Just in case you were wondering how I slept last night (and I know you are, you beautiful, considerate person you!) , the answer is: As well as you can with a tiny person strapped to your chest.
It’s been a rough couple days for little Miss Alice, and since my job title is “Chief Cuddler” I have been doing a bit of overtime.
Aside: When did the term change from “House Wife” to “Stay at Home Mom”? What does it say about the shift in the focus of a woman’s nurturing that our “job title” is no longer based off a husband, but rather our kids?
I don’t know what is going on with Alice, but I am starting to remember how trying the next couple months can be. Is it teeth? Does her belly hurt? Why won’t she eat? Is it something I ate? Why won’t she sleep? Is she sleeping too much? Did Ella give a concussion?? Wake her up! Why is she crabby? Is it her teeth?
So, that’s where I’ve been. Alice has been strapped to my chest, and screams when I dare sit down, so I’ve been trying to be productive down in my craft dungeon. I’m working on a few birthday gifts for a friends little girl, a baby gift for another friend, and then some random little things like always. But hey, I sold something on Etsy! Sure, I just set the shop up to make something for Sara (Thanks Sara!) but it’s got me thinking of actually doing something with this crack craft habit. Ignore the craptastic banner, it’s what I could come up with in the 15 minutes I had my arms free to use Tom’s computer (and thus, Photoshop. We can’t find the disk to reload it on my computer. Waaaaaaa.) It’s actually a banner I appliquéd the bear/cricket on, and will eventually finish and stitch the name into. Ella is my Bear, and Alice is my Cricket, and I am the big sap between them.
Duty calls.
We are a babywearing family. A lot like cosleeping, cloth diapering, natural birth, etc, babywearing was just something we fell into without realizing it was seen as the “Hippie” way of parenting. While I do not think we are perfect parents by any stretch of the imagination, I am proud that we have followed our gut on these things, often in a state of ignorance. They felt right to us, and while a lot of research and reading often came before I could stop second guessing myself, the initial choice to wear our kids came from the simple question of “What would I want if I were her?” I would want to be close, I would want to be warm, I would want to feel involved. So, we wore Ella nearly constantly as an infant,
Heck, I even wore her with I was 40 weeks pregnant.
So it’s no surprise that our sling is indispensable with Alice. When family came over for Ella’s 2nd birthday, not 24 hours after Alice was born, I popped her into a sling and set about slicing cake and refilling water glasses. I really have no idea how parents of toddlers handle a newborn without a sling - Ella and I can play trains, read books, go for walks, and dance, all while Alice is eating, sleeping, or just hanging out, content and excited to be part of the action.
If I had to sit down every time Alice wanted to eat or cuddle, I would do nothing BUT sit. Which, uh, doesn’t work with toddlers. Alice is always in the sling when I am folding laundry or sewing, and (miracle of miracles) I actually have two hands to do these things. I really have no clue how parents do it without a sling.
For the most part, all of our slings are second hand, or homemade. I have had great luck at thrift stores and resale shops, and until recently, never paid more than $10 for a sling. We are fans of pouch slings, but have tried just about every type of sling. (Including these beautiful slings that my friend Sarita makes. Sososo beautiful.) Truth is, I’m a klutz, and if there is a belt or buckle to forget to do or to adjust wrong, I probably will. With a pouch it’s just slip on and go, which I love. I don’t have a favorite sling brand, and have found that most pouch slings are interchangeable as far as pattern (though workmanship does vary). I’ve made a number of slings from this pattern, and also made a few based on tracing around another sling I like and then making my own pattern. There are tons of patterns here, and if you know how to use a sewing machine, this is one of the simplest baby products you can make (and so so so much more useful than most.)
Our go-to sling with a newborn has always been a New Native I found at Goodwill for $3. I’m a small person, so I need a small sling to bring a newborn up high enough to nurse, and this sling is perfect for this stage. With some creative clothing choice, I can easily nurse in public with this sling and never be noticed. Like in this picture:
And since all newborns do it eat, it’s a good idea to have a sling you are comfortable nursing in.
Once they get a bit more head control and we have the hang of nursing, I like to use a nameless stripy sling that was way way to big when I bought it at Other Mothers, but that I zipped through my serger and fits like a S/M now.
I also recently bought a Gorgeousbaby sling from Firemom, and have been wearing it everywhere and getting so many compliments from people. It’s beautiful, fits great, and may bump the stripy sling back to the closet.
With Ella, once she got heavier, we liked another thrift store find, a Hip Hugger. Tom really prefers this sling, and asked the other day when we can use this sling again (it’s the denim one he is wearing above). It’s washed and waiting, but is really best for the 6+ month crowd.
And really, I wrote this entire post (over the course of two days, sorry if it’s choppy), so that I could post this picture of Ella. After hanging out in the new sling while I did dishes and sorted diaper laundry, she begged for a sling of her own. I tied a piece of fabric together, and Ella wore her baby around, dancing with her, patting her back, and talking to her the way I did when Ella was tiny, and like I do with Alice now. Babywearing isn’t for everyone, but for us, wearing our babies is just another way to show them our love. It’s good to see that it is sinking in.
