[chirp]

the only real CHORE i have to get done is cooking. I like to do it. I get hungry since i'm human and all...but i just can't see myself with dangling baby legs near an electric coil, hot pots and pans, and knives.

so do you baby wear while you cook?
how?
i have a homemade moby-style wrap. what kind of carry could i use? is my baby old enough for a back carry? (3 months, alright head control, not a star yet though.)

thanks

 

[TheGirls]

I don't cook (at least, I don't heat things, I will chop veggies, etc) with DD on front, but I will do it (carefully) with her on back. You can do a back carry with a newborn, though I only figured it out recently. My DD is 3mos with excellent head control.

However, you shouldn't back carry with a stretchy wrap like the moby. You can do it with a woven wrap (though I still haven't figured out how) or a mei tai (what I use) or some SSC's...

 

[chirp]

thanks...i have a may baby too!! may 7 for my little boy, Eion.

 

[pixiepunk]

i also have a may baby - 5/2

well, actually i have two may babies, DD1 is also a may baby, but she is now 5 and thankfully doesn't want to be worn while i'm cooking dinner anymore

we would starve if i couldn't babywear while cooking

i put DD2 in a high back carry so she's out of the way. usually in a mei tai. i wouldn't do it with a stretchy wrap, but you could get a length of cotton gauze at a fabric store cheaply - in fact usually it's wide enough that you can cut it in half length-wise so even if one gets puked on or peed on or whatever you have a spare while the other is being washed.

there are lots of good videos on YouTube and over at thebabywearer.com - oh and also at mamatoto.org as well to give you a better idea of how to get baby back there. whether you do legs in or legs out will somewhat depend on your carrier and the size of your baby.

 

[chirp]

looks like we're getting a mei tai. or i could try making one.

but now we'll have a sling, a wrap and a mei tai. !!

!!

we tried a back carry with a large piece of woven cotton that we had around the house, i don't think it was wide enough though.

thanks for the info!!!

 

[trinimommy]

Hi chirp...let me know how that works out...I have been nervous about the back carry...I use a cotton fabric I bought in the fabric store for wearing him..all I have figured out so far though is the front wrap cross carry.

 

[littlemizflava]

small in a ring sling with a really long tail tha i would flip over to cover all of ds. older on my back, if i couldnt wear then i would starve

:

 

[chirp]

trinimommy...that is what we use too...a front cross carry. we tried just putting him the back, tying the wrap the same way...it didn't seem to have much head support and the cross came up really high on my chest in front, kind of uncomfortable with breastmilk-full boobs.

we tried tying the woven cotton wrap how i've seen two young woman tie an african kanga on you tube...however, i don't think that it was wide enough because it didn't feel too secure. the woman on the videos looked like they had slightly wider pieces of fabric than i had (i had originally had it cut so that i coud use it as a moby style wrap, which is thinner than the kanga style.

it looked pretty secure, otherwise, for the women on the video.

i think it also just takes time for me to get used to not being able to keep a consistent eye on him, even though he is right on my back.

happily he seemed to take to the back carry for the short time that i had him in it. which is good...now i just have to get it down right.

 

[PushPineapple]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheGirls However, you shouldn't back carry with a stretchy wrap like the moby. You can do it with a woven wrap (though I still haven't figured out how) or a mei tai (what I use) or some SSC's...

Why can't you back carry with a Moby? My babe's not here yet, and I have a Baby Hawk on the way anyway, but I know my Moby's instruction book includes back carries. Why is that a bad idea?

 

[miche28]

You technically can do a back carry with a Moby - I think they have some pics of their site with both the original and the Moby D.

However, because of the stretch of the fabric, a baby could pull away from your body and do a swan dive out the back before you could compensate.

 

[mama_daba]

i do a lot of cooking while wearing my son. always on my back though. i still have to be very very careful because he gets his hands out and reaches for things now. he got his first taste of nectarine while i was doing dishes last month and he grabbed one off the counter and started munching away. usually to keep him happy while i cook i give him a wooden spoon to play with or something. so far he has not decided it would be a fun game to hit me with it. i use either a chunei or a woven wrap

very recently i have let him play with a dish of water while i made a smoothie and it sort of worked. maybe as he gets older he will play on the kitchen floor while i cook although that may not be safe for the cats.

 

[Quirky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by miche28 You technically can do a back carry with a Moby - I think they have some pics of their site with both the original and the Moby D. However, because of the stretch of the fabric, a baby could pull away from your body and do a swan dive out the back before you could compensate.

I am very much against the idea of a back carry with a Moby or other stretchy wrap, unless you are a) a VERY experienced wrapper and b) you have a child not prone to doing the backwards swan dive and c) you're not doing something that's distracting you, like cooking. I really, really wish Moby (and other manufacturers) wouldn't promote the notion that their carrier is the one and only that you need from birth through toddlerhood!

But back to the OP, I agree that a high back carry in a MT is a good one for cooking. A low back carry in a MT or other carrier requires more caution, as you need to be careful not to swing baby's legs/feet into the stove.

I definitely don't recommend a front carry or side carry for cooking, because it's just hard to see your hands, which is not a good combo when you're using knives and heat. Plus the grabby hands factor.

This is one of those times when I see a use for the gadgets like bouncy seats or exersaucers!

 

[ellemnop]

I also only (carefully) cook with my babe on the back. I think that the baby will be fine as long as the carrier is a very supportive one (not so much a stretchy one).

Take care,
El

 

[Ruthie's momma]

I have always done prep work with the LO in the sling. I have just started to slide DD around to my back...while she is still straddling my hip...for actual cooking. I tend to hold her little foot out of the way while I am near the stove.

 

[Gnatty]

I do prep work with my ds in the mai tai on front, but actual cooking I try tummy time first, and if he's not happy then I put him on my back. He is 5 months and the back carry in the mai tai works very well for us.

You probably can make a mei tai, if you've done pretty much any sewing at all. I used directions I found online for my first, and then made another one and altered a few things... the body on these directions is sized for a toddler. I researched sizes on the MT's for sale, and then copied them.

Here are the instructions I used: http://www.sleepingbaby.net/jan/Baby/asian.html

HTH!