Of Baby Carriers and Slings

My family loves going to malls, sometimes in just a spur of the moment; we are on our way to Pampanga (which is an hour and a half bus ride from our place) and just plain window shop, or if we want to splurge a bit- to Manila.

Malling (as we call it here in the Philippines) is the new term for going for a walk in a mall. Malls are considered modern-day parks -- after all, with temperatures rising from 35-37 ° C outside- families would prefer to stay inside the mall to enjoy the air conditioning and do a bit of window shopping, enjoy an afternoon snack in the confines of a safe and cool place, at the fast food or restaurant of your choice; and, it’s also a welcome break for such a ho-hum life that we have here in the province.

Which brings us to the question- How on earth will we be able to do that if you only commute and have a six month old – breastfed baby in tow?

Simple, a sling or a soft carrier would do the trick.

I find baby wearing practical, we can do lots of things such as going to malls, accompanying my 8 year old son to his swimming class, running errands or just doing regular stuff inside the house--together. My little Addi is less fuzzy and more attached because of this. What I’m currently using is Snugli by Gerry baby products; my mom- in law gave it to me when my son was just 5 months old. We actually never used it for our Jaygee because – frankly at that time, we don’t know how to use the cradle position- and he doesn’t like the sitting position since it didn’t fit him well (he’s a big baby).

So when our daughter came, I chanced upon an article in the internet regarding baby wearing and how it soothes a fuzzy baby. Tried it with my daughter and used the cradle position at first. My tea cup princess opted to use it while sitting. I carried her around the house and she liked it, she even fed and slept inside the carrier while I was doing my usual sweeping, I even sewed a few pillow cases while wearing her.

After that, I’ve been “wearing” her ever since. It’s also practical since I can lift the front flap when I’m feeding her, for privacy; would you believe that I went about my errands with her feeding discreetly? It’s also suitable for the tropical weather since air ventilation is achieved because of the opening on both ends, it can also double as a changing pad.

My Snugli has yet to be further tested though- others might find the clasps too unstable since it’s only made of hard plastic- so I’m not really recommending it to be used on heavier and bigger babies. Slings do that, according to an avid baby sling user, even a six year old kid can be carried on a sling when he/she’s too tired of walking.

I still have to buy a real sling-but for now, this carrier would do…

Till my next foray …