The lovely, talented, and pregnant, VBE Katie Eaton had decided to grace us with some pointers for babywearing while pregnant! I hope you will enjoy this post as part of out Babywearing 102 series. Every month we choose a new Babywearing 102 topic to tackle… and this month… we’re tackling the baby bellies (figuratively, of course)!
Ladies and Gentlemen… Katie Eaton… {Applause}!
I’m currently 27 weeks pregnant AND an avid babywearer. As someone who wears their “baby” into toddlerhood I’m generally used to lots of questions and questioning stares. Add a growing belly to that equation and sky rocketing hormones and you may think you have a recipe for disaster. Thank goodness it’s more a demonstration of life survival skills than a disaster in our household. Babywearing while pregnant does come with some tips and tricks that are special to the circumstances and I’m here to share those with you as I experience these types of cuddles and kicks for the first time.
1. Modification is Key
This may mean modifying your current carrier or finding a new carrier to use during specific times in your pregnancy. Now, I’m not telling you to go out and buy all the carriers, although I may be guilty of that myself. What I am telling you is that it may be time to pull out the hip carry options including ring slings or wraps so that nothing is resting directly in front of you. If you are carrying your child on your back it may be time to either lower your waist belt below your stomach or over top of your stomach. If you are a wrapper, if you haven’t already discovered tying with a shoulder belt or the candy cane chest belt then you need to. The super awesome thing about being in Austin is that we have this amazing library that you have access to as well and can rent carriers for a super affordable price to get you through each little random thing your body decides it doesn’t care for during your pregnancy.
25 weeks pregnant, candy cane chest belt is my friend
2. Know Your Limits and Listen to Your Body
Knowing your limits and listening to your body are both good rules to follow regardless of the situation but they are especially important when you are helping to grow tiny humans both inside your body and out! During each trimester your body demands different things from you which means that your ability to carry your child close will change with your bodies demands. When your back, hips, belly muscles start feeling funky it’s time to let your child ride in cart, stroller or walk and hold your hand. Or better yet, it’s time to let your partner start doing the majority of carrying. After all, you are carrying a child 24/7 anyway just maybe not in the same way.
Listening to your body goes for your emotional needs too so please don’t ignore them. I know we all want to be hugged sometimes but sometimes we also just need a little space. That means that it’s okay to not pop your child into a carrier every chance you get like normal in order to allow your body a little space of it’s own. Strollers are awesome for decompressing emotionally when you need your space! You can get outside with your kiddo, take a walk in the beautiful sunshine and regroup instead of crying for no apparent reason as I tend to do sometimes!
Let Daddy get in on that Babywearing too!
3. Find Your Happy Space
Now that we have talked about some modifications that you can make as well as making sure that you are listening to your body AND emotions lets talk about a few of my favorite carries!
If I’m using a meh dai or a buckle carrier I tend to prefer a high back carry. I preferred this carry even before being pregnant because it put baby up high so they could see over my shoulder. Also, both are a quick and easy way to get baby on my back as bending over for long periods of time is just not happening.
16 weeks pregnant, high back carry with waist belt over belly
Although some people quickly head back to the comfort of the ring sling I tend to stay away from it for the most part as my back is much more touchy and gets thrown out a place easily this pregnancy. One shoulder carries are pretty much a no go for me.
Wraps are my go to these days because I can modify them to my body and my belly easily and get the support I need. And since I already shared that I don’t like to bend over for long periods of time I stick to quick and simple wrapping for the most part. If I’m desperate to try something new I practice without my child first to make it faster when I have that added 25 pounds on my back wiggling away to the music of Pippi Longstocking. I love using my size 3 or 4 wrap to do a Rear Reinforced Rebozo Ruck with a candy cane chest belt otherwise known as RRRR or Pirate carry with a CCCB. I know, we love acronyms around here! Here is a great video to show this carry while pregnant from one of my favorites, wrapping Rachel.
My second favorite carry is a double hammock with a candy cane chest belt. This carry does take a little more bending but it was my go to pre-pregnancy so I have gotten fairly quick with it. You can also tie at shoulder in place of the CCCB as well if you don’t have quite enough wrap to finish off with the chest belt.
My last favorite is a Secure High Back Carry with a knotless finish. I don’t use this carry a lot since I didn’t use it pre pregnancy a lot but it is super supportive and is great for longer carries. Here is a video from Paxmommy Christina demonstrating this carry with her adorable baby bump!
4. Embrace the Bump
There is no point in trying to hide your bump if you are going to forge ahead in babywearing while pregnant. Your bump will be accentuated even when you may not want it to. Show off your beautiful belly using flattering and comfortable carries as you rock babywearing. Tell the world that you are a proud parent to be able to meet all of your children’s needs and get things done!
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