When Lucy was still a little baby I wore her a lot in a wrap. As she got bigger and more mobile I slowly have gotten away from wearing her. She also started to hate being confined in the wrap. Recently however, she has entered a stage where she wants to be held and carried ALL the time.
At the very least she wants my attention. At least 90% of it. As you can imagine this has made cleaning, cooking, caring for Jake and all my other daily tasks almost impossible! Not to mention the fact she weighs a whooping 22 and a half pounds! Sometimes my arms pretty much give out from carrying her all around.
Today I figured it was time to pull out the sling. I had bought this when Jake was about 6 months old. He hated it for the most part. The only time he didn't fuss in it was if he was sleeping. I think it's because I introduced baby wearing with him so late. However Lucy LOVED it! This totally surprised me because she is SO busy, and she ALWAYS wants to be exploring and finding something to get into. I figured it would last 5 minutes tops, and she would be squirming to get down. I was so wrong! She hung out there on my hip while I swept, changed laundry, did dishes and picked up some out of place things.
What really surprised me was her reaction. She sat there with her mouth slightly open and her eyes big and intent on watching me. You honestly would have thought I was doing the most exciting things. She babbled a little but never fussed or whined. While the sling worked well I think I will have to find another option as well because I think it would start to bother my back and shoulder after awhile of daily use.
Some things I didn't consider when I first tucked her in the sling was the difference of a toddlers activity vs. the activity level of a baby. I need to remember to allow some extra space when going in and out of doors (we had a couple almost head bangs) and also the distance between her and whatever I'm walking by, her little hands are fast and after everything!
All in all I think it was very successful and could be the solution to ending this less productive week I've just had, and her need for my constant and undivided attention.
Have you tried a back carrier? If Damien is being particularly needy, I throw him in there. I use it for grocery shopping, too, so he leaves my list alone (lol.) The other day I needed to go up to my school's campus to take care of some paperwork and he just chilled in there for close to an hour, and only really started to get fussy when I wouldn't let him play with the candy bowl at the registration desk LOL
ReplyDeleteLike a mai tie? I was thinking about making one of those.
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