New post up today: http://babywearingtwins.com/?p=2483

Please hop on over and let me know what you think! Also remember to add the address to your reader.;)

Not putting up any babywearing posts here at the minute – will let you know as soon as the new site is officially up and running! Should be by the beginning of next week!

This is a great carry for newborns or young babies in a stretchy wrap, except you can keep the whole outer pocket over their feet as well for that extra snuggle factor.

The wrap I’m using is a stretchy wrap, but is billed as being a ‘hybrid’ – something between a stretchy and a woven. I would say it is definitely less stretchy than others, and actually felt really supportive for this carry. Making this video has actually made me pull it out more!!

(It’s a Wrapsody Baby Bali Stretch – Isis colour, also known as a Gypsy Mama. This wrap is often also extolled as a supremely awesome wrap for twins – I would agree. Because it has that stretch, it means that if you are wearing two babies in the one wrap, the fabric is less likely to create pressure points. The weight of one baby is also less likely to cause the wrap to tighten on the other, making this more flexible and comfortable for the babies. I would still pick a woven wrap every time when it comes to heavier babies, though!)

My son weighed exactly 19 lb 7 when this was filmed, and I found it supremely comfy – have actually started using it for tandem carries (for only one baby, the other on my back in something else).

Another huge bonus for this carry is you can pre-tie. That means you get the wrap on and leave it on. Easy peesy to get a baby in and out throughout the day. And fabulous if you’re going to the doctor’s or wherever – no fabric dangling on the ground when you park the car, and baby (or babies!) nice and close rather than carried in a carseat (bad for your backs, moms and dads).

I question their use of the term ‘short while’, as this mofo was NOT good at all. Not even for three seconds.

That being said, I know that some people with toddlers and newborns have used this carry to great success.

My video is something between a how to and a FAIL video, because it ended up not really working for me. Please let me know if you have tips, as this was quick and simple to do – but I’m clearly either not doing it right, or it genuinely is a carry that just won’t work for us. *shrug*

Oh, and a quick word of praise for ringslings – when our babies were 4 months old, we went on a transatlantic flight. Yes, travel to a hotel, overnight stay, travel to airport, four hours in airport, eight or so hours on plane, two hours airport other side, one hour drive to my mother’s house.

THE RINGSLINGS WERE AWESOME.

We both wore the babies on our laps – they were cozy enough to sleep, and it gave us hands free to eat unappetizing food or play those annoying plane games on the tiny screen attached to the seat in front of you.

The were also a huge boon on the flight back, when every baby I touched seemed to go screamy, and I had to stand up and rock for what felt like hours at a time. It was much more comfortable to do this while my baby was in a sling than use my arms to hold him/her all that time, especially as I walked up and down aisles, barged into the galley, and downed Coke Zeros to help me stay awake.

Ringslings are very easy to loosen, so it was a snap to get the babies out for playing or eating. The slings are also blankety soft (they are slingified Didy waves wraps), so doubled as blankets. I also LOVED them for changing nappies on the plane.

Stand up, pop baby on (as I just kept the sling on the whole flight), grab the change bag, and squeeeeze into the tiny loo. Because whichever baby I would have was secure, I could take my time setting up the changing area in the way that best suited us – something I could tell other parents weren’t having who carried their babies in using their arms!

It was also easy to do everything in reverse.

I suppose the next little bit only applies to me – but when we got off the plane on the other side, our pushchair wasn’t there. I had a wheelchair, so a baby could be securely on me as I was pushed at the speed of light, and TMD had a baby on her, leaving her hands free to carry extra stuff.

So I do recommend them for planes – the lack of huge amounts of fabric in ringslings (compared to wraps or mei tai straps) made it a snap to get a baby comfortably on in a very confined space! This would also hold true for using a shorty wrap in a rebozo carry.

I think babywearing on a plane when you are a parent of multiples is pretty much an essential – or at least for us. Parents of singleton babies usually have another adult to hand the baby to while they sort things out. If the adult to baby ratio is one to one, you’re screwed! So practice with your sling of choice before you leave the house, and you’ll have a happier flight…

This front carry is commonly used for little ones. I’m still using it because I don’t want to put weight on my right hip, which is where a lot of my pelvic problems are!

