The Best Baby Product You May Not Have Tried

By Bonnie Owens on April 8th, 2009

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During my first pregnancy, my husband and I went out and bought all of the baby gadgets.  One of our must-haves was a baby carrier.  At the time we lived in a small apartment with a big dog.  One of the duties I couldn’t get out of was walking our dog during the day.  Since he required both hands, I needed a way to hold the baby.  After a lot of shopping around, we ended up buying an economical version of the Bjorn carrier.

Although the carrier wasn’t extremely comfortable on my shoulders or flattering to my new hips, it did the job for awhile.  As my son approached four months, and 15 pounds, the straps began to dig into my shoulders and my son began to droop below my hips.  I had heard that the Bjorn carrier was much sturdier and more comfortable, but the price tag was high and to be honest the fit made me more self-conscious about my already uncomfortable body.  I began to shop around on the web and I kept coming across baby wraps and slings.

First, I tried a sling that I was able to get off of craigslist for a good price.  It was basically one long piece of gauzy linen fabric with some fastening rings on the end.  To wear it, you bring it around one hip and fasten it on the opposite shoulder.  The baby sits in a pocket that you create with the fabric and you tighten it through the rings as needed.  It was definitely more flattering to my body.  The fabric and design was more appealing too.  And it was easier on my shoulders and lower back.  The biggest drawback to the sling was the way it supported the baby.  I found myself constantly leaning to the side to compensate for my son’s weight.  I was worried he was going to fall through the bottom or flop out over the top.  I don’t know if this fear was real or imagined since I didn’t use it long enough to test it out.

After the sling, I bought a baby wrap at an online baby boutique.  The wrap was similar to the sling in appearance.  The main differences were that the piece of fabric was longer and the material was a stretchy cotton-lycra blend.  It was little more complicated to put on, as it required video instruction and a few tries.  In a nutshell, you wrap it around your waist, over your shoulders, and around your waist a few more times.  Then you tie it off or fasten it with the rings.  It was a little intimidating at first, but after a few uses I was doing it in my sleep.  Wearing a wrap is basically like being pregnant again.  Your baby feels virtually weightless, it holds them very securely and they are snuggled up to you in their own little cocoon that protects them from the outside world.  As an added bonus, the stretchy fabric is very slimming on a new mom.  The only drawback was when I would take my son out or try to nurse by lifting my shirt up the layers would get awkward and it took a few minutes to get it situated again.  Also, the company claims that you can wear it all day taking the baby in and out as desired.  In theory this is true, but you run into the layer situation again and it is not very fashionable to wear without a baby in it.

After a week or so of use, I was sold on my baby wrap.  It put my son to sleep within minutes, it let me get some much needed housework done and it helped me to bond with my son.  It tickles your heart when you feel your little baby stir in their sleep right next to your chest.  My wrap quickly replaced my front carrier and my stroller.  It was so much easier to just fold it up and toss it into my diaper bag than to lug a stroller in and out of my car and apartment.  When my second son was born with a bad case of colic, I came to appreciate my wrap even more fully.  It made those early months of constant baby holding so much easier.  And it soothed his colic like nothing else I could find.  My dependency on the baby wrap grew so much that a few times when I forgot it at home, I would literally panic about how I would manage without it.

It still amazes me that I had never heard of a baby wrap before my first son was born.  It was so essential to me during the first 18 months of raising my children.  Now I give them as baby shower gifts and tell any mom who will listen in hopes of raising awareness of this amazing product.