October 08, 2014
To celebrate babywearing week, we reached out to our friends at Babywearing International. BWI is a non-profit group that helps all the parents wear all the babies! We love the work they do promoting babywearing as a universally accepted practice (thank you!), with benefits for both child and caregiver. They provide education and support to parents, caregivers, and educators through outreach activities (check out some activities in your area). At the heart of BWI is their network of chapters run by Volunteer Babywearing Educators serving their local communities, these educators can help you with everything from which carrier is best for you to how to do a back carry.
So, when we were looking for babywearing tips to share, naturally we reached out to this amazing network to get their tips from experience! We've grouped their tips by topic, so you can easily find what you are looking for! Today's focus: back carry.
Babywearing Tips | Back Carry
- When learning to back carry, practice over a bed or have a spotter to assist you. [BWI of Knoxville]
- Get a deeper seat in a back carry. After putting carrier on and adjusting mostly - Reach under your armpit and back to grab baby's leg/thigh on one side and reach up and over your shoulder to grab the shoulder strap closer to the top of the body of the carrier. Then lift and rotate, pulling gently up and forward on baby's thigh while gently bouncing and pulling up on the shoulder strap. Switch sides and repeat. Snug down the shoulder straps as needed to get a more secure fit after this has settle baby deeper in the seat. [BWI of Phoenix]
- Uncertain about getting baby on your back by yourself? Lay your carrier out on the couch or bed, and then sit baby on top of it. Then sit in front of the carrier, buckle it on your waist, and then bring the loosened shoulder straps up onto your shoulders. Scoot baby towards your body, tighten the shoulder straps, and bounce baby down into a deep seat. Tighten again and you're ready to go! You can reverse the process to get baby out, until you and baby are more comfortable with back wearing! [BWI of Greater Boston]
- When doing a back carry, lean forward a bit so baby's weight is off the carrier and pull the "slack" out of the shoulder straps, tighten them and then adjust the chest clip for more comfortable wearing. [BWI of Greater Austin]