If I could change one thing about the way I parented Gavin from birth, I would have started carrying him in a sling earlier and more often.  At the time he was born, I didn’t know that much about attachment parenting or baby wearing.  I bought a Bjorn baby carrier when I was pregnant and didn’t really research my options in the range of baby carriers/slings that existed in the market.  It wasn’t until I was fully using the Bjorn carrier that I discovered its limitations.

Since then I have tried and tested two other slings and no longer use the Bjorn because my son outgrew its weight limit too quickly.  I found the baby wrap to be the most comfortable for me to carry Gavin around, especially when we went for extended shopping trips. 

Having used the wrap for some six months now, I still find that the wrap is still lacking a few features that would otherwise have made it the perfect carrier.  These were the two main issues I had with the wrap:

1. Being 6 meters long, it wasn’t the most convenient to put on and take off, so I usually had to put it on before heading out. 

2. I could only carry Gavin in two positions - facing in or facing out.  Since I had trouble putting him in facing out while on my own, I usually carried him facing in.  This was fine up until some months back when Gavin found it a nuisance to have to crane his neck every time he wanted to see where we were going.  I started to notice that he prefered to be out of the carrier and would reach for others to carry him whenever I put him into the carrier.

I liked the wrap because it was the only carrier I have used that transfered the weight evenly across the shoulders and the hips, making it very comfortable for extended use.  Aside from the wrap, the only other carrier that balances the weight onto the hips is the Ergo carrier but my gripe with the Ergo is that the fabric is very thick and much too hot for a tropical climate.

Recently, I discovered a new baby sling, called Baby K’tan, that combines all the comforts of the wrap with a great variety of carrying styles - 8 different positions to be specific.  What I liked most was the ability to carry baby on the side - a position I find that Gavin enjoys.  Unlike the ring sling that I have taken to using in recent times, the Baby K’tan doesn’t have that annoying ring buckle that digs into my shoulder and presses a nerve that makes my arm feel numb (the rings are behind my shoulder in the picture below).

Plus, the new baby sling’s side carry still uses both shoulders so you aren’t reliant on one shoulder to bear the full weight of your baby - definitely much more comfortable for Mummy!

What I really like about the Baby K’tan as well is the funky fabrics they come in and the cute matching beanies.  Check out the camouflage and tie-dye designs:

Since you can also carry baby from birth with the Baby K’tan, I think I might get one of these for my next baby.  I’ll add it to my wishlist, so hint, hint, anyone, you’ll know what to get me for a present!  And if you want to know where you can get one, check this page.  Oh, by the way, I’d like the camouflage, just in case you’re wondering. 

Popularity: 17% [?]

Just for those who are interested in making their own baby carriers from my previous post on the subject, here are a couple of really good tips to keep in mind when using it:

The original Hug-a-bub comes with a DVD that tells you how to get the most out of your baby carrier.  As with all such carriers, there is a bit of a learning curve when you first start using it.  It does take a while to get used to it and you may find it a little cumbersome to use at the start.  Once you get the hang of it, you’ll wonder why you didn’t start using this earlier.

1. The trick to wearing it so that it is more comfortable to you is to make sure you tie it up a little tighter rather than too loose.  Keep in mind that the fabric stretches so if you tie it too loose, baby will sag and it will strain your lower back unnecessarily to carry baby around.  It is also a lot easier to loosen than it is to tighten so if you do tie it too tightly, you can loosen it to make it more comfortable for the both of you.

2. So that the carrier is more comfortable to wear, make sure that the fabric that goes over your shoulders covers as much of our shoulders as possible as this helps to distribute the weight more evenly across your shoulders.

It should look like this:

As opposed to being bunched up at the shoulders like this:

In the second picture, the weight is concentrated over a spot at the shoulders so it can get a little uncomfortable after a while if you intend to carry the baby around for an extended period of time.

If you follow these two tips, then I reckon this carrier is one of the most comfortable baby carriers around.  It is excellent if you have a high need baby that demands to be carried around all the time.  If you have a young baby, the ease of tucking the head in can make it easier for you to go about your daily activities while baby sleeps in the carrier.

