Another in our series on wearing while injured, this time we look at bad backs. Previous posts on the topic include shoulder injuries.

Does superman tossing make you double over in pain? Does a dull ache start up in your lower vertabrae as soon as you pick up a ring sling? Welcome to the world of back injury! In this post we’ll look at prevention and cure.

Prevention

Back injuries come in many shapes and sizes, but some simple rules apply to help avoid those occasional problems caused by babywearing in the first place:

1. Start slow. Don’t start tandem wearing your 20kg preschooler at the same time you start wearing you 10kg toddler. If you’re new to babywearing or have taken an extended break, let your body get used to the weight and start out for short periods at a time.
2. Lift your child carefully. Some of our wearees can be impressively heavy, others are literally light-weights; but lifting your child is something you do repeatedly every day. Keep your child close to you so that your center of gravity isn’t pulled off balance.
3. Bend from the knees, don’t use your lower back as a lever.
4. Avoid doing dumb things. Don’t play twister while babywearing. It will be a disaster. Albeit a hilarious one.

Don’t forget that babywearing is not often a cause of back injury if you use your common sense. Thanks to all that marvellous weight bearing exercise, babywearing strengthens the muscles responsible for your core stability, actually helping to avoid back injury. Carrying a child in a supportive carrier is a lot easier on the back than carrying a child in arms for the same length of time. Of course, back carries are also great for encouraging good posture!

While you’re waiting to be cured

If you have an underlying back injury, then professional help is your best option. However, to support the healing of the affected area, there are a number of things you can do while babywearing.

1. Only wear what feels good. If front carries are painful, then avoid them. If one-shoulder carries leave you limping, then switch to the two-shouldered variety. When wrapping, carries with multiple layers will generally be more supportive than single-layer carries.
2. Don’t be afraid to ask for help to get your child onto your back. For many, lifting the child is too much of a strain, however, wearing the child is OK. If you do ask for help, make sure your helper knows exactly what they should be doing and exactly when to stop “helping” with straps and tails.
3. Wear carriers that are supportive for the weight you’re carrying. Some brands of carriers are known to be more supportive than others. Do your research, ask plenty of questions, borrow some if you can (see our loaner’s database) and find the right one for you.
4. Remember that rest may be the best cure. Less babywearing in the short-term may mean extending your babywearing well into your child’s preschool years.

Have you battled a back injury? Did you babywear while injured? What helped for you? Leave a comment and let us know!

Leaving Hospital with a Premmie (or two).

When you are pregnant, you normally anticipate things will go a certain way; maybe the way previous pregnancies have gone, or maybe better! Some people expect particular hiccups because of their medical history and so on.

For me, I expected two things. Literally, I expected two babies, because I was pregnant with twins, and secondly, I expected to need to fight hospital policy. I think every IRONY light in heaven and earth was flashing, when at 34 weeks, I sent my husband and son to Adelaide for some follow up medical visits, and my daughter went to visit a girlfriend for the morning. Ah, peace… I remember I was going to rest that day; I was going to read, and I was going to spend some time at peace. Just as soon as my midwives visited and left. Except things didn’t quite work out that way. My midwives walked in, said “ooh, you don’t look very good” (which is what every 34-week-pregnant-with-twins woman wants to hear) and “go pee on this!” Having experience peeing on sticks, I did as I was told. It was more fun finding out I was pregnant than it was finding out I had protein out of the stratosphere. Blah. Add the revolting oedema that made my ankles practically slosh, and the blood pressure paralleled only by a job interview for a position you really want, and there I was, at home, my family elsewhere, being told to pack and bag and go to the hospital.

So, all the fight out of my sails, that’s how I was going to end this pregnancy. A premature Caesar at 34 weeks. Perhaps you’re pregnant as you read this. Listen, when you’re done, spend a few minutes looking into what you want to do if your baby is born early and needs to go to special care. I had done a little bit of reading, but there was so much I didn’t know until well after we all came home. I’ll say from the outset – we all make it home safely.

