Babywearing for the Win!
by Rachel Livingstone, CLC
October 1-7 is International Babywearing Week! We are happy to celebrate babywearing as a fantastic tool to support breastfeeding, and busy moms everywhere!
My family and I are currently in the process of PCSing from Ramstein AB, Germany to Shaw AFB, South Carolina. It's been a busy time in the Livingstone household as my hubs and I pack up our house and get ready for a new adventure.
It's been stressful trying to get my two kiddos to "cooperate" long enough for me to get even a small tote organized. This PCS means my 2 year old is watching tons of tv and snacking a ton instead of eating real meals. She doesn't seem to mind, she enjoys her Paw Patrol time. My 6 month old son, however, as different plans. He's a baby who requires a different kind of attention: frequent breaks to nurse, diaper changes, getting him down for his naps and just giving him some play time. Many times I'm packing one handed as I hold him but he's a big boy and get pretty heavy after a while. Normally, it is what it is, this is the season I'm in and what I have to do to make sure our PCS is smooth. That's just life right now.
However, the past couple days have been especially stressful. It's 0945 and I have so much to do such as...finish packing up an entire house, wait for an Inspector to come do a house packing assessment, make sure I give my daughter some much needed attention, feed us at appropriate times..oh and find time to drink my 3x reheated coffee. But this just felt like the right time to take a minute and write down how much I ABSOLUTELY love baby wearing. My sweet little man is going through a very clingy, separation anxiety phase, probably teething and is cluster feeding and going through a growth spurt - a phase that means mom CANNOT put him down or be out of sight without him shrieking. This phase means sound sleep is just not going to happen even with a belly full of momma's milk, laying a nice and cozy bed with the sound of the ocean drowning out unwanted distractions; sleeping without mom is just not a thing.
This morning, we spent about an hour playing the "take a nap" game. In this game, I nurse, he cries, I nurse, he falls asleep, I sneak away, he wakes up and repeat. With so much to do, I just had to give up. He cried in the bed and I just had to sit on the stairs in frustration. Both of us know he's sleepy - he's rubbing his eyes, he's yawning - it's clearly naptime. But he just won't do it.
Then a spark!! I'll just wear him and he'll knock out instantly.
I have a lot to do and he's a big boy so wearing him on my chest wouldn't be productive. So I wear him on my back. Seriously! No joke! He was knocked out within 3 minutes. I can feel his steady breathing on my back and his litle face is visible under the hood - he just looks peaceful. Definitely loving my Ergobaby right now. I'm not sure why I hadn't thought of this before, I wear him all the time when I run errands. It just hadn't occurred to me wearing him at home could give me more options with household tasks and PCS packing.
I guess I should get back to work now. Or maybe just feed my daughter and I. We still haven't had a chance to eat breakfast and we're super hungry!!
