"Stuff" Questions - what kind of clothes for a New York March baby? - Page 3 « Back to Group Discussions

[Meggsy]

I think that there are some of the same concerns as for swaddling with baby carriers - if the baby's legs are constricted too much during the day, they don't have enough of a chance to develope the reflex arcs in the lower spine. I am not sure if this is a general recommendation, but I do know an osteopath who has had some grave concerns about this. I guess I am just wanting to be open to transporting baby in lots of different ways as I spend a lot of time walking outside normally (though not sure how much that will happen for the first month anyway). In terms of my spine, we went for the Ergo performance, which seems to fit my body well. But we'll see- I have just decided to try to be open-minded and see how the baby wearing plays out - but thanks for the advice. If the Ergo doesn;t work out maybe I will try another before giving up prematurely!

Both of your advice about the squishiness of the bunting is really helpful - thanks! There is so much to learn about baby safety.

[LightForest]

Hm I think the concerns about baby's leg positioning in the carrier would really vary depending on the type of carrier used? The type of concerns you mention sound to me more like something that might happen if the baby is hanging from its crotch with legs hanging down. (I'm just thinking of the baby's leg position in relation to its body when being swaddled: this is similar to baby's position in a Bjorn carrier, but very different from the "froggy" or seated position in other carriers...)

BTW the Ergo performance seems like an awesome carrier but I just want to make sure you know it won't really work with a small baby unless you use an infant insert? You want to make sure the small baby (0-3 months or so) has good head/neck support, and when they're that young, they can't quite spread their legs out into a seated position around your waist in the carrier - froggied legs are much more realistic for baby at that stage.

I know I keep mentioning all this baby safety stuff but I do want to encourage you to not get too bogged down in it all. If we truly heeded every word of warning regarding potential harms that might befall our children I think we'd be left wrapping them in hypoallergenic bubble wrap and never removing them from their perfectly padded cribs for fear of breaking them. Babies are sturdier than we often give them credit for, and instinct and common sense does go a long way toward keeping the babies safe!

[Meggsy]

We did get the infant insert, but I think at the very beginning a moby will be a bigger part of our lives. 

I have been doing, through all this, premed training, with the hope of becoming an osteopath and I am afraid that from the exposure I have had, there is not,a whole lot of evidence yet to draw any broad conclusions about baby carrying (beyond the baby bjorn concerns you mentioned)...my hunch is that time will tell. But  the concerns about swaddling and constricting fetal movement should be balanced with a view of what people around the world have been doing for thousands of years....so I am not totally worried about baby carrying or swaddling. But I do think that there are enough ways to hold and walk with and comfort babies (and my achy back!) to rely on as to give me options. And, as loads of moms have told me, I am likely to rely on the one that baby is most comfy for the baby so I plan to just go with things...but still, I think there is a lot of hype around swaddling that may or may not be good. Babies need to move their legs to develope the neural feedback responses in their lower spine so, the way I am interpreting things, is to not let my baby spend too much time in a given day bound up in a swaddle and a baby carrier, but to not worry too much about it either. 

You are right about the worrying - it's all a balance, as is everything in life, right? It's great to have this virtual space of a lot of sane and caring women to talk about this stuff with though, isn't it? :)

[LightForest]

I totally know what you mean, Meggsy. The current swaddling craze seems (to me) to have come about on the heels of the "back to sleep" campaign. There are lots of contraptions being sold to help you encourage baby to sleep soundly on its back! I can also see how swaddling would be a concern for those babies sleeping for very very long stretches at night. That's a lot of hours to be confined to one space every single night. I rarely hear of babies being carried for multi hour stretches on a daily basis, though.

In the end, yes, you just have to find something that works well for your particular baby. And that thing will change frequently! And whatever you find will probably not be met with approval by some folks out there. And you'll get really good at ignoring their stink eye

But on the bright side, my experience of having a baby in NYC was that the average person on the street was FAR LESS LIKELY to say anything about your kid or how you were parenting it. I get so many "helpful suggestions" concerning my toddler now that I live in the Chicago area, and it's made me realize how nice that NYC anonymity thing could be!

[Meggsy]

Oh yes, I forgot, LightForest, you used to live here. You were the one that gave me the awesome suggestion to unzip my coat on the subway, weren't you? I have to tell you, it worked, and I have passed it along to everyone in my prenatal yoga class!

Yes, NYers, though wonderful, don't feel the need to tell you how to live your life. I suppose there is good and bad in that in that it takes time to build a community of friends here.

[LightForest]

Originally Posted by Meggsy 

Oh yes, I forgot, LightForest, you used to live here. You were the one that gave me the awesome suggestion to unzip my coat on the subway, weren't you? I have to tell you, it worked, and I have passed it along to everyone in my prenatal yoga class!

Yes, NYers, though wonderful, don't feel the need to tell you how to live your life. I suppose there is good and bad in that in that it takes time to build a community of friends here.

Ha I'm glad my suggestion is proving useful! Isn't it funny how those little tricks really can make a difference?

I know what you mean about the good and the bad... It was so hard for me to build a community of friends in NYC. I think having a baby helped in a way, because he/she gave me an "excuse" to go to more places where like-minded parents were hanging out. And our babies were easy conversation starters.