fauxby wrap

Although Little Sweety is the best sleeper there ever was (8pm to 8am, baby!) she is a little needy in the loving touch department. Mothers of preteens are rolling their eyes, "Oh, your daughter likes to be hugged and snuggled. That's soooo annoying." While I love holding the Munchkin, one-handed typing, eating, and bacon frying gets a little old. ;) Plus I don't have the strongest upper body. So I am all about the baby carriers.

We have several, actually. The first one was actually mine when I was a baby! It's a Snuggli, and it's dark denim, which is nice cause it's not out of style. (Can you imagine if it was a pattern from the 80s? Hello teddy bears with balloons.) Plus it's about as manly of a front carrier as you're gonna find, so Zach doesn't really mind wearing it. It's not terribly comfortable, though, and there's not a lot of head support for her.

 That's me as a baby! When Jaina was little we would put her all the way inside.

Studly. Apparently it worked as a back carrier too! We'll have to try that sometime.

The second one is a sling I made out of this super fun batik print. It was perfect for when she was first born cause she just snuggled right in horizontally. I used this tutorial, and I think it only took an hour or so. Definitely worth it. I wish I had pics of her as a teeny baby all comfy in her sling. It was great for going out in public cause no one's gonna touch your baby when she's right at boob level.

This website sells some pretty cool slings. 

They also have very helpful instructions on how to wear them at each stage.

She looks really intense about carrying that baby.

Little Miss Fancyboots is quite the model. 
Just started wearing Jaina like that. She loves it cause she can look around.

 THEN I saw a pattern for a Moby wrap. I know, I so did not need any more baby carriers, but I'm so glad I made this one cause it's like wearing a bearhug. Leanne Barlow had the tutorial on her blog, Elle Apparel. Really, it's just five yards of stretchy knit fabric tapered off at each end and finished on the edges. Again, it took just an hour or so and is completely worth it.

 I used a 2-way stretch knit, but 4-way would have been much better. 

I'm thinking of making another one in gray for Zach to wear. 

He totally agrees that it's the comfiest way to carry Sweet Pea, 

but he's not enthused with the hot pink.

The real Moby Wraps are $48, but this probably cost me $12. I call it my Fauxby Wrap. And all of the instructions for the different ways to wear it are online!

 

 When I'm sitting it looks like I just stuck a baby in my shirt. 

I love how I can tuck her little head in when she's napping.

(Picture courtesy of Lisa Watson)

 Goin' for a walk. When she's forward facing (which I don't do very often) 

it looks like a creepy wrestling singlet.

She loves watching everything though. (Check out those eyebrows. I love it.)

My friend, Laura, lives in Thailand, and she just made a video for me of how she ties her kiddos on her back. Her nanny is from a Lisu village and that's how they wear their babies. I wanna get some fabric from Joann's tomorrow and try it out. Check back soon for pics! Or maybe we'll even get real fancy with videos.