On Babywearing

Some people hate that term others don’t care what it’s called.  I am in the “I don’t care call it what ever you want” camp.  And while I am not a hard core baby wearer who would never be caught dead pushing a stroller but I see some great advantages to using these carriers.

I own a SSC (Soft Structured Carrier); Mia Thai, an ABC (Asian Baby Carrier); a wrap and two different types of slings (a ring sling and a pouch sling).  My favorite is my SSC, but when my little one was a new born I loved my wrap.  As he got bigger my preexisting shoulder pain became a problem and that’s why the SSC is now my favorite.  If not for that I would have stayed with the wrap forever, I’m sure.  :) 

Strollers have great features now a days, cup holders, snap and go car seat adapters, storage baskets, places for a second child to stand or sit, and I love my stroller for days when I need a place for all my stuff.  LOL Sometimes it’s great to walk though the mall with my drink in the cup holder my sons drink in his cup holder my diaper bag hanging off the side of the stroller and my purchases stuffed under.  But some places I love my carrier are:

A crowded theme park.  I have done both a stroller and a carrier.  In a stroller my son would get fussy around nap time and want to be held and nursed.  Nothings wrong with that but it’s hard to find a great place to stop when you’re in a crowd.  Not to mention trying to maneuver the thing around people who can see you and don’t care enough to let you by.  In my carrier he wants to nurse too when he gets tired and I had no trouble at all moving around to find a place to sit down and nurse.  Often times if my son is in his carrier he doesn’t even need to nurse to get to sleep and will just fall asleep on my back and when he wakes up is ready to nurse. 

At the aquarium one time, I brought my pouch sling and my stroller.  I started with him in the stroller and he was not interested in any of the exhibits, even though he had been before with daddy (and no stroller) and loved them.  Once I put him in the sling he became very animated and was pointing and “talking” about everything, I realized something then.  The stroller made him lower and he couldn’t see as well as when he had been up in daddy’s arms.  Once he was up a nearly my eye level he could see. 

Nature preserves.   Unless you have a heavy duty big wheeled stroller the dirt and/or uneven paths are going to be tricky to navigate.  Same goes for hiking on or off trails.

When walking the dogs. Have you ever tried to hold two leashes and a baby stroller at the same time?  Not fun.  And if you get a hook and hook the leashes on the stroller like I did, I had a hard time keeping the stroller going straight (because the dogs are always going in a different direction) and also keeping the stroller from bumping into the dogs.  

At the mall.  Yeah I know I said I like the stroller at the mall but I like the carrier at the mall too.  :)  When I’m not planning on buying much and when I do plan to let the little man play in the play area I love my carrier.  I don’t have to worry about finding an elevator to go to the other floors, and I don’t have to worry about leaving my stroller outside the play area to be messed with or stolen.  And if it’s crowded it’s much easier to get around with out the stroller.

There are many other times and places I prefer my carrier to my stroller, but now I want to hear form you.  Where are your favorite places to use your carrier?