This carrier is not only comfortable for Mummy but baby, too.  Sometimes putting Gavin in this carrier is the only way I can get him to fall asleep - yup, in Gav’s case, sometimes it is even better than the boob.  If I had known about it when I was pregnant, I would not have bothered with the other carriers.  So if you’re serious about baby wearing, you really have to try this carrier.

Popularity: 11% [?]

As promised, here are the details for making your own “Hug-a-Bub”:

Materials:

• 5m Jersey cotton (this is the same material as your t-shirt) - for the taller, more huggable people, you may need 6m.
• 1m ribbon or binding

Instructions:

Jersey cotton is usually sold in widths of 150cm so you’re going to have quite a bit of excess - or you can make three.  The spares will come in handy if you need to wash one.

Cut your fabric according to these dimensions: 12cm wide at the ends, 43cm wide at the center (see diagram below).  Hem the edges.

Cut a square pocket 30cm x 30cm.  Stitch the ribbon or binding around three edges and sew the pocket onto the center of the carrier (see diagram below).  The purpose of the pocket is to reinforce the fabric where baby’s bottom sits.  It also helps you identify the center point of the fabric more easily.

Instructions on how to wear the sling can be found at the Hug-a-bub website. 

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When I was pregnant with Gavin, I confess I didn’t know anything about baby carriers, baby wearing nor had I even heard of attachment parenting until I read about it on my BFF’s blog. Even then I don’t think the concept of attachment parenting really sank in until Gavin was born and I started to care for him.

I bought my Bjorn baby carrier on the advice of my BFF and have never regretted it once. The carrier was a Godsend especially since we had a baby who hated his pram. Although the hubby secretly thinks we spoilt him when we failed to “train” him to sit in the pram, I like to think that Gavin just happens to be one of those babies who dislikes sitting in a pram. Nevertheless, after reading up on attachment parenting and the many benefits of baby wearing, I’m glad I never “trained” (read: cry-it-out) Gavin to sit in his pram.

Baby Wearing – Great for Mom, Wonderful for Baby

As a pro-attachment parenting Mom, I believe that babies are meant to be carried close to Mommy or a carer. Since a sling offers the flexibility to carry baby while performing other tasks, I feel it is one of the best inventions ever. I’m obviously not the only one who thinks so because Gavin agrees, too. From the first day he sat in his carrier (he was just a few days past one month), Gavin has loved being in the carrier. You just have to look at the smile on his face in the photo below to see that he felt right at home in his Bjorn carrier:

My friend CC also related a story about her daughter and her hubby’s experience with the sling. Her daughter normally fusses the moment she has soiled her diaper. One afternoon, her hubby took her daughter for a walk in the carrier. Her daughter was so happy in the carrier that she endured a poopy diaper without a fuss. Clearly, her enjoyment of being in the sling outweighed her discomfort from a soiled diaper.

Carriers and Slings – Which is the Best?

Individual preferences vary and only you will know which one is most comfortable for you and your baby.  Having used three different slings and carriers with Gavin who is soon to be one year old and still happy to be in a carrier, here are my thoughts on each one that I personally own and use. 

Baby Bjorn – Active

Weight Limit: 3-12kgs
Comfort: Average – weight distribution over two shoulders and some to the back. After a couple of hours, it starts to feel like I’ve been hiking with a 10kg day-pack.
Ways of Carrying: Two.

Forward facing (great for older babies):

Inward facing (great for newborns and young babies or an older baby that’s sleepy):

Pros: minimal learning curve. Easily adjusted so you can breastfeed baby in the carrier on either breast.
Cons: low weight limit, leg holes are quite tight (when you have a chubby baby with thunder thighs, it tends to impede circulation to the feet), although the weight is distributed over two shoulders, the lack of padding makes it uncomfortable after a while.
Availability: I got mine from The First Few Years in Paragon, Singapore.
Price: about RM600 (you can get the basic model without the lumbar support for about RM200 ).

