"I'll never do that!"

Before I had Sophie, I began following a lot of different blogs and companies on Facebook that were about cloth diapers.  Several of these sites also discuss and put out articles on other topics, such as nursing or baby slings.  I would read the ones that caught my eye, such as one that was about parents who "wear" their babies.  "Wearing" your baby is just having them in some type of sling, leaving your arms free for you to move about.  When most people do this, it's when they go out as it makes it easier than pushing a stroller around.  I read one article several months ago that discussed parents, especially moms, who would wear their babies at home doing housework or whatever else they wanted.  In reading this article, I honestly said to myself, "That's crazy!  You're at home, people!  Put your baby down somewhere so that you can do what you need to do.  I'll never do that!" 

Some of you may have already realized the ignorance in my initial thought on this. I obviously didn't realize how much I would be holding my baby.  Once Sophie was born, I began holding her much more often than I ever thought I would.  This is how she was happiest.  I could put her in her bouncer, but that would only last for a little bit.  I could put her in her swing, but she would easily fall asleep in it when she was a few weeks old and we were wanting to control her sleeping to help her sleep at night.  The floor would work well, but also only for a short time.  This is how we played with her so just leaving her lying there also seemed a little wrong, like we were ignoring her or something since she couldn't play on her own quite yet.  This left me with 2 choices: hold her or listen to her endless crying.  Since I can't deal with her crying for very long, the option I began to do was to hold her.  I would carry her around with me as I would attempt to do laundry, put dishes in and out of the dishwasher, tidy up our apartment, etc.  There were times, too, that she didn't want to take a nap so we would opt to hold her as she napped.  This of course left me with no way to do anything as I had to sit there and hold her. 

Finally, one day I decided to try something different.  I had bought a Moby Wrap from a woman on CraigsList that I planned on using on outings from time to time.  This wrap had several different positions to carry your baby on you whether they were newborn, infant, toddler, twins, asleep, awake, etc.  I remembered the article about wearing your baby around at home I had thought was crazy before and thought I'd try it.  I was desperate to be able to do what I needed to around the house and my back was killing me trying it my way!  All it took was one time to realize that this was one of my best ideas yet (even though it technically wasn't "my" idea)! I completely understood what the deal was about it.  I was able to have Sophie on me, but also with 2 free hands to clean, do dishes, vacuum, do laundry, whatever I needed to do!  (I don't wear her to cook though because I am afraid that she would get popped with something or knock something over onto her.  I'd rather hear her cry than this happen!) 

This worked great when she was still just a few weeks and months old.  I don't really do it now at home, only on outings that I feel a stroller would hinder our activities or be in the way.  I have worn her while we both took naps, worn her on walks, worn her to do chores here at home, and even wore her to the gun show a few weeks ago.  It's easy and comfortable for me, and she likes to be up high to see everything going on.  It's a win-win for us!  I have now learned my lesson: don't knock something until you're in a situation similar and tried it.  It just might be the thing you've been needing to do.

Wearing Sophie while she napped at home.

Wearing Sophie at the gun show.