If you love 'em then you better put a sling on 'em.

Even more than diapering my baby, I'm excited about wearing my baby! I've read lots of things that talk about the benefits of babywearing and I do believe it will help with breastfeeding and bonding and all that but I didn't really need a list of reasons why I should do it. It just sounds smart. I want my baby close by and I still want to be able to get stuff done. Baby wearing allows that. What's not to like?

But again, how to do it? There are pouches and wraps, ring slings and mei teis. They can be made of knit, cotton, linen, silk. Do I want a name brand or do I want to support a WAHM? Now I'm glad that there are so many options out there that there should be able to find something that works for anyone that wants to give it a try but it can be overwhelming.

I was given a pouch which I think will work well later when Nigel has head support but supposedly quite a few newborns only like to be worn upright so it is important to have a sling that can support their head initially. Ring slings and wraps are the best at this. For a long time I thought I wanted to go with the a wrap like the Storchenwiege Wrap but after talking to a couple babywearing mama's I decided to go with a ring sling instead. They didn't seem like they would be as versatile but I watched a couple youtube videos from Sakura Bloom and you can do a lot more with them than I thought without having to deal with the complicated methods of the wrap. Plus they are supposed to be great for nursing since the tail can be used as a cover-up.

We actually went to a great consignment sale last weekend where I found a Maya wrap for $10! (Don't let the name fool you, a Maya Wrap is really a ring sling not a wrap). They normally retail for $65 and I don't think this one was ever used, it even came with the still shrink-wrapped instructional dvd. It's one of the striped fabrics so it definitely looks a bit more "granola" that the others but it was such a steal and I think it will be great for around the house baby wearing.

I still want a Sakura Bloom sling. Sakura Bloom slings are like the BMW of babywearing devices and I love love love their linen kiwi sling. They just look so stylish and I think I would be more comfortable using something like that when I'm out and about and want the convenience of a sling but don't want to look like I should be wearing Birkenstocks - like when I'm attending church, MOPS, a wedding, etc.

I still like the idea of a wrap, though, for the newborn period. I've heard wonderful things about the moby. It's made of jersey so it's super soft. That same softness means it isn't so comfortable after the baby has gained a few months of poundage though so it won't have the same longevity as a ring sling, but for those first few months, it can't be beat. Since I'm spending more on the ring sling, I think I'll have to pass on the moby unless I can find a good deal on ebay or a fabric sale so I can make my own. Making your own is easy and not really that expensive if you consider that you get two or three wraps from just 6 yards of fabric but since it is cut lengthwise, even if you only want one wrap, you still have to buy 6 yards. I guess I need to find two other moms around here to go in with me and then it would be easy to make them for less than $10 each.

Now in theory, kiwi is a man-safe color so Craig could use the ring sling, but I'm not sure how comfortable he will be in it. Once we hit 3-4 months, I'm planning on getting an Ergo too for him and times when we want to hiking or go on longer expeditions to museums, the zoo, etc. New they are $115 but there are normally lots on Ebay so I'm pretty confident I can get one for much less than that ($60 seems to be the going rate).

Now I know that occasionally we might want a stroller too but we aren't planning on using it much so we didn't want to spend a lot. And strollers are expensive. That is actually the main reason we went to the consignment sale I mentioned before. We volunteered to work for a few hours so we could attend the pre-sale and were able to snag this great Peg Perego Stroller for only $40. At 10lbs it's lightweight and easy to collapse but more substantial than an umbrella stroller and it leans back for younger/sleeping babies.

Even if we end up getting all the slings I mentioned (maya, sakura, and ergo) and the stroller, we will only be spending about $200 on baby transportation which is probably what we would have spent on a new stroller if we weren't planning on doing so much baby wearing but we'll have quite a bit of flexibility.

If you made it to the end of this super long post, here is a little reward. It's a video made for a competition Sakura Bloom had. Just try and watch it without smiling.