Ringslings are a great, quick way to babywear – but I personally found that it took me more time to learn to use them than it did any other type of sling! I’m still not incredibly confident with them. They are good for quick up-and-downs, or doctor visits, etc etc. Because I like weight evenly distributed across my shoulders and back, I’m not sure I would choose a ringsling for a long bout of babywearing! (At least not yet. Once my SPD clears, I may use them more often…)

Using a ringsling, you can carry your baby or toddler on your front, hip, or back. I’ve never tried a back carry with a ringsling – and I once read somewhere (?) that it’s not advisable for babies under a year. I’m not going to mess with back carries with ringslings yet, because their extreme wiggles and leg straightening tricks of a few months ago meant we went on a ringsling hiatus – so until I know they (and I) are good with ringslings again, I’m not risking them going on my back!

Coming very soon is a video of the aforementioned screwed up, painful carry, which also involves a ringsling! Stay tuned…

We live in a town where the only other babywearing parent we’ve seen has been someone we know. There is a large shopping centre in the centre of town, and we always stop for paninis and things (this time with the babies eating as well – we love baby led weaning!) in an open plan muffin/coffee place in a pretty busy part of the centre.

When we were done eating, my wife got Coconut on her front first – as I wanted ‘spotting’ for flinging Snort onto my back as it was the first time I had back wrapped in public and the floors looked hard. *grin*

I was holding him in one arm, trying to sort out the wrap with my left hand, looking for the middle. My wife said people were already staring at that point. I spread the middle of the wrap on the table, put Snort on top of it, and apparently more people started looking. She said when I swung him onto my back, mouths dropped open and one woman exclaimed, ‘That is FASCINATING!’

I am a bit of an exhibitionist (obviously!) so enjoyed performing in public.

Then we were walking around a bookstore, and an interesting family was there as well. They were clearly Orthodox Jews, though there was no mother. The dad was leaning heavily on a cane, and had two gorgeous little daughters. He said, ‘Look! There’s a baby on her back.’ He glanced at me. ‘Do you mind if my daughter has a look? She loves babies.’

We had a nice little chat, and then wandered away. I ended up bumping back into him when my wife was nearby with Coconut, and he said, ‘There are babies everywhere today!’

I smiled and said, ‘These babies are actually twins!’

He said (clearly joking), ‘Oh, how’d you manage that with two women?’ He laughed.

I said, ‘Well, she actually is my wife and these are our kids. I just happened to give birth to them.”

He immediately knelt down by his daughters and said, ‘Did you hear that? These babies are twins, and they have two mummies. Aren’t they lucky? They have two mummies, and you have one daddy. There are all different sorts of families.’

I swear to god my heart nearly melted.

He then said, ‘This is so great. It’s their first time experiencing these things.’ I wasn’t clear if he was referring to twins, babywearing, or two mum familes! *wink*

It’s so nice for me to get out of the house at all, and when it is one nice experience after another, oh, I’m a happy woman.

I tried out a new carry just for a lovely Mama named Catherine, who has a gorgeous son and is very, very close to her due date! She wanted to tandem wear, and I thought I might give her some other ways to think about wearing them both. And to my surprise, I found a new carry I love and it has even given me new appreciation for my semi-stretchy wrap.

A sneak preview:

Perhaps a slightly dodgy picture, but a lovely carry that is eminantly suitable for an older child and a baby. Or, you know, two babies!

As of this past Wednesday, Snort is a whopping 19 lb 7 oz, and Coconut is 17 lb 4 oz (@ 33 weeks old).  And I can honestly say that though this was my first time trying this and no doubt I can improve my technique, it was so bloody comfortable I wore them for ages! Such a delightful surprise.

So thank you, Catherine, for getting pregnant and chatting with me. I’m sure I have not ‘invented’ this as a carry, but I know I’ve never seen or heard of it. Bless me in my ignorance, maybe, but I think it highlights something lovely about babywearing:

There are a lot of ways to do it. A lot.

And sometimes you’ll try and screw it up (perhaps I will upload my ‘oh, fuck it!’ video too), sometimes it’s just be normal and lovely, and sometimes you’ll try something new and want to marry it.

Something I tried and do not like (yet?) is this:

Oh. There is no picture of it. That’s how much I did not like it. There is a video, though, and I have yet to decide if it is a ‘how to’ or a ‘babywearing fails’ video. Or perhaps a ‘how to NOT do it.’

Or a ‘how to do the most painful and screwed up carry in the known universe’ video.

The other big news is that within about week, this site will be shifting to a new domain. All the same entries and features, but perhaps a bit more accessibility. I’m very excited about it and the countdown is officially on!

Hoping you all have lovely long weekends! I will not be online as much, but am still available in the Facebook group ‘babywearing twins’, on Twitter as @2moms2babies, or email 2moms2babies@gmail.com.