eyes.

Lots of people can't get the chest strap of their soft structured baby carrier to close behind them when doing a front carry. Again, close your eyes and it will be so much easier.

I guess it's because with your eyes open, there is too much input and it's too distracting for the poor brain. Try it and tell me if it works!