Babywearing Then and Now

In light of the recent sling recalls, I thought it would be fitting to do a post on babywearing. The slings that have been recalled are sold at Target around here. They are what is called a bag sling. You put the baby in the bag part, velcro him in, and he bumps around down by your waist. I had one with Caleb, and I'm not even sure how someone could manage to use one; they are horrible. The other mainstream type of carrier is a Snugli or a Baby Bjorn. These are not much better because they leave the baby hanging by his crotch, putting stress on the spine.

There are several different types of carriers that are much better for mom and baby. One good rule when wearing baby on the front it "close enough to kiss." The baby should be high enough up on your chest that you can easily kiss him. This greatly reduces the risk of suffocation like what happened in the above recalls. Unfortunately, the better type if carriers are mainly available online or from specialty shops. I have several baby carriers that I use at different times (and I might have ordered one on clearance this week).

Here's one of my favorite types of carriers, a mei tai. I may or may not have three of them. These are better for baby than Snugli type carriers because they position baby in a sitting position, not hanging from the crotch.

Alexa in May of 2008 at 10.5 months.
And here she is in the same carrier yesterday.
My other two mei tais.


Here's a pouch sling.

I also use a ring sling at times, but I can't seem to find any pictures of one of mine. Here is a stock photo of one.