Before I had Sunday, I would tell Tommy regularly "I am going to wear the baby all. the. time." "It'll help me lose weight."
"I'll go on walks while wearing the baby."
"I don't need a stroller that will fit in the trunk. I'm going to wear the baby."
Hah. Ha. Hahahaha.
I said so many things before Sunday arrived... :)
So, apparently, when a baby falls asleep in a wrap something weird happens. You kind of lose control of your posture and you slunch down into a position that curls baby closer to you. And then you don't move. At all. You know, in fear of waking the baby. And then your back gets sore and your posture is all messed up and... and... Well... no surprise here. That gets old. Fast.
When Sunday was about two weeks old I tossed out the idea of wearing her all the time. Every now and then when she seemed to just need to be held all day long, I would strap her on and halfway do my chores. (She hated when I did the dishes and her feet would bang against the counter top.) But other than that, I mostly only wore her when I was out of the house running errands or visiting friends.
A few weeks ago my friend Jessica showed me her collection of wraps, slings and structure carriers. She let me borrow one to take home to try and I fell in love with it. It's the one many of my FB friends have seen in pictures:
Sunday loves it. She has gotten used to it and she curls up next to me when I plop her in it. She lays sweetly against my chest and calmly observes the things around her until it's sleepy time. Then she tucks her little head down, nuzzling into the darkness and drifts off to baby sleep heaven. I can feel it happen as her weight suddenly becomes heavier and she just relaxes. But I stay comfortable.
I love it. She loves it. It's a win/win.
A lot of people have asked me where I got the wrap. I got it from my friend Jessica. I offered to buy it from her after trying it out for about a week. The other day I was with her and I asked her to tell me the story of the wrap because so many people had asked me. So, here's how Jess got this wrap into her hands (I hope I got this right!):
- Jess and another girl went in together on a didimos linen wrap (size 7, I believe).
- They split the wrap in half (I believe they paid to have this done professionally).
- Jess took her 3.5 wrap and paid to have it converted to a ring sling (called: wrap conversion).
- Jess continued to collect numerous wraps, slings and carriers and felt there was no need to keep this beautifully crafted wrap-conversion-ring-sling.
- Jess sold it to me.
So, when people ask me "Where did you get that? Can I get one?" The answer is not an easy yes. But, yes, you can get one! It is a drawn out process, but I have to tell you that I believe it is completely worth it. I will use this ring sling for many years (if God blesses us with more babies, that is). I have zero plans to ever get rid of it. I LOVE it!
You may ask... what is the difference between this wrap and a regular ring sling from the store? The quality, the fabric, and the strength. Regular ring slings are often made of thinner material and they don't offer the same support as a wrap. They are uncomfortable, especially after baby falls asleep and you've got dead weight strapped to your torso. The sturdiness of the didimos linen wrap material is THE reason I would pay more $$ for a wrap-conversion. :)
So... I hope I answered your questions! I was getting a lot of feedback and I wanted to lay it all out in one place for you guys. I know I made it seem complicated... but let me just make sure you heard me right: It is worth it! I'm tempted to go through the process myself just to get another color. But, that would just be silly and I know it. ;)
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UPDATE: Luckily I have friends who aren't afraid to correct me when I'm wrong. :) As it turns out, DIDYMOS now actually offers wrap-converted ring slings right on their website. PAXbaby also sells them with completely different color options. Of course I make everything more complicated than it needs to be. Oops! :)