Ring Sling

Weight Limit: 30kgs – so you can even carry a toddler
Comfort: Poor – weight distribution over one shoulder. It doesn’t take long for my arm to feel numb. Not a practical method of carrying baby if you intend to do some serious shopping.
Ways of Carrying: Four – forward facing, inward facing, sleeping, on the back.
Pros: very versatile – many ways to carry baby, good weight limit. Easy to put on and carry around.
Cons: has a bit of a learning curve to get used to it, and can’t carry baby for extended periods of time. You can only breastfeed baby on one side.
Availability: I got mine from Bambino in SS2 (the shop above the jewellery shops), but I’ve seen it sold in Anakku for a LOT cheaper.
Price: RM50-RM180 depending on which brand you buy

Wrap

Weight Limit: Not mentioned.
Comfort: Very comfortable for both Mummy and baby. It distributes weight evenly over both shoulders and hips.
Ways of Carrying: Two

Forward facing:

Inward facing:

Pros: the snug fit is great for young babies because it micmics the womb, you can breastfeed a younger baby discreetly by tucking the head under one of the straps . Very comfortable, even if you have a heavy baby.
Cons: has a steep learning curve. Difficult to breastfeed an older child while in the sling. Messy to take off and put on.
Availability: Baby Bunting. You can also buy it online directly from Hug-a-bub. The Ellaroo wrap is also similar in design and concept but using a different fabric.
Price: Hug-a-bub costs A$110 – rather steep for something that is basically just a piece of fabric.  The one seen in the pictures above is home-made.  I’ll show you how to make your own in the next post. 

What’s the Verdict?

Personally, I like the Hug-a-Bub best.  I find it the most comfortable both for baby and Mummy. 

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For Crazy Hip Blog Mama’s Photo Friday: Before and After, I decided to post a second entry.

For the benefit of those who don’t know anything about baby carriers, you can wear baby facing you:

or facing outwards:

In order to wear baby facing outwards, a baby needs to have sufficient neck control to hold his head up. Gavin’s head control is improving but he still tires after a while so at this point I still have to wear him facing me.

A couple of nights ago, the hubby and I were shopping at Isetan in KLCC. While wondering through the kitchenware section, I saw another mother carrying her baby in a carrier. I couldn’t help but notice that although the baby had excellent head and neck control (implying the baby was older than Gavin), the baby looked a lot smaller than Gavin.

Even when I first brought Gavin home from the hospital, my confinement lady said Gavin looked like he was at least one month old when he was only one week old. Below is a picture of Gavin at one week and at ten weeks.

Weighing 4kgs at birth, Gavin was certainly no feather weight, but since then, he’s gone on and nearly doubled his weight at just two and a half months. Now who was it that told me that babies on breastmilk don’t get fat?

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When we were shopping for baby stuff during my pregnancy, a number of friends warned the hubby that a lot of the things we buy during this stage will end up being redundant. We might even find ourselves buying new things to replace the stuff we bought because experience is the best teacher as to the specific requirements for a product. I suppose that’s how one couple ended up with four prams for their baby.

So far, I’ve discovered that we have:

• A very expensive thermometer because we hardly use the baby monitor since Gavin hates to be left in a room by himself
• A redundant night light because it’s too dim for me to see anything when it’s on
• The baby carrier carries the bag more often than it carries baby
• A cot which functions as a rather expensive toy box because the toys sleep in there more often than the baby does

Out of all the things we bought, the best thing would have to be the Baby Bjorn Carrier. With the Baby Bjorn Carrier, I can go shopping for as long as I want, I can satisfy Gavin’s need to be carried and still go about my daily activities, and I save my arms from falling off.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Baby Carriers are great for keeping baby close to you but freeing your hands while you go about your daily routine. Check out Fox Den Lane for a wide range of Baby Carriers to suit your style. They offer a wide variety of fabrics from EllaRoo and TaylorMade slings.

Newly introduced is the Italian-designed Patapum which is great for shopping, hiking, walking or just doing the regular housework. At the same time, you’ll be close to your favourite person, providing him/her the comfort of your presence. They also have Asian Baby Carriers, such as the Mei Tai, Mei Hip, and Podaegi (adapted from an ancient Korean design), which were inspired by traditional baby carriers worn throughout different areas of Asia.

