Baby Carrier

We've run the gamut when it comes to baby carriers starting with our very first, which was called The Ultimate Wrap by Parents of Invention. A much cheaper knock off of the Moby Wrap. There was yards upon yards of fabric and although one month old Ariana fell peacefully asleep the moment she was snuggled inside, the fabric bunched up on my back making me seem much heavier than I was at the time and I felt very self conscious in it.

Then when she was 2 1/2 months old, we bought a structured Infantino brand carrier:

(I swear she was pretty comfortable in this, contrary to what her facial expression portrays in this picture at 3 months old!)

At four months old, we discovered ring slings! This was our first:

It's a linen cotton blend that I bought from sleepingbaby.net and used constantly. A small rip formed about halfway down the fabric's edge and made me nervous to wear her in it. Thankfully, I have a friend who makes and sells ring sling, and she custom made me that we still use!

Once Ariana started getting too heavy for her weight to be supported by one shoulder, I researched wraps again. I made myself a temporary wrap out of an old bed sheet by cutting it in half lengthwise and sewing the two halves together. We tried her on my back for the very first time in a hold called 'the rucksack carry'. It was an instant hit!



The cotton blend sheet got too hot for walking around outside in the Florida summer heat, so I decided to make my own Mei Tai this past week. I would be able to wear her on my back or front, there would be less fabric so we wouldn't sweat to death being pressed up against each other, and I could make it reversible! This is the end result that I am beyond proud of:





It has a sleeping hood so when she falls asleep her head doesn't bobble all over the place, which is genius. Thanks to this blog for the tutorial!