Look Ma, No Hands

I have got to be the only woman for whom clean floors and happy children are mutually exclusive propositions. Driven to the brink of insanity today by the sheer volume of toys and toy bits on the living room floor, and by the crunching of various food stuffs underfoot, I got out the vacuum and hoped for the best. Luckily, Young C was still under the weather and taking a good afternoon nap at the same time as his baby sister. That’s how I managed to pick up 75% of the debris before said sister awoke. I knew my time was closing in then, so I plunked her in the playpen and made a mad sweep of the rest of the floor. She played happily until I started the vacuum, aka baby psyche torture device, at which time the crying began. I kept going, determined to at least finish a cursory course around the room, until the crying became so loud and heart-wrenching that no amount of ground-in Cheerio could keep me away. Now, rattled baby and messy floors and furniture pushed all akimbo, I needed a solution.

I wasn’t sure if it would work, but I got out the Moby Wrap and placed L’il I in it facing me for extra security — both emotional and physical. Sure enough, she felt so secure that she fell back asleep while I finished the last of the vacuuming and even proceeded to do a bit of dusting. (Hey. I know. The dusting should be first, but the floor was the priority today.) It was almost magical.

The Moby Wrap arrived on my doorstep almost three years ago now, a couple months after Young C was born. It was an unexpected surprise gift from across the continent. (Still thanking you LauraMac!) My intitial bafflement over the sheer length of jersey fabric that you need to wrap this way and that around your body was short lived. Really. After only a couple of times I had it down pat and was able to remember even faster this time around. The wrap feels and looks like a comfy shirt when it’s on and the baby is held firmly under three layers of soft and snug fabric. This keeps a newborn close to you and gives you a of couple free hands. That was very handy with my first baby and indispensable with my second.

I preferred it to a sling right away, too, because it holds the baby so much closer. It also spreads over both shoulders and your back to distribute the weight of the baby while a sling puts all the pressure on one shoulder. A sling is, however, much easier to get on and off. I offset that by just wearing the wrap all day and taking the baby in and out as need be. Still, that doesn’t allow for transferring baby and carrier from one person to another and it is damn hot in the summer.

I loved my Moby Wrap so much that I didn’t even bother getting a more supportive infant carrier for crosstown treks when Young C got a little older. By turning him to face out, I was comfortably able to take long walks and hop on public transit until he was nearly a year. At that point his weight did seem to pull a bit more, resulting in lots of kicks to my thighs while walking. (I have heard anecdotally, though, that the Moby Wrap’s fabric is thicker and more resilient than other makes of wrap, so beware.) Perhaps a more structured carrier is a better choice for an older baby, then, but Young C was already starting to walk at 11 months and I was much more inclined to use a stroller by that age anyway.

Note that I’ve never been able to master the breast-feeding hold featured in the companies instruction manual (nor have I tried that hard) and I’ve never bothered trying to use it to carry a child on my back since that requires another person. It folds/scrunches up to take anywhere easily, though, can double as a blanket in a pinch, and washes just like a t-shirt. It also always seems to be a talking point wherever I go. People are just amazed at how comfy baby looks in it. If you are going to get just one carrier, I recommend this (or something like it). Otherwise a sling for a newborn and then a more durable carrier is likely to work well into baby’s second year.