Does your baby complain when being worn Front Facing In?

[chix99]

I just purchased a Pikkolo, which I am really personally loving. It is almost as comfortable as my Moby! The problem is, now that my DD is 3 mos old, she is absolutely refusing to be worn frong facing in. She screams as soon as she goes into it. My DH wears her in the Bjorn facing out and she loves it.

Is there any way to "get her" to like or be more accustomed to being worn facing in? I see all these babies who seem content, mine just seems to want to look out and see everything!

[junipervt]

maybe try her in it when she is a bit sleepy, let her snuggle you & walk her to sleep. let her nap in there & feel how nice it is to be all snuggled in w/ mama. I'm not too familiar w/ the pikkolo, but can you wear it for back carries? my DD prefers to be worn on my back as she can see more, but still snuggle in if she feels overwhelmed.

[Altair]

just don't ever do the outward facing carries! Doubt you can convince your husband, but it's with a chance! Did he ever try an Ergo? Dads seem to really like them. My 9 month old boy is happy as a clam forward facing in his Ergo or Babyhawk or handmade Mei tais... he has no idea that there's any other way! Just like rear facing in the carseat.

[xekomaya]

I'm not familiar with that carrier, but is there an alternate position you can use? Legs in, out or under? How about a high back carry? That would probably be my first choice, although it is not as convenient with a coat.

My ds was always content facing in, but he never knew he had another option. Sorta like how he has always been content in his car seat, until he realized a couple weeks ago that everyone else faces forward. Now we struggle getting him in every time. At least carriers have a lot of options

[mambera]

I don't have one, but my understanding is that you can do a front-facing carry in the Pikkolo:

"The Pikkolo has a cinching mechanism on either side of the carrier body to narrow the carrier. You can then comfortably wear your baby in front facing out. The baby is held in a healthy semi-seated position which does not place as much pressure on the crotch and spine of the baby as a Baby Bjorn does. It's not so good for *your* back after about 15-17 pounds though, so be careful."

http://www.theportablebaby.com/pikkolo.html

There's a picture of the front-facing carry farther down the page.

Honestly I was deciding between a Pikkolo and an Angelpack and ended up with the Angelpack. Now I'm regretting it bc my LO also hates facing in and loves facing out, and you really can't do front facing with the Angelpack.

[Quirky]

I think sometimes you just have to go with it -- with the Pikkolo it's entirely possible to do an ergonomic forward facing out position, so why not do it? If you loosen up the top straps all the way, you may be able to pop her in and out the top without unbuckling them, so that when she got tired or bored with looking out, and wanted to nurse or something, you could pop her out and pop her back in facing you.

As a bit of a tangent, I find it very interesting that there's this huge dogma around FFO -- there are many babies who can take it or leave it but there are many babies in my experience who absolutely love it. I don't buy the hype about it being overstimulating or less bonding -- if you follow your baby's cues and she's happy doing it, then why is that less AP than following a baby's cues who wants to face in? I do think it can be like baby crack, and that it's best to encourage versatility in your child and learn how to do all kinds of carries for your own ergonomics and needs, but I don't think there's anything wrong with following your baby's lead on the FFO thing if you have a carrier that's comfortable for both of you doing it.

[MamaPhD]

I agree with quirky. I feel in this board, people always say FFO is evil. I used to use Bjorn and my DD LOVED facing out! Now she is too big for Bjorn (well, Bjorn does suck in terms of ergonomics for sure!) and we have Ergo. DD and I LOVE Ergo, but she definitely misses facing out. If we are at an aquarium or museum, I will definitely wear her in a hip carry so she gets to see everything. But ergonomics isn't so great in hip carry for Ergo. In the usual front carry, she is always turning around to see behind her and sometimes I get worried she will get a sore neck from all that turning!

[Pookietooth]

Interesting. DD has always hated facing in and I've had to use my ring sling with a modified cradle hold. When she's facing me, she roots around and does the newborn crawl thing, which always seems to frustrate her. She'd really prefer to be resting her chin on my shoulder, anyway.

[Asiago]

Originally Posted by Quirky

I think sometimes you just have to go with it -- with the Pikkolo it's entirely possible to do an ergonomic forward facing out position, so why not do it?

This interests me very much as my Beco doesn't allow my baby to face out (Quirky had suggested the Pikkolo in my question thread also).

[Pookietooth]

Does anyone have any ideas about why some babies fuss facing in?

