Babywearing is not a new concept for us – I first read about it in The Baby Book by the Sears and while Mum had purchased a carrier for us, Eva was then still too big for it. Still, I was tempted to try it out because of the benefits and one major thing – babywearing allows the user to be more independent and hands-free.

Since arriving in Singapore, we’ve made strides in terms of babywearing our little one. We moved from the carrier Mum bought us – it didn’t fit Nil all that while – to a Baby Bjorn Air which is excellent for him (and me as well honestly). But I wanted something that was a little more breastfeeding-friendly as the Bjorn is only for carrier. In order to breastfeed Eva, I’d have to remove her from the carrier and so forth. I remembered reading up on ring slings – it was one of those carriers that came recommended by the Sears – and decided to get a preloved one just to try it out. New ones can be quite costly and initially I was tempted to make my own but I chanced upon a Singaporean who was selling hers for an affordable price so why not?

This is a Moms In Mind ring sling made of cotton sateen and while it’s great for portability and nursing, I still find the material less airy that I had anticipated. It’s great if we’re heading to somewhere cool like the mall or am using public transport but if it’s for the great outdoors, this fabric is still not quite there yet. I might play around with linen for my own DIY ring sling (and if possible, make one for a gift for a friend who’s expecting). I think baby carriers like this, the mei tais and pouch make excellent baby gifts!

That aside, Eva doesn’t mind being in it at all. She did find it bizarre in the beginning – all this lilac fabric around her nose but after a few minutes of me walking around the house with her in it, she settled in by falling asleep and almost instantly too. I, on the hand, need to practice getting the hang on threading the fabric, tightening it and so forth. You could say that I’m paranoid about maintaining the safety standards for ring slings (things like baby’s chin should not touch their chest, etc, etc) so I’m always checking to see if Eva is still okay. Otherwise, to be honest, I prefer the ring sling over the Bjorn, namely because I can always breastfeed her and well, it’s comfy too. That and the fact that the sling doesn’t give her away whereas the Bjorn, well, her face and limbs are exposed AND people here can be quite nosy at times.

Perhaps I’ll change my tune when she’s older AND heavier!

Since we adopted babywearing – yes, Nil and myself although I’ve worn her more often than he has – we, or rather I, notice a change in Eva’s behaviour. She fusses and cries less, and is more secure as the days goes by. Sometimes she surprises me by choosing to doze off in her crib without having to fall asleep on my chest (in the burp position) first. She is also more “patient”, allowing me some precious few minutes to prepare things like her bath, run off to the toilet and stuff before feeding. I guess she knows that I’m not exactly going to run out on her any time soon but that could just be me.

I’m actually thinking of wearing her when I do my housechores but will put that on hold until she can hold her head up on her own. Probably in another month’s time…or two. We’ll see how it goes. In the meantime, if you have yet to try babywearing with your little one, I suggest you give it a go. It does wonders…especially if you have a “high demand” baby.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 at 6:02 pm and is filed under Parenthood. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.