Slings, Wraps, and Other Contraptions

I am continually surprised by how many comments I receive from strangers when they see me wearing John in my various wraps and slings. It strikes me that this is probably a combination of the fact that many mothers these days do not carry their babies much and, when they do, they must have much stronger arms than do I because I get exhausted very quickly when carrying John "free hand."

The comments and questions can be funny. One cashier asked me, "So . . . is that a thing to carry babies?" I looked down at John in my wrap and pondered how to answer, but ended up just saying, "Yes." Then in Lexington, our kind waiter remarked to me that I reminded him of the mothers in his home country of Africa. Another day while shopping in Costco, an older gentleman came rushing up to me and said, without preamble or warmth, "Where did you get your . . . papoose?" I warmly told him what it was called and where he could get it, at which point he relaxed and told me with great excitement that his first grandchild has just been born several days before.

I've noticed that men have almost never commented on my baby carriers (probably because I look like a weirdo), but innumerable mothers have come up to me and said that how I was carrying my baby looked so easy. What is that? Where can I get one? One woman saw me and lost sight of me in the crowd at the Keeneland race track. Later she spotted me and ran up to me, so as not to lose me again, gushing about how she had to know what I was wearing. She had to get one. The most memorable comment so far, I think, was from a woman who asked what I was wearing and where she could get it, not so that she could carry her toddler but so that she could carry her four-pound dog "who really likes me to carry him around."

Being able to wear John makes my life so much easier, even with the price of the physical work of carrying around his weight. With John in a sling, I have learned how to shop for groceries, cook meals, vacuum and do various housework, work at my computer, and walk for exercise, among other tasks. Meanwhile, I love to see John in the state of quiet alertness a sling induces, which is so good for his learning. This morning as I vacuumed, I thought about how some babies are quite afraid of that big sound, but if John is in my sling he just watches the vacuum quietly and happily. And I know that is not because he's a generally passive, placid baby!

Meanwhile, John is already enjoying time "on his own two feet." At times in the past five months, I felt like I'd be carrying John forever, but he spends a little more time out of slings and wraps each day. He loves his play mat and can spend a good 10-15 minutes at a stretch in tummy time now and he likes sitting on my lap at the kitchen table while I eat. But being on mama's body is still his favorite place!