Baby Wearing Part 2b: Summer Tips and Healthy Practices

With the warmer weather coming out in full force now, families will want to go out and enjoy the sun! Everyone needs to keep aware of keeping safe in hot weather though, which is so easy to forget when traipsing around outside.

Below is a review of ideal practices and highlighted tips for baby wearing in the summer, but the latter can really be applied in any summer situation with a baby. Hope these help and that you all have a great time under the sun!

Ideal Practices

Almost everything revolves around TICKS, so here's a refresher.

Tight
In view at all times*
Close enough to kiss
Keep chin off the chest
Supported back

*In the summer, this may be the most important so you can continually gauge your baby's condition. Remember that covering baby with a blanket may keep the sun off BUT may incubate heat as well, and keep baby from your view.

This is how supportive a back carry can be!
4.5 years old and 35 pounds. =)

Another part of ideal practices is to keep the baby facing towards you. It is not necessarily unsafe to have the baby outward-facing, but you cannot monitor how your baby is doing if he or she is not facing you. It will also be tougher on your back as the weight is pulling outward on the person carrying, putting unnecessary stress on your lower back and shoulders. Back carries, however, allow for the child to look out at the world while being much more ergonomic for the person carrying. Baby can also "tune out" the activity around them if they become overwhelmed, which is more difficult to do if they are in front and outward-facing. To ensure you can monitor your baby while back-carrying, the baby should be up high enough so that his or her head should be able to rest on your neck.

For a more detailed review of outward-facing versus inward-facing, please see this great article.  Please don't be put off by the title! Read it for info and guidelines.

Here is also a great FAQ on forward-facing carriers.

Some of us who are already baby wearing may be itching to correct those wearing forward-facing carriers. I love how The Canadian Babywearing School gives perspective on this topic. The most important statement from this post, I would say, is this:

The only unsafe positioning is (especially in a baby 4mos and younger) chin to chest  – which I’ve seen in strollers and carseats and swings and even in poorly tightened woven wraps facing in – as well as most often in full cradle carry positions.

If you're a research geek like me, check out this amazingly detailed Google doc about different carriers and such.

Summer Weather tips

Please take note of these, because sometimes we become so occupied with how hot we are we don't remember that children will feel the effects but don't know how to address heat issues.

Also remember that babies under 6 months old cannot regulate their own temperature and cannot sweat to keep themselves cool. For more info on how to know if you're overheating a newborn, please click here.

If you're hot, baby is hotter 
 - mind that carrier is another layer, so naked with a diaper for really hot days is a consideration (for the baby, not you!)
 - wear thin clothing yourself
 - drink lots of water/milk, both you and baby!
 - a hot car to us is even hotter to baby
 - light misting of water from a spray bottle can help

Make sure baby is visible to ensure you can watch out for overheating.
 - heat stroke will escalate more quickly in a little body!
   - being floppy or more irritable; fewer wet diapers; refusing to drink; sunken fontanelle/soft spot.
   - more details can be found at this link.

Stay out of the sun
 - cover what you can but make sure baby is visible
 - use sun hats, mesh SPF baby leggings on arms or legs, loose clothing

For more reading, take a look at this Hot Weather Guide.

Baby Wearing Part 2a: Healthy Baby Wearing

Before continuing on about my journey on baby wearing, and specifically with woven wraps, I thought I'd share what healthy baby wearing is.

There are many more carriers out there than even 5 years ago, or at least they are more widely known. The internet has definitely expanded the reach of markets across the globe, and fans of Tula, Beco, Ergo and Kinderpack have been posting pictures of themselves with their babes and the carrier with the print they oh-so-love.

But there are still some people who are risking their baby's health when carrying in certain ways. This is a touchy subject, as many informed parents wonder if they should ever approach another parent who may be wearing their child in a less-than-optimal position. On one hand, baby wearing is great so perhaps we should leave well enough alone. On the other hand, many of us say that if we were informed by another well-meaning parent, we would be grateful!

So, my passive-agressive way is to blog about it. =P Not like I know anyone who does so incorrectly anyway, but if you're baby wearing and unsure about the position, or looking to start and are learning the ropes, this post is for you.

WHY WEAR A BABY?

Firstly, why wear a baby? We can leave them in a stroller or put them in the crib or bouncer... but we all know there are many, many moments when babies just want to be held. And that's natural! They were in a small, cozy, dark space for so long and all of a sudden projected into a loud world with their limbs flailing. For at least the first 4 months, they will want to keep being in a place which simulates the environment they were in for 9 months. That's understandable, isn't it? Even after they get to know the world as we know it, there's a lot to take in and learn, and being near us, their parents, is a refuge.

Here is a post by Babywearing International which gives the benefits of baby wearing. Here are my bullet points of the page:

Happy Babies - they like being held! Great for colicky babies
Healthy Babies - being physically close helps baby regulate own physical responses, especially premies/special needs
Confident Parents - learning to read cues
Loving Caregivers - babies come to recognize their caregivers
Comfort and Convenience - can go about chores and tasks more easily

HOW TO WEAR A BABY?

You can refer to the poster above as provided by Health Canada, or you can learn to remember your TICKS!

Tight
In view at all times
Close enough to kiss
Keep chin off the chest
Supported back

Further explanations on the TICKS poster below. Click here for a link to the full version.

Note: "Supported back" used to say "Supported straight back" (emphasis mine) but for a baby, a curved back is more natural to their growth. Keep that baby's spine curved!

Kristen sleeping in the Moby while I eat... something. LOL.
But note the TICKS!

DANGERS TO BABY WEARING?

Here is what Health Canada has put up as warnings. My own thoughts in italics below each point taken from that page.

Serious injuries and deaths can occur when:

• the wearer trips and the baby falls out of the sling or carrier
• Falling out can also happen to babies in a stroller, and particularly to babies who are in infant seats precariously placed on top of grocery carts. I've seen so many babies balanced that way, and so many kids not strapped into their stroller and pretty much falling out! I don't see how a sling or carrier is more dangerous.
• the product malfunctions or its hardware breaks
• This can happen - and has happened - in strollers as well. This is, however, why it is SO important to get a high quality carrier. Woven wraps are not simply "another piece of fabric" or a table cloth or a bed sheet. I'll get into it in another post but there is much more care that goes into a woven wrap and soft structured carriers!
• the baby falls over the side of the sling or out through the leg openings
• Which is why learning how to use the carrier properly is necessary. As I mentioned before, I've seen babies and older children practically falling out of their stroller due to manufacturer's lack of foresight (Graco had a tray without a middle piece to meet the stroller so kids - unstrapped, mind you! - would slip right down and through) or simply due to parents not buckling their children in. No one has cried out "Danger!" on strollers.
• the baby is positioned incorrectly, causing suffocation against the product's fabric, the wearer's body, or their own chest
• I refer you back to the TICKS! Along with that is keeping the child's legs in the "M" or "frog-legged" position, which will be discussed below.

So what does unhealthy baby wearing look like? Tune in to my next post! And before you think I'm judging, I'll be posting up pictures of my unhealthy baby wearing. Most times it's just a matter of learning the correct way. Not all carrier manufacturers will tell you the right way to carry, just the right way to use their product. So let's all learn and promote healthy babies!