where is baby when you cook?

[kfillmore]

I always hold/carry my 2 month old. I lay her down sometimes when she is asleep or content on her own. I can't figure out what to if I need to cook. I barely manage to toast or microwave (or eat for that matter). Do you use a swing or something?

Also, how do you manage to eat with baby on your front? I mean without making a mess. I sort of manage at home but I would like to eat out occasionally.

[pixiepunk]

when cooking little babies are in a high back carry in a mei tai for the most part. sometimes i could manage to lay 'em down in a bouncy seat nearby. nowadays my 1 yo is usually pretty content to bang on some pots while i cook, but sometimes still wants to be on my back in a SSC or chunei.

if baby is asleep on my front i lay a cloth napkin over the baby's head and front of the carrier when we would eat out before she was big enough for a high chair i'd usually wear her in a ring sling, and turn in a partial front-facing kangaroo type position so she could see what was going on and would also be turned to the side so at least if i dripped it wouldn't be on her head if by chance a baby fell asleep in the carseat on the way to a restaurant i would sometimes bring that in (just about the only time i've ever done that, i hate lugging those things around), but that was rare because usually they'd wake up instantly once in the restaurant and then we'd have the stupid carseat to drag back out to the car.

[Devaskyla]

Back carry while cooking. Eating..just be as careful as I can & get to the crumbs before he does.

[Pyrodjm]

She is in a wrap on my back most of the time when I cook. Sometimes the high chair if she is in a very good mood. I have eaten with her in a ring sling on my front since she was very small. I kinda slide her to my hip and eat with the opposite hand.

[baturay]

My littlest one is 2 1/2 mos and he is on my back in a woven wrap when I'm cooking and also when I'm eating. If he is awake, then he is on my side in a short wrap.

[maymorales]

I used to switch between a swing (the papasan chair, i think it was called) and the moby wrap during newborn stage. but the swing chair would only buy me 5 to 10 minutes tops. so i had to speed chop / cook. As soon as he was older, i used a ring sling for hip carry. it was always standing crooked at the stove. Once he got older, I carry him on my back in my Beco and cook away. He especially liked it when I chopped vegetables.

We didn't eat out when my kids were little. Too much drama. Plus I enjoyed cooking and setting up for a nice meal.

[TheGirls]

Before 4 months, dd was in a moby all the time. I could do a little cooking, but not a ton. We ate out a lot, and dp was a big help. As far as eating, I could still fit in a booth with her on, and I'd just eat over her. Carefully. Yes it was a bit messy, but not so awful. I'd put a napkin on her head when possible. Sometimes DP and I would take turns eating and doing laps with the baby.

At 4 months I discovered back carrying, and then cooking was easy. I cooked with DD on my back in a wrap or Mei Tai and later in a Beco.

At 5 months, I discovered that DD could sit in a high chair, so she sat and played with toys while I ate (sometimes). That was handy since she was getting grabby around then.

Even at 12 months I still occasionally end up eating with a baby in my lap, but it's much more rarely. Like maybe 1x/wk. And even then, sometimes DP is there and we can take turns (but now we don't have to do laps - she's content to be in a lap at the table). Of course, now she eats at the table which brings a new set of challenges!!

If I were to do it again, I'd do a back carry much sooner to help with the cooking. I'd consider a high back carry while eating too, if the babe doesn't mind. I don't think it would work in a booth, but I can usually turn the chair sideways and eat if, say, DD falls asleep on the way to a restaurant. And some chairs have low enough backs that a tiny baby would sit above the back anyhow so I think that would be pretty comfortable.

Learning a high back carry with a small baby is a little scary and tricky, but totally worth it. I found it easier to learn it with a Mei Tai.

[PNCTink]

On my back in a wrap. Sometimes on my front for eating and I use one of the sides for covering DS's head.

[PeacefulSprout]

On my back!!!! Cooking and eating with my babes on my front just results in "crumb-y" babies!!!

