Dads and Baby Wearing

Like most, I was reluctant to start baby wearing. Scratch that... I absolutely did not want to do it. I don't know if it was a masculinity thing or an apathy thing, but nonetheless, I did NOT want to wear a baby.

My wife got into the whole thing when our eldest daughter was six months old. She got a knockoff brand Ergo and I used it a couple of times before the buckle broke and made it a safety hazard. Luckily, no kids were injured and we learned that if you are going to wear your child, invest a little more than 16 bucks because it's well worth it. I think of it like I think of guitars. You can absolutely find a cheap Burswood or Peavy guitar to play and get the job done, but the more you invest, say like in a Parker or Gibson, the better the guitar will be. There are exceptions to every rule, of course, but for the purposes of this blog, let's just say that it's worth it to do your homework and get something good. If you are going to go with something cheap and it breaks, you're still just wasting money. not cool.

So we forked out the cash and got an actual Ergo and it was immediately more comfortable, for me and baby.
     So I used that for a while, but while I was still getting comfortable with the idea of baby wearing, my wife had already discovered the very large realm of wraps, pods, ring slings, and wrap conversions. I quickly learned that there is a LOT to this whole baby wearing thing, and I had just scratched the surface.
     Then I discovered how amazing a pod is. A pod is essentially two long straps and a flap that becomes the baby's seat. AMAZING!!!!

Ok, overenthusiastic. I get it. But still, this thing got some serious daily use.
     When our second young un' was born, we were in an awkward phase for the pod. Big One was a little big for it to be terribly comfortable for long periods of time; while Little One was a little too small to enjoy it. So I learned a few new tricks. I'll admit, I can really only do one carry with a regular wrap. The front wrap cross carry (FWCC in wrapper lingo). It's the only one I know, but it is effective. I am proud to say that Little One only wants me to lay her down to sleep now because I would use the FWCC to lull her to sleep every night as an infant (I totally played NCAA football until well after she fell asleep on multiple occassions).
      We then had a few wraps converted into different things: ring slings, full buckles, etc... I now have a hot pink full buckle that I use nearly every day. Both kids fit in it well, and it is very fast and handy. I took Aria to the Orange and White game this year (GBO!), and if that carrier hadn't paid for itself by that point, it certainly earned its keep that day. We parked about a mile from the stadium. I wore her all the way to Neyland Stadium; then let her down at our seats to enjoy the game. No big stroller to push, and no worrying about her being trampled. After the event I put her back on my back for the trek back to the car. She passed out before I made it to the sidewalk and dangled limply (and happily) all the way back to the car.

     Look, I'm not going to try to convince every dad out there to wear their kids. Although, it is a fact that wearing kids will lead to a 76% increase of chicks checking you out. I will say that if you are too cool to try it, you are doing things the hard way. Oh, I'll just carry her/him sounds nice and easy until you have another kid (or two... or three) or several things to carry simultaneously. To be fair, you have a kid. You will ALWAYS have a lot to carry. Everyday tasks just become easier. Cleaning with a little one screaming at your feet or shopping with a child afflicted by Restless Leg Syndrome can be at least combated in a comfortable way.

       So all that to say, try babywearing. Seriously, it's awesome. And manly.

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