Recently, a rule that should not be broken was most definitely broken in a big and not okay way. Ever since the Baby Bjorn popularized facing out, people have come to assume this is the normal way of carrying babies.
Any good baby carrier will simply help you carry your baby in a way you'd hold them. Very few people walk around while holding their baby facing out. I know what some of you are thinking. You think your baby just has to face out. There is a time and place for facing out and I maintain that the time that is sitting on your lap. It is simply awkward to hold a baby with your hands in the facing out position, and therefore, it is not natural to walk around with a baby facing out for extended periods of time.
So when a popular magazine recently put up a photo of a baby facing out in a Beco Butterfly, they misrepresented the product. I can appreciate why they did this but it is a real shame that they did not take the time to read the instructions. This unfortunate incident means that even more people are going to demand this position and use baby carriers, like the Beco Butterfly, incorrectly. That is a shame.
Now for rules that can be bent. The video instructions explain how to use the Beco Butterfly. Unlike other buckle carriers, the baby is put in the Butterfly and then you put the Butterfly on (front or back). Many people, myself included, find this method awkward. I have come up with an alternative that might prove easier. So here it goes.
- Put your Beco Butterfly on your front (even if you are planning to do a back carry) and close the chest strap behind you
- Adjust the waist, shoulder straps and chest straps for comfort
- Adjust the length of the straps for where the baby will go; there is a separate pouch area where your baby must fit. Eyeball it.
- Unbuckle the straps that you just adjusted - the ones that set the distance for where baby will go
- Get your baby
- Lift baby higher on your chest and to one side and slide one leg into one side of the carrier
- Shift baby to your other shoulder and put her other leg in
- Be sure to guide baby's feet from the bottom to the correct leg openings (use a mirror and/or partner as you are learning)
- Ease Baby down and pull up on the body of the carrier until baby is deeply seated
- Buckle the two straps that hold baby's little pouch area and adjust if necessary so baby is secure
- For a front carry, you're done!
- For a back carry, open the chest strap behind you
- Hip scoot baby and carrier around to your back, being sure to bend at the waist as you get your baby on your back
- Put the shoulder strap on first on the side you scooted baby around
- Put on other shoulder strap
- Close the chest strap
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