how old to wear in a back carry?

[mckittre]

My baby is 9.5 weeks old, and we just tried putting him in the Moby wrap on my husband's back yesterday. We wear him on the front all the time, but would like to have on the back as an option (he only naps in the Moby, so we wear him a lot). My husband said it was really nice to have him out of the way (and the weight is distributed better with him on the back), but it was hard to prevent baby's head from hanging way out. I had to sort of follow them around and keep trying to tuck it back in!
Is this something that we can solve by practicing more? Using a different carry? (we just did the basic front carry tied backwards) Or is he just too young? (and when are they old enough?)

[MommaShark]

I've seen high back carries with newborns - so it's doable - I'm the wrong person to ask though on how! I'd google newborn high back carry (here's one link I found: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zEpAOgYnqM )

[baturay]

You need a woven wrap for good back carries with a wrap. Stretchy is great for front carries, but not so great as a back carrier.

But, yes, you can definitely do a back carry with an young baby. Here's a picture of me wearing my littlest one.

http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/w...g?t=1240526670

Try the carry that is called back wrap cross carry (BWCC)...but with a woven wrap.

[Quirky]

I really hate that the Moby advertises its wrap as suitable for back carries. (and I sell them, so obviously I think they're a good product!). No one but a very experienced wrapper should use a stretchy wrap on the back -- and if you're a very experienced wrapper, you're probably going to use something else! Mobys and other stretchy wraps are just too bouncy to be secure.

My preference at that age was for a tall-bodied mei tai for a high back carry; I found the learning curve, particularly solo with no one to spot, to be easier than for woven wraps. The Kozy website has the pictures I used to teach myself how.

[akayerich]

http://wrapyourbaby.com/rucksack.htm
http://wrapyourbaby.com/backwrapcrosscarry.htm

here are a couple of videos that show wrapping a 1 month old on your back. the mama in these videos is using a woven wrap. i'm not sure i'd wanna try it with a stretchy wrap.

[pixiepunk]

Originally Posted by Quirky

I really hate that the Moby advertises its wrap as suitable for back carries. (and I sell them, so obviously I think they're a good product!). No one but a very experienced wrapper should use a stretchy wrap on the back -- and if you're a very experienced wrapper, you're probably going to use something else! Mobys and other stretchy wraps are just too bouncy to be secure.

My preference at that age was for a tall-bodied mei tai for a high back carry; I found the learning curve, particularly solo with no one to spot, to be easier than for woven wraps. The Kozy website has the pictures I used to teach myself how.

:

[mckittre]

Who knew? I find it rather aggravating that the instruction book with the Moby wrap (and with the other stretchy wrap we have) shows you how to use it for a back carry if everyone thinks it's unsafe! We have a frame backpack we could also use, but I think he is still too young for that.

I guess we'll need to get either a woven wrap or a tall-bodied mei tai then, before we try it again.

How tall is the body on a tall-bodied mei tai? We were thinking of possibly trying to make one ourselves (I've been told it's a good thing to use to take a young baby hiking, and we want to use waterproof fabric). Maybe that would solve both the back-carry problem and the hiking problem all at once!

one more question for baturay: in that photo, how did you stop baby from leaning his head backwards. Mine craned his neck back and sideways to look around daddy's back, and then when he fell asleep, it fell back instead of forwards, so there was no support. (I was right there to fix it, but I wouldn't do it w/o a spotter)

[baturay]

Originally Posted by mckittre

one more question for baturay: in that photo, how did you stop baby from leaning his head backwards. Mine craned his neck back and sideways to look around daddy's back, and then when he fell asleep, it fell back instead of forwards, so there was no support. (I was right there to fix it, but I wouldn't do it w/o a spotter)

The wrap is all the way up to his neck and is tightly wrapped around him and his entire body, so that prevents his head from just hanging back. Though, I have to say that he does have good head support for his head anyway, even when he was just a week or so old.

That type of support you wouldn't be able to do with a Moby.

[MaryLang]

I've carried my dd in a high back carry in a MT since she was 4wks old. Its not so hard, just keep practicing, getting the legs froggied just right is the only tricky thing. Oh, I just noticed you have a Moby, like pp's said probably not good for back carries
And as far as MT's I started off with a Freehand with her and now use the Kozy almost exclusively (she's 5mnths now).

[baturay]

Me again

Right now I have my baby again in a back carry in that same carry that I linked the photo to. I tried leaning back to see if his head would flop back. It didn't move at all. I believe the reason why his head is so supported is because the wrap is tightly on me and so presses his body against me firmly (yet we are both very comfortable). The wrap is again up to his neck and he is sound asleep.