I've been wearing Ewan since his birth. Today, we tried a new carry position, the hip carry, and 15-month-old-26-pound Ewan nursed in the carrier for the first time. Twice!
Ewan and I went to the Family Fitness and Baby Fair hosted by the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital to help at the La Leche League booth and to see what other interesting baby booths were there. I did not bring a stroller because he hates the stroller anyway. I always seem to end up pushing my bags in the stoller and carrying him on my hip. I just wore him in the Ergo Baby carrier and let him run around a little bit.
His dad is out of town, so it was just Ewan and I.
He was having so much fun that he would not stay near the booth! He's 15 months on Monday and he has learned to run. While trying to help at the booth, I was constantly having to leave to run after him, so I put him in the Ergo hip carry position. I'd never done that before either. The Santa Barbara LLL Leader, Jessica, helped me do it, and Ewan was content. It was a great way to keep him near me, but not make him feel confined.
It was getting to be lunch time and he was hungry, so I loosened the shoulder straps, slid him down a little bit, and unbuttoned my top. He latched right on and hugged himself into me. He nursed for a few minutes in the carrier and then we sat down in a chair and he nursed on the other side before eating some grapes, green beans, and other snacks I brought for him.
Later, he was getting to be ready for his nap and he started crying. I nursed him on the one side and then slid him over a little bit to nurse on the other side, all while standing up and talking to people about breastfeeding.
I have to say that babywearing is right up there with breastfeeding as the most useful skills a parent can have, and combining the two is amazing in its power to making parenting easier. I didn't have to stop what I was doing to attend to his needs. I can't believe I didn't try it until now!
Babywearing allows a parent to include her baby in her world instead of keeping the baby separate from her world. Ewan didn't have to play on the floor as I talked to people above--he was right there listening to our conversations and learning about social interaction.
I don't even know why I own a stroller... oh yeah, he's pushing 30 pounds... that's why.
