Babywearing, again, after all these years

My second daughter was early (by my standards) to quit babywearing. She was just three.

I know many people think their babywearing careers are over at 6-9 months when the baby starts crawling and walking, but not so! Once they get over the driving need to be on the floor and master these skills, babies are right back up on your hip, and your babywearing career is back on target for years to come.

With my first daughter, it was me who ended the relationship. She was 4. I was hugely pregnant. She was huge. I just could not manage to pick up a 45 pound child any more. It was awful and if I could have, I would have. But I couldn't. I didn't know about back carries in those days. If I had it to do over again, she'd have been on my back right the way through because it's clearly what she needed. Now I know better.

My second daughter has always been an independent soul. I wasn't ready for her to stop because it's just easier to keep a child out of trouble if they are attached! She certainly challenged me as I chased her through stores if I couldn't get her to stay in the stroller.

She moved into her big sister's room recently. And with this move to further independence came some regressions. Specifically, she needs a lot more contact to make up for being away from me at night. When she wakes up in the morning, she wants to go into a "carrier". I only have a few left in my stash. I have a Beco Butterfly, a super old denim Ergo, and a Scootababy.

She prefers the Scootababy and Beco because they're pink. I still love the Ergo the most. I don't always get to say. It's almost worth getting myself the new pink Ergo. Almost, but not quite justifiable for just about 15 minutes babywearing in the morning.

She's going to be 5 soon, by the way.

If you know me on FaceBook, I've been posting horrible photos (horrible because my hair is a mess).

New Scootababy Coming Soon!

As far as I am concerned, the Scootababy is one of the best kept secrets of babywearing. I have waxed on about it before, and probably will again!

At last month's Babywearing Conference, Audra, the owner of Scootababy, had a booth across from mine with the newly redesigned offerings. I got a sneak peek the night before before anyone when I stopped by her room. Even though I was bleary-eyed from all day travel, the new design, barely visible in the dimly lit dorm room, woke me right up!

I loved the old design. It's super comfy and easy to use; anyone can figure this baby carrier out and everyone, even people who have never used a baby sling before, can relate to a hip carrier. But the all black denim didn't exactly appeal to my dressy side.

I was most excited to see the prints in person. I had of course seen photos but 2 inch swatches on my screen are not the same as full size and touching. The fabric is wonderful. And the details totally wowed me! There is piping that gives such a polished look. I am no designer so I never would have realized what a difference a detail like that could make.

Another feature that jumped out at me is the quilted lining. It looks and feels luxurious and, well, expensive!

Scootababy has managed to strike upon a lineup of prints that are not overly trendy and that have nearly universal appeal. Most are suitable for both men and women.

For those of you that aren't just interested in prettiness, there are some important design improvements. The most important ones are that the body of the carrier is higher and the seat has contoured. What this means is that it is easier to get the baby to sit more deeply in the body of the carrier (in other words, it is easier to get correct positioning). People complained that their baby was too long but Audra and I feel that in reality, the baby was probably not all the way in. I wore my four year old and never found the body too short. Read more Scootababy updates here.

Of course I took home a pink Scootababy for myself and have long since sold off my old black one.

Chicago Babywearing Conference 2008

Sneak Peek of New Ergo Baby Carrier design! This is behind the scenes during the fashion show. Total mayhem behind the scenes but up front, all went smoothly! There are two more photos coming up; another of the blue and one of the black. Gorgeous! Also, I heard tell of a pink! I am so excited! And all these new gorgeous Ergos are organic!
My booth - check out the new Oopa Baby slings! Most of these are as yet not even on any website! The slings on the left are EllaRoo. Yummy too! The mannequin is wearing the SoBeBabies exclusive Pretty in Pink Action Baby Carrier.
This is a total tease. Sorry, I didn't get a good photo of the new Scootababy. I guess we're all just meant to wait. Another peek of the Pretty in Pink Action Baby Carrier on the chair.
This was after the conference ended. Poor girl just fell asleep on the floor! But check out that gorgeous Oopa Baby skirt!
Ah, there it is! The gorgeous embroidered organic Ergo Baby Carrier. I've heard people complain that Ergo is un-hip. Not anymore! I can't wait to see how these will be received!
Detail of the New Organic Blue Ergo Baby Carrier with embroidery.
This is me one morning in my room. I must admit that after a few days, I switched to wearing the Ergo Baby Carrier exclusively. My little one is four and she just didn't walk anywhere. And having the Haiku Grab bag around my waist helped a lot; no extra strain on my shoulders. Normally, I use it as a shoulder bag but the Babywearing Conference was extreme babywearing for a suburb girl. Just the walk from the dorms to breakfast and then the conference pretty much did me in each day! Oh! Loving those shoes? They are indeed Doc Martins! They belonged to my older daughter and are one of the many reasons I just had to have another girl. Yup. I'll admit it. I was not over her gorgeous clothing and baby toys. Two girls was right for us. All that yummy pink girl energy! Love it!
This is a photo of the booth mostly set up. That was a lot of work!
This was the booth before setup got underway. My little angel was amazing! The most natural of shopkeeper's daughters! Amazing!
I hope I get this right! This is a sneak peek of a prototype buckle carrier by MotheringTao. It is called the Lotus, I believe. She also has a cross carrier in the works, and I believe that is called the Baby Zen. I do hope I am not messing up the names. This carrier was in the fashion show. What is so cool about it is it goes around the torso, covering the perhaps less than slim middle of the new mom. It's so much easier to put on than a traditional Asian torso carrier. I was able to do it without any advice or coaching; you can't go wrong! It can be worn front or back. There were still some kinks that needed to be worked out. When the conference DVDs come out, you can see it being modeled. This is a very interesting modern take on a traditional baby carrier.

A behind the scenes fashion show peek. I was modeling two carriers. This is a Lemon Balm Essentials german woven wrap. It was short for me (I'm tall) so I did a hip cross carry. Did I mention that my little one wound up napping every day? She hasn't napped in ages. So during the fashion show, I was actually changed. We did a rehearsal and then straight into the real thing. I did two changes and she stayed asleep until waking up on stage during my second walk. Thank goodness she didn't fuss! I can imagine that is a strange way to wake up. I am just so relieved; I'd been apprehensive about the fashion show for months because I just could not be sure I could count on her to allow me to wear her.