Carrier or wrap for winter time?

[gbailey]

Hi everybody. I have an Ergo and DD and I love it. The problem is, as the weather gets colder the Ergo is not that comfortable because I can't close my winter coat with DD in it. How are you ladies wearing your DC in the Ergo in the winter? I'm in NYC and take public transportation most often. Would trying a wrap be different or are you putting the Ergo on over your bulky winter coats? DH suggested I start using the stroller but I prefer to carry her. She loves it. Any suggestions are appreciated.

[MommaShark]

http://monkeypockets.blogspot.com/se...nkey%20Pockets

[baturay]

You could also get a bigger winter coat or a maternity coat and you'll have more space to close it over baby. I love, love, love my Monkey Pocket, but in Chicago winters, I also need to have a coat over me. So, I use my Monkey Pocket in the fall and spring and then a maternity coat over me and the baby in the baby carrier. This winter, after nearly 5 years of babywearing, I'm finally getting myself a babywearing coat - the Mama Jacket.

[Marlet]

I prefer a ring sling for winter. I can layer clothes on the kiddo and me and have plenty of give to work with whatever (I've never had an ergo so not sure how much/well it adjusts with various thickness). Plus I can use the tail to wrap around their legs/head for a bit more of a buffer zone.

I live in an area that gets insanely cold temps a lot in the winter. I don't worry about it honestly. I make sure we both have enough layers and then wear my regular coat. Between their clothes, mine, and our combined body heat we are rarely cold. I just have to remember hats (I have bald kids forever ) and socks (we are rather bare footed as long as possible ) usually.

[Adasmommy]

I think the easiest way to keep warm is to close the coat over both you and baby, so I second the suggestion of getting a bigger coat.

[Carrruth]

I live near Chicago and it gets pretty cold here too. I also just use a bigger coat. I didn't even spend the money on a maternity one, just got one that was a size or two larger for me. Then I just zipped it up over us both. I would put a hat on DD and a scarf on me to protect my exposed neck where the zipper wasn't zipped.

If you're planning to have a couple more kids though and have the money for it, I have heard those babywearing coats are amazing!

[NorthernPixie]

I wear dd in a Beco on my back -- so I guess it matters if you're wearing yours on your front or back? On the front I'd just get a bigger coat and zip it up over you, and use a scarf or something to plug any gaps. If she's on your back, either get a Suse Kindercoat (~$200 but fabulous), or something similar, or do your own sewing job like this: http://www.sedlmeiers.net/photos/Bab...tructions.html

[lifeguard]

I modified a winter jacket for us. It didn't turn out perfect but I'm excited to try it out.

[Marlet]

Aha! I totally forgot about something you could use! I was/am browsing the wrap posts here and saw a post that mentioned knitting. There is something you could either knit or get knit for you that would work!

Click me! Depending on your coat style you would do buttons or zippers (not sure how easy that is...all else fails you could sew buttons to the inside of your coat to make it work) and you could tailor it style wise (yarn color etc.). For added warmth (though I doubt it would need it) you could line one side with fleece or another warm fabric. I haven't knit it yet but it looks insanely easy so even if you had someone do it for you it wouldn't take long at all.

[Comtessa]

The Inuit wear something called an amauti - it's a babywearing coat with a large hood to cover the baby - there's an Inuit woman who makes them here: http://www.amautibaby.com/welcome/Home.html

I've been thinking of getting one for a rough Cleveland winter...

[gbailey]

Thanks all for the great suggestions. I'm sorry I gave away my maternity coat because it would have been perfect. I carry DD in the front. I think I prefer the idea of getting a larger winter coat or maternity coat in a larger size. Monkey Pockets is really cute.

[larzanna]

I have been reading through these, what great ideas!
Quick question, and i hope that i am not hijacking this thread, but when you wear the coat with the baby hole in the back, or the knit belly cover that buttons to your own coat, do you put the baby in a coat in the carrier, or not?

Thanks.

[NorthernPixie]

I put my daughter in a full body fleece suit (the same thing I put her in for the carseat), plus boots/down bootie slippers, mitts, a warm toque. Her fleece suit has a hood and she doesn't wear the hood but it keeps the back of her neck warm. Our combined body heat keeps us warm like that! If it's really cold, I don't let her stick her arms out of the back opening, but I have to move quickly to cinch it closed before she pops them out. I have a Kindercoat, and also a self-modified winter coat.

[SaraCate]

My in-laws and hubby went together and got me the 'M' coat for my birthday this year (DS was born 10 Jan; my bday is 27 Jan ). It is wonderful. It's spendy - most expensive coat I've ever owned - but it's a good down parka, and it's not just a babywearing coat. It has a panel that zips in one way for a maternity coat, the opposite way for babywearing, and zips out completely for a 'regular parka. For that, I think it's reasonably priced.

However, it only works for front carries - DS is getting big, and I am starting to prefer carrying him on my back! So I'll be looking at self-modifying a coat for back carries (we wrap).

To larzanna, last winter, I dressed LO in regular clothes with a winter hat. That's it. With the m coat, he's basically wearing the parka with me, + body heat. We took pretty long walks sometimes - if he fell asleep, I pulled the front flap up to shield his face a bit more, but that's about it. Don't know what we'll end up doing this winter - we'll see!

~sara

[ecstaticmama24]

I would wear a babywearing coat over the Ergo. I love my wrap in the winter, but if you need to take it on and off outside than the tails can get pretty ucky from the slush.

[SubliminalDarkness]

My DS and I always wore separate coats, and we found SSCs to work well for this. I made a point of getting a short waisted coat so I could buckle the carrier directly at my waist.

[Jillian79]

We've always had a babywearing coat that covered both of us. At first we had some sort of a poncho for fall/spring and a regular older Kindercoat, but then I bought a Mama Jacket and have almost exclusively used that for the past couple of years. We've also tried a Peekaru and deluxe Kindercoat but the MJ works best for us. You can use it for back carries also.

The only issue I can see coming up is if you have a smaller child and wear your carrier really low, then maybe your baby's head won't reach all the way to the neck hole, but it really depends on your carrier plus the coat.

[baturay]

Originally Posted by larzanna

I have been reading through these, what great ideas!
Quick question, and i hope that i am not hijacking this thread, but when you wear the coat with the baby hole in the back, or the knit belly cover that buttons to your own coat, do you put the baby in a coat in the carrier, or not?

Thanks.

I don't at all. Baby has the warmth of my body, the wrap, and the coat over him. An additional coat with all of that would overheat him. I put him in long sleeve top/bottom and carry him into the car in the wrap, then buckle him in and do the reverse when taking him out. My kids haven't even own a coat the first year of life.

[pixiepunk]

it depends on the extremity of cold. if it's just moderately cold (like upper 30's, or in the 40's) usually i wear a snug-fitting fleece pull-over, and put the baby in a fleece jacket with a hood, and babylegs under wool pants and that's sufficient for being out in the cold, while not being excruciatingly hot when inside. if it's any colder than that, i definitely wear a babywearing jacket over us. i have a deluxe kindercoat which i love - since the layers separate it can be a lighter weight fleece, or a waterproof shell for rain/wind, or a super warm winter coat with both pieces together. love that thing for really cold weather. i wish i'd gotten one when my other two were little, don't know why i waited till my last kid