How to use a Woven Wrap

So, you’ve got a woven wrap in your hot little hands, now what?

When you get a brand new wrap, you will need to wash it to remove some of the stiffness, but also to help set the fibres. Finely Woven has a great list of care instructions for the different woven materials, but ensure you read the care instructions that came with your wrap.

Some wraps require “breaking in”, which is a term used to describe the process of turning your stiff wrap in to a “floppy” one, easier and more comfortable to wrap with. Finely Woven has also listed commonly used processes for doing this. A lot of people prefer to buy second hand to skip this stage, or loan out their new wrap to friends who are “good” at breaking in wraps.

Now on to the more exciting stuff, actually wrapping with it!

There are many different carries you can do, and there is a basic list here, created by TheBabyWearer, including the length of wrap you will need.

Here are my lists of what I think works for different reasons. I have categorised them in to Front Carries, Back Carries (including how to get baby on to your back), Hip Carries and Torso carries (meaning no passes going over your shoulder, so only your torso is keeping it up).

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Babywearing Meet at MacLeans Ridge

Had a meet at a local mum’s house yesterday, with some of the mum’s from her mother’s group and, the always delightful, Kate (and her two gorgeous girls).

I took all the carriers I had with me, and was feeling a bit nervous about being asked about back carries, as, even though I do do them, I don’t really feel as though how I do it is a good example. Luckily, being mums new to babywearing, they were only interested in the “easy” ones, so only tried on my Mei Tais and Ring Slings. The winner seemed to be the DidyTai, which I lent to one of the mums, as she was packing to move to Melbourne over the weekend. I lent another mum my Close Carrier, as her bub was still little, and the Close Carrier (now called Caboo by Close Parent) is, in my opinion, the hands down best newborn carrier you can get (for a person new to babywearing anyway)!

After they left, Kate and Georgie raided the rest of my stash, trying different ring slings and feeling different wraps. We discussed shorties, and I whipped out the size 2 Double Rainbow I have temporarily traded (for my size 5 Easycare #01) to show them how you could squeeze out a double hammock tied rebozo with it (only thing I have “mastered” with it so far).

Kate had a long journey ahead of her, so head off with her precious cargo, hoping for a better road trip home than she had coming down. And Georgie and I looked at hip carries on YouTube to see if she could start using her wrap more, until I had to leave to collect BallinaGirl. (We tried Leigh’s Robyn’s Carry, and the “Coolest Hip Carry”, which I wore BallinaBoy in to pack up and get going)

I have been speaking to Mel from Beetlebums, who is an advocate for KangaCollective and all things babywearing, and am hopefully going to be able to take part in a course so I will be “certified” to instruct on certain carries. Very exciting for the Northern Rivers Babywearers community and the new mums looking for help.

The next meet for Northern Rivers Babywearers will be held at a house in North Ocean Shores. Contact me, or join our Facebook group for more details.

P.S. I also made some delicious raw chocolate for the get together.. But BallinaBoy slobbers on them, so I had to have most of them.. What a pity 😛

Note: Kanga Collective seems to be down at this current time, but here is a little blurb about them taken from Nurture Magazine:
“Kanga Collective
Contact Email: mel@beetlebums.com.au
Website: http://www.kangacollective.com
Details:
Kanga Collective is an all inclusive community, many people with many beliefs, and one directive. Wearing our babies will change the world.
We embrace and wholeheartedly believe that baby-wearing is more than just a mode of transport. It's a parenting tool. 'Time in' rather than 'Time out'.
Our vision is to make baby wearing mainstream via community support and education. We're passionate, committed and excited about baby wearing and our flourishing collective."

Our Saturdays at Goonellabah Gym & Aquatic Centre

Our Saturday mornings are now filled with swimming lessons! For both of my littlies. BallinaDaddy does both the lessons with them, while I mind the other one. BallinaGirl really wanted to have her lesson first, with her little brother, and was a bit tired by the time her lesson rolled around, not to mention unfocused, as she had been going down the water slide with her dad just before her lesson started.

The kids loved our morning there, but it seems to take over our weekend. If nothing is planned, it is a great way to kick off the weekend. But committing to Saturday morning may mean there will be no camping trips for a while.