it’s international babywearing week and while i no longer have a baby to wear around – don’t even get me started – i thought i would still share some info and experience from our almost 2 years of babywearing.

my two favorite photos from our babywearing days speak for themselves as to why i loved toting darla around

i can still connect myself to the feeling of carrying her, snuggled up next to me, for so many months. i’m hoping i’ll be able to tap into that as the years go on, as time turns me into an old lady.

we used the maya wrap ring sling most of her first year and our ergo thereafter until it was stolen. you can tell how wounded i am about this incident by the number of times i’ve brought it up on here.

i found wearing darla to be so much easier than dealing with a stroller. this may be because we were dealing with mostly cityscapes i.e. cracked and crowded sidewalks, tight spaced restaurants and stores, mass transportation. don’t misunderstand, we relied on both but it was so nice to have a comfortable alternative.

the Maya Wrap Baby Sling aided my breastfeeding relationship as well. darla was close to breast and i didn’t have to worry about carrying around a separate nursing cloth to cover up. the wrap has ample fabric at the end that could easily be pulled over to cover any exposure.

one of my favorite accomplishments with the sling was laundry time. yes, i know. lamesville. but when mike is out to sea chores fall solely on momma. laundry posed the biggest problem in our 7 floor building. i tried all combinations of shoving laundry in various places in the stroller and wheeling it all down, none of it working out very well. that is until it donned on me to just wear darla down and i could carry everything just as i had before. our laundry bag even had enough slack in the pull tie that i could hang it over the opened laundry door to transfer clothes. once a woman who had been in and out of the laundry room at the same time as i came over and commented that she was marveled by my system, that i seemed to be more efficient than she was and i had another human strapped to me to boot.

in short, babywearing helped me tackle the tasks that can sometimes seem so daunting when you have a little one. especially during times when kiddos are feeling under the weather but chores and errands still have to be accomplished.

once darla was older we switched to the ERGObaby Baby Carrier because it seemed a little more comfortable with her new, larger frame. we attended a 3 day music festival when darla was 16 mos old and she spent hours on end nestled on my back or front, napping, eating, enjoying the music while we danced together.

aaaand when i look back through our pics of babywearing days i notice that it oftentimes left my hands free for holding a nice frosty beverage. soooo, there’s that benefit.

i guess it’s time to wrap it up now that i’ve gone and opened up the drinking and momming can-o’-worms but i just want to express how much i love babywearing. i think it offers families the opportunity to bring their little ones along in their lives in a more involved way. baby is close and a part of the action. i know there are trips, ball games, concerts, parties and many various other activities we wouldn’t have been able to enjoy without that option. i’ve also done my fair share of babywearing while nannying. there are many benefits to being able to chase after kiddo number one while kiddo number two rides along for the chase.

if you’re interested in babywearing shop around. collect your info. all carriers are different. if something doesn’t work, try something else. lots of shops let you try carriers on in store so you can find which one is most comfortable for you.