[kssinca]

I was wondering the same thing!!! I usually put DS in his bouncer when I am in the kitchen but he's starting not to enjoy the bouncer as much. I have a moby, a ring sling and a mei tai but I'm still nervous about wearing him anywhere else but my front!

[LDSmomma]

I put DS (4 mths) in a bouncy seat at the door to the kitchen, so he can see me, and he's happy!

As for eating, I'm usually getting crumbs all over his head. DH wears him in the Ergo, and puts the sun shade over his head, then spills all over that!

[kfillmore]

How??

HOW do you carry a 11 week old on your back?

I have a Moby and Ergo. All instructions seems to be only for older babies. I looked at the babywearing web site and there are some great photos from around the world. In everyone the baby is on the back! I on the other hand can't figure how to do it with my almost 3 month old.

[Malva]

I know you can do small baby back carries with woven wraps and mei tais. There could be others carriers as well but I'm no expert.

Here is my baby when I cook. She's 7 weeks old. Youtube taught me how to put her on my back.

[lolar2]

Originally Posted by kfillmore

HOW do you carry a 11 week old on your back?

I have a Moby and Ergo. All instructions seems to be only for older babies. I looked at the babywearing web site and there are some great photos from around the world. In everyone the baby is on the back! I on the other hand can't figure how to do it with my almost 3 month old.

With a mei tai.

[Devaskyla]

It takes practice and scaring the heck of your dh. I can put ds3 on my back in either a mei tai or a wrap, but it's tricky & I still do it over something soft (& hopefully near a mirror) unless I have dh around to spot. You should be able to do it pretty easy in an Ergo. One of the safest/least scary ways to do it with a MT is to lay the carrier on the bed, lay the baby on the carrier, sit in front of it, tie the bottom straps, then grab the top ones & pull baby up. Never used an Ergo, would something similar work for that?

I would not use a strethchy wrap like a Moby for a back carry. Really not safe.

[baturay]

Originally Posted by kfillmore

HOW do you carry a 11 week old on your back?

I have a Moby and Ergo. All instructions seems to be only for older babies. I looked at the babywearing web site and there are some great photos from around the world. In everyone the baby is on the back! I on the other hand can't figure how to do it with my almost 3 month old.

You can do it with a woven wrap (and mei tai too) at a really early age (like days old). It just takes practice. Learn how to do it with online instructions and then practice over something soft or with someone behind you. You can do it! And it makes life so much easier ~ baby is happy and your hands and front are free.

Here's my littlest one on my back. I had him on my back at days old (he was about a month or so in this picture though).

[Michigan Mama]

I'm nervous but determined to learn the high-back carry early with this new LO (due Aug.) It will be so helpful when I'm chasing my 2 yo ds!

[limabean]

I've been lucky so far in that DH has been able to care for DD while I cook, or I'll prep everything during her nap and just throw it in the oven at dinnertime.

I can't stand holding a baby at the dinner table, so our kids have always been in a bouncy seat or high chair at dinnertime -- neither of them has seemed to mind so far. DD would never stand for being in a carrier at the table anyway -- I have to be walking for her to be happy in a sling/wrap, and it has to be purposeful, forward-moving walking, not just sauntering around the house or swaying. She's very particular!

[MaryLang]

Necessity is the mother of invention. Sometimes you just NEED that babe on your back, for cooking, or because they have other siblings that could trample babe, or they are not content in a bouncy. For me I started using a FH MT in a back carry at about 2-3wks (if it weren't for the c/s, it'd have been sooner). It was tricky to get the hang of at first with one that young, but you have to do what you have to do and it made my baby so happy

[AdInAZ]

Sometimes I sling him off to the side and just make something I can cook one-handed, like crockpot chicken and rice. (I've never figured out a back carry with a newborn) Older babes I would use an ergo on my back.

Often dh or dd will hold him.

Sometimes a bouncy.