Manduca: My experience with baby wearing

V at 8 months walking in the woods at Conroy Pit (Ottawa).
Beautiful place to walk, enough parking and fun entertainment for kids who don't have pets.
Wearing baby is easier on my back because I can see where I am going and he can fall asleep.
It's also easier to carry the extra weight. Warning: Baby wearing can get really warm!!

As promised, here is an update on my baby wearing experience. I bought the Manduca almost 7 months ago, but didn't really use it much because my son hated being carried! I had the intension of using it for a workout class with Fitmom Ottawa, but the timing wasn't right. In the end, it is serving its purpose but for an entirely different reason.

I entered the baby wearing scene thinking that it was just another thing you need on your list when you have a baby. Well, what I learnt is that baby wearing (in Ottawa, anyway) is considered a community (note, not a cult). I joined the "Ottawa Babywearing Group" to help me get advice on wearing my baby properly and teaching V to love it! They have weekly meet ups too which is a nice way to meet moms and babies! What I noticed though is that there seems to be different philosophies on whether you use a stroller or a carrier… don't want to start anything here folks, I USE BOTH!

For the first 3 month post natal, I had extreme pain in my wrists from taking care of V (holding baby, feeding with a bottle and pushing a stroller with your wrists bent). Tendonitis is very painful, especially at night. Your hands get swollen and cramp up. You need to pump your fingers to drain the extra fluid and stop the pain. I wore a brace to help keep my wrists straight. The awkward manouvres you do when holding a baby that can't support itself is more noticeable when you are restraint by a brace! When you have tendonitis, you can't do exercises like push ups, push a heavy stroller with your wrists bent or do any weight lifting.

By 3 months, V could hold himself up pretty solidly and the pain eventually went away. At almost 9 months, V is now the most curious creature on earth and holding him in my arms is now a workout in itself. Being a counter leaver for a 22 lbs baby is not a walk in the park. And guess who's back baby? Mr. Tendonitis!

This is were the carrier comes in! I have been using it more and more to avoid having to carry him in my arms if I am going "sans-poussette" to run a quick errand. Because I changed V's car seat (I'm using a Diono and no longer my Graco bucket seat) I need to take him out of it. I no longer have the option of taking out the car seat and placing it on the frame of my City Select. It's nice for him, because he can look around, or still keep napping if he falls asleep in the seat. I can appreciate that not all babies are like V, so this may not apply to all moms.

Yesterday, I had V in the carrier to run some errands at St-Laurent Mall, I actually forgot that the stroller wasn't in the trunk. It ended up being so quick and easy. He fell asleep, I did what I had to do and we were out of there in no time! The more I use it, the more he and I are loving it. 

My favourite part of wearing V is noticing that I can't help but pet his bum and kiss his face when he is so close to me :)

Have fun baby wearing! Let me know if you have questions or comments. Are you a strollerist? Do you have any babywearing advice?

Weekend trip to Thunder Bay with V. Used my Manduca because we forgot the stroller at the house.
In the end going to all the shops was pretty easy, no bumping and lifting the stroller into the store!
Warning: Baby wearing gets really warm, which is why we are not wearing jackets :)