Top Uses for Carriers with a Newborn

I purchased quite a few carriers prior to our son being born, not knowing what I would prefer using and what would work best for us. Most are 100% washable, so I picked most up used, gave them a wash and had them ready for when he was born.

Before deciding on any carrier, consider what you'll use it for most, and consider buying more than one.

Convincing your baby to have a long nap which doesn't constrain you to the couch

Your newborn will love snuggling up to you, and you'll enjoy it too, but you'll enjoy it even more if you feel like you can walk around or at least have your arms free.

In particular, stretchy wraps such as the Boba and Moby are awesome for cuddling up with a newborn, especially in winter. Additionally, stretchy wraps are a lot like swaddles, and can help your baby fall asleep. I haven't yet mastered the art of putting baby to sleep as soon as he's tired, and often have to sway, shhh, bounce, etc to get him to sleep, and the stretchy wrap is perfect for that. He often fights it when first put in, but within minutes of walking around in circles, he's out and can sleep for hours, even well beyond his next feeding time if I'm not paying attention.

Soothing your newborn while out on the go

My baby doesn't always take to the carseat well, and can go from asleep to crying in about 3 seconds. As a result, I keep a lightweight easy carrier in my diaper bag at all times. A couple of good options for this are a one-layered simple ring sling (less padding and fabric means it takes up less space) and mei tais without too much extra padding. I currently keep the Sakura Bloom Classic in my diaper bag but am keeping my eyes out for a mei tai I like.

Wearing your baby for long periods of time, even while awake

As your baby spends more time awake and wants to see more and move around more, you'll want to find a carrier that is extremely comfortable for the both of you, so he learns to enjoy being in it when awake and also so you can wear it for long periods of time without injuring your back.

I've found that for longer period of time, soft structured carriers (SSCs) are very comfortable. Also, my baby prefers being in an SSC while awake compared to a wrap as he's more free to move around and not as stuck to me. A few examples of these are the Ergobaby, Lillebaby Carriers, Beco Gemini, Tula Baby Carrier.

Our First Winter Walk in the Stroller

February 2015 was apparently the coldest February on record for 115 years. So naturally I've been terrified to take our son outside until the past two weeks where we've seen "warm weather" of -10 Celsius.

It was -2 Celsius midday yesterday, and I finally took him for a long walk, of about 30 minutes each way in the stroller instead of wearing him. So wonderful for my back! I still haven't mastered the keeping him warm but not too warm. On the way there, his little fingers got a bit cold because I tucked them into his snowsuit but didn't put the mitts on properly, and on the way back, I think he overheated as I added an extra blanket.

WARNING: The following is definitely too many layers for -2C, as he was unhappy when I got home and his back was slightly red and splotchy which I assume was heat rash!

Here's what overdoing it looks like!

A few too many layers for a sunny -2C winter day?

The breakdown of how I layered him up:

• Cotton sleeper
• Fleece snow suit and little mitts
  

  

  Mommy, why are you putting so many layers on me?

• Fleece blanket
• 7 A.M. Blanket 212 evolution on its smallest size
  
  
• Put the Uppababy Cruz stroller cover up to block the wind and the sun

I suppose if I really wanted to overdo it I could have put the raincover on the stroller too, thankfully I didn't!

The Summer Infant WrapSack

You may have seen my post on Newborn Swaddles, in which I compare all of the swaddles I tried on my newborn. Well, now that my son has outgrown all of our swaddles, I was able to go out and purchase any swaddle of my liking!

After quite a bit of research, I settled on the Summer Infant WrapSack. It's as easy to use as the SwaddleMe, but doesn't constrain his legs, and has a zipper for easy nighttime diaper changes (of course, at 9 weeks, we now finally rarely need to change his diaper at night!)

It's a bit wide, as we purchased the size Large which is designed for babies 14lbs+ and Wyatt is just under 11lbs. However, after a wash and a trip to the dryer, its actually not much wider than the HALO newborn swaddle we've been using up until now, and we're still able to tie him tightly enough in it for it to be safe. Here he is peacefully sleeping with one arm out.

Summer Infant WrapSack

We never really needed to constrain his legs, so I think we would have loved this swaddle in a size small when he was born, assuming that the size would fit as nicely as the SwaddleMe.