The birth story is pretty good, and the way my friends helped look after my two big kids was just fantastic, but this blog post is really about getting out of the special care nursery (hereafter, SCN). You may have read my earlier post about baby wearing in the nursery… if not, check out LINK. Being in the SCN was awful – fine for a day or so, but after that, really tedious. Every nurse had a different opinion on everything, from sibling visits to bathing to feeding to formula. If you are ever in the same situation, it would help to know what you think about all these things. For us, we just flew by the seat of our pants as we worked on getting the babies from 1700g and 2200g to the acceptable-but-arbitrary-weight-required-to-go-home.

Finally, our featherweight baby girl hit 2200g. We’d been in the nursery for a life time, but on day 20, we were finally able to fly the coop! We had the two car capsules installed, and like all parents of newborns, we did the strange journey from the maternity area to the car park.

However, we did it a little differently to most parents. I slipped my ring sling – just the one – over my shoulder, and settled their tiny 2700g and 2200g bodies on my chest. I settled them in tummy-to-tummy (theirs to mine) and side by side (one another) as I had so many times for cuddles, and we waited for an ice age for the doctors to officially say “go on, get out!” and then we stood up, and walked out the door.

We knew a bit about how we wanted to parent; we have two older children and had been working on refining our beliefs and practises for a while. While the babies really were small, they were also healthy and strong. We saw no reason not to use carriers, and saw a lot of good reasons why we should.

• Kangaroo care has been shown to benefit premature babies
• Keeping the newborns close allowed us to continue being involved with our older kids activities- and our own
• Wearing the newborns meant we could respond to their needs more quickly
• Wearing the newborns meant my precious, residual, often depleted energy was conserved by not having to get up and down to them constantly

If you have a premature – or even small-for-dates baby – unless you are given a solid medical reason not to, baby wearing is going to help you. Unless there’s a medical reason not to, baby wearing is going to be beneficial to your baby/babies. Whether your premmie (or preemie – both are used) is your first child or your tenth, you are going to want them to feel settled, calm, peaceful and secure. Keeping them close to your heart is going to do this. You might choose not to socialise – especially out of the home – for longer because of immunity concerns; you may be recovering from major surgery and not as mobile as you normally were; you may have had weeks in special care where you had every last drop of self-assurance and strength removed from your body, but there comes a point where you are free to make the parenting choices you believe to be right. Go for it!

A premature baby can be worn in a soft sling or a soft wrap. My own experience has been that a mei tai is too large and a soft structured carrier is too inflexible, but you may have a different experience. Do join the Baby Carriers Downunder forum if you haven’t already – people are always willing to share their experiences and help you find your way on this parenting path.

I don’t think these photos are particularly flattering to me - but here you go: Ruby leaving the hospital with the twins at 20 days.

Have you left hospital with a special care baby? A premmie (or two)? Another baby who had a special care start to the world? How did you find it? Did you wear your special care baby? Leave a comment and let us know!

I love to wear other people’s children.  I love the feel of an almost weightless newborn snuggling against my chest, when I’d forgotten how tiny they are, and the excitement of a two-year-old getting a ‘ride’ for the first time.  Every child is so different and much as I love my own, I enjoy an adulterous thrill when I wear someone new.

Staying sane when out with multiple children

I always have a spare carrier when out and about as my three-year-old is still regularly worn.  I’m used to wearing two at once so at any point I can move my baby on to my front and put another child on my back… and it’s not always my own daughter.

If you’re out with your two-to-four-year-old and a friend of theirs, you can alternate the children on your back.  I always give the walking child fun responsibilities like pressing the buttons on pedestrian crossings and looking for ‘treasures’ like acorns. 

When I’m out with a friend who uses a stroller, we usually end up playing a version of musical chairs - her children end up riding on my back while my daughter gets a rare ride in the stroller.  It’s amazing how compliant the children are when they get to try something new.  Toddlers and preschoolers who aren’t used to being worn usually love the novelty of being in a carrier.   

The babywearing babysitter

The problem with regular babywearing is that your arms atrophy: I just don’t seem to be able to carry a heavy baby for as long as most parents who don’t use carriers!  So any baby in my care will end up in a carrier at some point.  I also find babywearing essential for safety reasons if I’m looking after a mobile baby or young toddler.  I just don’t want to risk her/him choking on something another child has left lying around or getting away from me in an unfenced playground. 

