Sunday, July 25, 2010

as warm as a beetle in a blanket

(as was my own early-childhood mangling of the phrase "as snug as a bug in a rug")



Before my son was born I went a little bit mad, preparing and acquiring all the stuff a wee baby might need. In amongst the mountain of fluffy white nappies and eleventyseven hand-stitched bunnyrugs and tiny tiny tiny growsuits was a cozy new papoose, just like the one my daughter had loved and used almost every day of her first year. I assumed he'd be the same, and that would be how I'd carry him around most of the time.

Wrong. He hated it.

I'd also bought a pram (although I really dislike them), a big blue behemoth of a thing with three fat all-terrain wheels and a removable bassinet and so many unexplained clips and hooks and levers I thought it might've been designed for James Bond. So... we tried that instead. Wrapped him in soft blankets and laid him on the mattress of the pram and wheeled away to enjoy the day...

Wrong. He hated it.

OK, to be fair, he didn't hate it, but he didn't like it that much either. This is a baby that wants to be held all the time. Which is lovely, it is, but I really do have to use my hands for other things quite a lot of the time. How about a sling, then? You'd like a sling, wouldn't you, baby?

Wrong. He hated it.

Running out of options, I thought (without a lot of hope) I may as well try a simple wrap. I found a video tute on YouTube showing how to tie one, that seemed straightforward enough:





and I made one. It's just a vasty length of fabric - around 4 or 5 metres - about half a metre wide - and I tapered the ends for ease of tying. I made one from jersey to begin with but it tended to stretch and sag too much after half an hour or so of wearing so I made another, this time of stretch sateen in a 97% cotton/3% lycra blend, and it seems about right.




I added the brocade panel for a couple of reasons: one, it indicates the centre of the wrap quicker and easier than gathering the whole thing up and folding it in half; and two, it strengthens and reinforces the area that holds most of his weight, as the brocade doesn't stretch.





He's big on holding his head up and stretching his neck a lot at the moment, but the top rail of the wrap can be pulled up and over his head for extra support (and privacy too, if I'm breastfeeding while he's in it).

And...




he loves it.

2 comments:

  1. I love that! I am going to try to make one for a shower gift. Thanks for the idea!!!

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  2. Oh great! I think all the dimensions etc. are in the post, but please let me know if you need any more information. I'm sure the recipient will love it!

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