WFMW: babywearing

The mei-tai we made is about the third or fourth step in our adventures in babywearing. It started with a sling, and went on from there.

Anyway, I've found more and more often that the answer to many homemaking dilemmas can be found when you answer your question with another question. That other question being: "How did women accomplish it in the eighteenth century?" Or, as an missionary kid, I more often ask, "How do women do it in third-world countries?"

With babywearing, the original question was, "How do I get anything done when I have a kid who just wants to be held?" After asking how women have always done it, I came up with the answer: You strap the kid on, and keep going. There's gazillions of ways of wearing babies, starting with just tying them on with a shawl, and getting more complicated from there. My favorites have been: ring sling for little babies, REI-style backpacks for long walks, and a mei-tai (the Korean baby-carrier in the above link) for around the house, once kids are too big for slings. (btw, check out some of the many babywearing sites on the internet before you just "tie a kid on". Research first, because there are some safety precautions to be taken!)

Babywearing lets me make dinner without having a fussy baby tugging on my pant leg, gets my son to nap through church services without killing my arms, and lets my husband and I take long walks together without either of us having to push a stroller. Babywearing: works for me!



peace of Christ to you,
Jessica

p.s. Thanks for the many entries to the Easter Blog Carnival. Keep sending them in! And check back on Sunday for the carnival itself!

p.p.s. Not that we never use a stroller.

p.p.p.s. I also have to say that if my mom is sitting next to us in church, I skip the babywearing. Somehow, my son has no problem falling asleep in the pew if Grandma is doing the holding! :D