[Lauren710]

Originally Posted by Quirky

I think sometimes you just have to go with it -- with the Pikkolo it's entirely possible to do an ergonomic forward facing out position, so why not do it? If you loosen up the top straps all the way, you may be able to pop her in and out the top without unbuckling them, so that when she got tired or bored with looking out, and wanted to nurse or something, you could pop her out and pop her back in facing you.

As a bit of a tangent, I find it very interesting that there's this huge dogma around FFO -- there are many babies who can take it or leave it but there are many babies in my experience who absolutely love it. I don't buy the hype about it being overstimulating or less bonding -- if you follow your baby's cues and she's happy doing it, then why is that less AP than following a baby's cues who wants to face in? I do think it can be like baby crack, and that it's best to encourage versatility in your child and learn how to do all kinds of carries for your own ergonomics and needs, but I don't think there's anything wrong with following your baby's lead on the FFO thing if you have a carrier that's comfortable for both of you doing it.

*nod* Totally agree with the above. 3-4 months is a notorious age for being, ahem, opinionated about babywearing - they want to see everything but don't quite have good enough head/body control to look around while being worn facing in. Since you can FFO comfortably and safely in the Pikkolo I'd just go with it for now, try to switch it up and back carry or face in whenever she'll tolerate it and she'll come around eventually.

[Kiara.I]

Originally Posted by Lauren710

*nod* Totally agree with the above. 3-4 months is a notorious age for being, ahem, opinionated about babywearing - they want to see everything but don't quite have good enough head/body control to look around while being worn facing in.

Yes, this. Almost every baby goes through this stage around 3-4 months (sometimes a bit earlier, sometimes a bit later.) You might find you can go back to front facing in in a couple of months, which will almost certainly be more comfortable for you.

If you don't want to face baby out right now, either for baby's sake or your own, you can try doing high back carries so that baby can see over your shoulder, but it's more ergonomic for you. You can probably do this with your Moby, if you can get your husband to help you get your daughter in and make sure she's super secure. Personally I prefer using woven wraps for back carries, but I know people do use the Moby for them.

[Pookietooth]

My dd has always hated facing in, even as a newborn. She would always try to climb up to my shoulder (where she would be happy, but there aren't any carriers to hold her there and my arms get tired holding her there all the time).

[clovergirl]

Originally Posted by Pookietooth

Does anyone have any ideas about why some babies fuss facing in?

my best theory is that in extreme cases, the babies may have some degree of sensory integration disorder and need the extra stimulation of seeing *everything*. then there are also babies that are just extremely sociable, and while they will tolerate facing in they prefer facing out, and once you start doing it they just expect it. i have even seen some babies who do better in forward facing carriers (like the bjorn) because they are hypertonic, meaning that their muscles are very stiff and it's hard to get them to relax enough to be in a spread squat position- they keep straightening their legs because their muscles are so tense.

anyway, there's my $.02...

[lalemma]

Ah, I'm so happy to see this thread!

My 3-month-old has started to complain about facing in. It's hard, since he doesn't like to be put down, ever. So the only way I can do anything is by wearing him, and now that he doesn't like facing me, yikes. I've worn him facing-out in a wrap a few times, and he thinks it's the best. He watches whatever I'm doing with great interest, and then falls happily asleep. I know what my kid looks like when he's overstimulated, and that's not it.

I find the idea of front-facing being overstimulating for every child kind of... I don't know. I am open to the idea, but I'd need to see research to overcome my fairly profound skepticism.

However, I do worry about how ergonomic it is for him to sit with his back to my chest. I've read that it can force their spines unnaturally straight...?

I don't know what to do about that, though. I guess I'll try to limit the amount of time he spends forward-facing. But if anyone has any info on healthy forward-facing carries, please share!

[Pookietooth]

That makes a lot of sense, because my ds has sensory integration issues and requires a lot of stimulation; also, dd seems happiest in the water, where she's getting a lot of stimulation all over.

Originally Posted by clovergirl

my best theory is that in extreme cases, the babies may have some degree of sensory integration disorder and need the extra stimulation of seeing *everything*. then there are also babies that are just extremely sociable, and while they will tolerate facing in they prefer facing out, and once you start doing it they just expect it. i have even seen some babies who do better in forward facing carriers (like the bjorn) because they are hypertonic, meaning that their muscles are very stiff and it's hard to get them to relax enough to be in a spread squat position- they keep straightening their legs because their muscles are so tense.

anyway, there's my $.02...

[Galatea]

Amen, Quirky. At that age, I always wore my babies kangaroo-style in a ring sling - they loved seeing out and my chest supported their heads and necks.