Finally, they have the EllaRoo Wrap and the soft, cuddly Moby Wrap - which are the two original designs that launched Fox Den Lane.

This post was sponsored by Fox Den Lane.

Popularity: 5% [?]

The hubby and I went shopping yesterday with the intention of looking for a baby monitor. We came home without the baby monitor but we scored a new car seat and a big hole in Daddy’s pocket. We also discovered a treasureland of baby products that we had been hunting for during our earlier baby shopping days but were not able to find. How annoying that these products should suddenly crop up now that we’ve already bought most of what we need.

Against our usual habit of heading to the Curve for baby stuff, we decided to check out 1Utama since I remembered there was a Mothercare there and we still had a RM200 gift voucher to use up. The hubby was quite keen to purchase the Philips model for the baby monitor (which was going for about RM200+) but they were out of stock in Mothercare at The Curve. We thought we would try the branch in 1Utama but it seems it was also out of stock here.

After visiting a few other baby stores (Safe ‘n’ Sound, Mom’s Care, Chicco, and a few others, the names of which elude me), it seems the only available baby monitors were all in excess of about RM400. One was a cool baby monitor by Tommee Tippee that came with some pretty interesting features, such as a digital room temperature display, sound lights, and nightlight with dimmer. It seemed like the perfect all-in-one, since we were also shopping around for a nightlight, until we saw the price… It cost about RM500+ for the set. Even a separate nightlight and baby monitor wouldn’t cost that much put together.

During our wanderings for a baby monitor, we also came across a few brands of products that we had been looking for some months back without success. Before buying the Quinny Buzz Pram, the hubby and I had been eyeing a brand of prams called Aprica. It is a Japanese brand that we came across in Singapore. By the time we went back to try and get it, it was no longer selling. Even though we checked with a number of stores both in Malaysia and in Singapore, they all confirmed that they were no longer selling this brand.

The reason why we liked Aprica was because it was lightweight and it was one of the few models of prams that had an interchangeable handlebar that allowed us to decide whether to face baby forwards or backwards. Since it is advised that during the early stages, it is prefered to have a backward facing pram so that the baby can maintain visual contact with the parents, we decided that this was a feature we couldn’t do without. The only other model that had this feature was the Quinny Buzz. The only downside was that the Quinny Buzz weighs about three times more.

One of the first places we went to when we arrived at 1Utama was the baby section in Parkson. It was surprisingly well-equipped for a department store. We also discovered that they were selling the Aprica pram that we wanted to buy and the Aprica baby carrier we had hunting for. We had seen the Aprica baby carrier during one of our trips down to Singapore but by the time we went back for it, it was no longer selling so we ended up with the Bjorn. The only upside is that the Bjorn model we bought provides better back support for the hubby and I since we both have mild back problems.

The other thing we discovered is that Toys ‘R’ Us, has a baby section that sells some pretty sturdy cots at a fraction of the price that we bought ours for. Funny, it never occured to me to look in a toy store for a cot. Isn’t it amazing how all the things you never could find when you wanted them only appear after you no longer need them?

While on the way to Jusco department store, we discovered a little shop called Chicco located on the 2nd floor, next to the main entrance of Jusco. It is a branch of Bambino in SS2, and they sell Recaro child car seats! The only other place where we had seen Recaro child car seats was the Recaro shop in Midvalley and man was it was expensive there! Chicco was running a promotion on the Recaro Young Start Car Seat (without the audio speakers) for only RM999 (versus RM2k+ for the one with the audio speakers in Midvalley).

The model was exactly the same, except that it did not come with the speakers. We figured that the speakers were overrated anyway and that this was bloody good bargain so that’s how we ended up with a car seat instead of a set of baby monitors. The car seat can be used on children from 9 months to 12 years. Since we intended to use this car seat for Gavin as he grows into it, we also needed to buy the impact cushion (required for children from 9 months to 3 years) which set us back by another RM300.

The hubby’s a bit of a race-car enthusiast and holds a high regard for Recaro seats. He figures that since they make good car seats for racing, their child car seats ought to be just as safe.

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