How do parents feel about a babysitter using a baby carrier?  Should you broach the subject with them first?  There are three issues that parents may have with another person wearing their baby:

• Safety concerns.
• Discomfort with someone else having such an intimate experience with their child.
• Conflicting parenting philosophy - belief that it will ’spoil’ the child or disrupt a strict schedule or sleep/independence training program.

I’ve never formally asked parents before wearing their children but I’ve only looked after the children of close friends who believe in the principles of attachment parenting and who know I’m an experienced babywearer.  I feel that by not asking first, I’m sending a message that babywearing is safe and normal.  It’s important to use your intuition, though, to sense if the parents feel uncomfortable and I believe you should always ask first in the following circumstances:

• Before putting a young baby (under a year old) on your back, particularly if using a scary-looking technique like a ‘toss’ method. 
• If you’re inexperienced, particularly if you don’t have children of your own or you’re trying out a new carrier you’re not confident with.

Using other people’s babies to demonstrate babywearing

A new parent comes to your sling meet and asks you to demonstrate a carrier.  Should you use their baby?  It’s not always necessary but there are some definite advantages:

•  You may not have another baby or doll the correct size.
• It gives you a chance to see if the baby likes the carrier.
• The baby may initially feel more comfortable being worn by an experienced babywearer than by his/her parents.

Just as for babysitting, use your intuition, exude confidence and don’t try anything that looks scary.  If your partner says “Every time you toss her on your back like that it scares me,” when he/she’s been watching you do it for four years, chances are it will freak out a babywearing virgin.

And always ask first…. Nothing will turn innocent new parents off babywearing like some crazy hippy grabbing their child unannounced and strapping him on her back!

Have you worn anyone else’s child? What was the reaction? How did you find it? Leave a comment and let us know!

Another in our posts on wearing two, this time we dial down the oestrogen and get a Dad’s perspective! For other posts on wearing two, see Ruby’s post on getting started with twins, Sarah’s post on wearing two with mei tais and SSCs and Steph’s post on wrapping two at once.

Consider this scenario: your wife had go away suddenly due to an emergency, leaving you home alone with your cranky toddler and even-crankier baby who’s due for a nap. You can:

(a) put them in a double pram (if you have one) and take them for a walk outside, hoping the fresh air will calm them down,

(b) try to put the baby to sleep and hope the toddler will calm himself down,

(c) try to carry both in your arms (good luck with that for more than a few seconds!), or

(d) wear the baby to sleep AND wear the toddler to calm him down.

Tandem babywearing is really not as hard as it looks. If you think of it as a form of exercise, it works those upper body muscles quite effectively. And of course you can actually do other stuff while wearing two, like play your favourite video game, go for a walk (be prepared for swarms of adoring women), or weed that garden like you’ve been promising the wife for months.

In addition to excellent front and back carry tips in Sarah’s previous tandem carry post, you can also wear your sleeping newborn/infant in a ring sling and your toddler in a structured hip carrier where most of your toddler’s weight rests on the waist band. I find this comfortable even for quite a long period (at least long enough for said cranky toddler to calm down).

Lastly, as Steph’s wrapping two post showed, a long woven wrap (or two) can also be used effectively to carry both your sleeping infant and your curious toddler. If you are using two wraps, make sure to tie the baby in one securely first before using the other wrap to tying your toddler on your back as you need to bend down while doing the latter. A quick back carry like rucksack is usually best for this purpose, but make sure you tuck enough fabric under your toddler’s bum to prevent the dreaded bum-popping.

I hope this gives some incentive for the babywearing dads out there to give tandem carry a try, either with your twins or your baby and toddler. Good luck and let us know how you go!

Are you a babywearing dad? Have you tried tandem carry before? Leave a comment and let us know your experience!

Another post in our series on wearing two. This time Steph looks at wrapping a toddler and a baby at the same time in a wrap. The same carries apply to wearing twins. Previous posts on wearing two include Ruby’s post on how to get started wearing two and Sarah’s post on how she wears her toddler and infant in a Mei Tai and SSC combination.

When my younger child was born, my eldest was 2.5 years old. It quickly became apparent that with a newborn and a toddler making a tough transition, wearing them both was one way to keep everyone happy.

