The Evolution of a Babywearer

So when I was pregnant with Annie, I saw the Snugli's and the Bjorns at Babies R Us. I'd recently gotten a hands-free device for my cell phone and when I saw those carriers, I thought, "A baby hands-free device is brilliant! I will so need one!' And I registered for a Snugli. I got the Snugli at a baby-shower.
The idea of a hands-free device for a baby is brilliant, but a Snugli not-so-much. It wasn't comfortable to wear and the material that was responsible for keeping the baby attached to the straps kept coming undone. It was fundamentally unsafe.

My pediatrician recommended the Dr. Sear's Baby Book as good reading on the care and raising of a newborn. Dr. Sears goes on at length about his NoJo baby sling. The sling seemed to make sense, so I got one of those. It worked so-so for awhile. Here's one of the few pictures of me wearing the NoJo, although there are loads of the Husband using it.

Then a distant relative noticed that I was trying to wear the baby and turned me on to babywearing and all the wonderful options that are available out there. I stumbled across both thebabywearer.com as well as NINO. She helped me find a mei tai of my very own. A mei tai is an Asian-style baby carrier. It has a peice of fabric to support the baby's body, and long straps to comfortably and safely tie the baby to the mama's body. Below is a picture of Annie and I at Merrifield Garden Center.

I got pregnant around the time this picture was taken. I used the mei tai for another six months, until Annie started to walk and my belly popped. Once Annie could walk, she wasn't interested in being carried until she'd perfected her new skill.

With the second baby on the way, I knew I wanted a better ring sling than the NoJo. I picked out an Ellaroo lightly padded ring sling in Lilac passion and my mother in law purchased it as Elizabeth's birth gift. I have lots of pictures of the Husband wearing it, but none of me. It's currently on loan at the moment. When it makes its way back to me, I'll post a picture of me wearing it.

During the same time that I acquired the Ellaroo ring sling, I was looking at a forum called The Baby Wearer. I was learning lots of information about babywearing and parenting in general. There are avid babywearers on this forum, and some people even develop collections of carriers, or at least keep an eye out for beautiful carriers. I think the carriers are nice, but nothing ever made me think, "OOOh I want that" until I saw a Sakura Bloom ring sling.

The Sakura Blooms are double-layer duponi silk. The color combinations are eye-catching and breath-taking. And the silk is so luxurious. I sighed over these for months, thinking I would never have one. My mother-in-law offered to make me a double layer silk ring sling for my birthday (can you tell that I have a great mother-in-law?) and I busied myself looking at fabric samples to choose a great color combination.

The Husband suprised me with my very own Sakura Bloom as a birthday present. I wear it everyday.

You would think getting one of the most lovely things you've ever seen would create contentment, yes?

Weelll, the summer is upon us, and we'll be at the pool and at the beach. Doesn't it make sense to have a carrier that's waterproof? I've ordered a solarveil ring sling and it's on it's way now...I'm sure there will be more to my evolution as a babywearer as I continue having kids.

Maybe one day I'll even wrap my kids up in a long peice of fabric.