I prefer to wrap my kids in the same wrap at once. The advantage of this is that there’s less material involved than trying to wrap them in separate wraps. The disadvantage is that if the one on the back (the bigger child) wants to get down, they both have to come down.

I need at least 4.5m to wear both kids at once. In this size wrap, I can ruck the big one, cross beneath the legs and do a tibetan finish, leave the tibetan finish loose and pop the little one in the FCC (Front Cross Carry) this makes, tie behind the little one’s back. When my younger child was a newborn, this carry was problematic at times because she didn’t have the kind of head support I’d have liked. You can find video instruction on this carry with newborns here and the technique is the same with older children.

If you have a longer wrap (say, 5m+), then you can BWCC (Back Wrap Cross Carry) with ruck straps the bigger child and finish the same way for the little one with greater support. The three passes would give you more support with the bigger child. You can find video instruction of this carry here. A variation is to use a chestbelt rather than ruck straps with the BWCC.

Another possibility, which I have not seen and don’t have a wrap long enough to try; would be the chunei back carry (or double hammock back carry) with ruck straps, crossed between the back child’s legs and bought up in front for a tibetan finish. The smaller child then sits in the cross of the tibetan finish. I’m shopping for a long wrap just so I can try this and see if it works! (Leave a comment if you’ve had a chance to try this. Please?) I suspect it will work well because the heavier child’s weight will be distributed across the entire chest of the wearer, rather than on the shoulders. The latter point being a significant problem in my experience of wearing two as the weight becomes significant. I wouldn’t recommend this for very hot weather, however!

If you have two wraps, then I find BWCC and FCC in separate wraps -wrapping the big one on your back through the pretied (empty) FCC another way to carry two. This leaves you with about 9 meters of material wrapped around you, so you want to do this with THIN wraps! Basically, I pretie the FCC and then get big one on my back in a BWCC with crossed straps in front, passing them through the crosses of the FCC to sit directly on my chest. You could also do this with chestbelt, but I think this is a smoother finish for the little one in front. The advantage of this over ruck straps on the BWCC is that your chest is supporting alot of the weight of the big one and the rest is being passed through shoulders and down to the hips. I find the FCC rides up on the shoulders to the neck this way (there’s only so much room on your shoulders to fit all this material) but when your front wearee is still small, this is fine. Using this method, the two wrapees are semi-independent. It’s possible to remove one without removing the other, although getting the one off the back without waking the one in the FCC would be tricky, but you would not need to remove the front carry.

For very small babies, I prefer to carry both kids in this way as I don’t have to preload the smaller one and bend forward with the baby in the front. As the baby gets older, I find this less problematic.

Troubleshooting:

(1) When wearing two in one wrap, the more supportive the better, but you’re carrying two kids and don’t want to get too hot. Without wanting to add to the “silk hysteria”, compared to my all cotton vatanais, my silk indio is a better bet. That said, I have successfully worn two in a vatanai for a considerable length of time. So although you’re better off with a supportive wrap (say, a storch), I don’t think you need special equipment per se (like pamir) to do this.

(2) Supportive shoes are a must. My kids are about 20kg of combined weight and when walking for an hour or more, good shoes are awesome. That said, I wore the two of them in one wrap in heels at a wedding once for an extended period, so needs must. I did kick my shoes off ASAP though!

(3) Bend from the knees, but getting up ain’t easy

Further resources for wearing two:

• TheBabywearer’s Wearing More Than One forum is excellent for troubleshooting and ideas
• The BCD Wearing Twins and Multiples page has a broad variety of personal information, articles and links

Do you carry two? What combinations work for keeping your household happy?

It’s tandem babywearing month at BCD blog and who are we to pass up a little celebrity fixation?

We all know that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are happy to use slings and carriers to keep their six children safe and happy. But has anyone ever seen a photo of Angelina or Brad carrying more than one child at once in slings?

This is the closest thing I could find. Kind of amusing, I guess. From weird celebrity art blog Gallery of the Absurd.

For other posts on tandem wearing, see Ruby’s post on wearing her newborn twins and Sarah’s post on wearing her toddler and infant together. How many kids can you wear at once? Can anyone outdo Lara Croft? Share in the comments section below!