All Wrapped Up In Babywearing

My name is Holly. I’m addicted to babywearing.

Not the kind of babywearing that involves the crotch dangler carriers that rhyme with Florn, but babywearing with woven wraps. Close contact, secure, supportive, close enough to kiss babywearing.

Wrapping with a woven wrap is amazing and I try to wrap my baby at least once a day if I have the opportunity. Like I said, I’m addicted.  My gateway drug was the stretchy wrap.

The stretchy wrap is what I might call a beginners wrap. Affordable—the Moby is around $45—and easily accessible at retail stores like Babies R Us and Target, stretchy wraps are great for babies. These wraps are good for carries such as the Front Wrap Cross Carry (my go-to carry) and the Kangaroo Carry. Stretchy wraps are said to support babies up to 35 pounds but I know many women who feel these types of wraps start to sag and lose support once the babies hit around 20 pounds.

Woven wraps are designed for serious babywearing. Front carries, hip carries, and back carries can all be done with a woven wrap. They can be worn with newborns as well as toddlers and all ages in between. Woven wraps can also support older children while taking some of the strain off of you when you carry them. I wore my 5 year old in a back carry recently, and while I couldn’t carry him like that for hours, I’m certain I could walk several blocks with him that way if he was tired and needed to be carried.

My first woven wrap was a Gypsy Mama Bali Breeze in Orion (a beautiful gradation of blues and greens). The Bali Breeze is a lightweight cotton gauze wrap which means it is really airy and perfect for summertime babywearing. This wrap is by far the lightest one in my wrap stash and has been the one I grab the most since summer arrived.

My second wrap was a Hoppediz Chicago. I call this one my Little Black Dress of wraps. Hoppediz Chicago is a jacquard weave and what would be considered a medium weight wrap. Buttery soft right from the start, this black and gray wrap can be dressed up or dressed down. This is the wrap I would grab if I was going to a wedding. The “right” side of the Hoppediz Chicago is black with grey dandelions—which have special meaning to me thanks to the habit of my oldest son picking them for me wherever we went and giving them to me as a token of love. The “wrong” side of the wrap is gray with black dandelions and there are certain techniques in wrapping that will allow both sides to be seen in one carry. Functional and pretty, what’s not to love? I really like using the Hoppediz for back carries like the Rucksack. It is incredibly supportive and my size 6—about 4.6 meters long—is a good length for me without feeling overwhelmed by yards and yards of fabric.

Since I have a tendency to wear black I had to buy one more wrap—for now—in a brighter colorway. That’s where my third wrap comes in to play. Girasol’s Fire Rainbow made exclusively for PinkleTink Baby is anything but dull. This wrap is gorgeous and is bound to be a workhorse. It is the heaviest weight wrap in my collection and it hasn’t been worn much since I just got it a couple of weeks ago and the weather has been triple digits in Northwest Ohio. I can’t wait to take walks this Fall wearing Fire Rainbow, its bright rainbow stripes will be a nice contrast to the barren trees that will come with the cooler temperatures in October and November.

I’m putting myself on a hold from spending any more money on woven wraps until I get more use out of the three I currently have in my possession. That is hard to do when there are so many gorgeous wraps out there to try. It is kind of like the addiction that often comes after you get your first tattoo—you just want more.

Because I want to show you all of the wraps out there, I asked some of the wonderful women in the babywearing community to share their favorite wraps to show just a few of the stunning options available.

Dana is wearing a Didymos Ellipsen Primavera in a reinforced ruck carry (top left). She twisted the wrap so the opposite colors would show with the butt passes.
Alison is wearing Pesci Pazzi (crazy fish) from Didymos (top right) in a secure high back carry.
Cate is wearing a Didymos Petrol Fish (bottom left) in a kangaroo carry. She had this to say about the wrap and the carry: “It’s so soft, floppy, and thin…easy to travel with. It’s cool for hot summer days (this photo was taken in 105-degree heat and 100% humidity!) but great for snuggles too. I use it for everything, but the photo is of a Kangaroo Carry with my 4-month-old son. I love this carry because it’s quick, looks pretty, and is nice for cuddling, but the open sides keep it from being stifling.”
Shannon is wearing a Podaegi made from a Girasol Xela’s Rainbow wrap and a Didymos Natural Wool Indio wrap. Shannon says, “It was made by Shiny Star Designs and it is one of my favorite things ever. I used it everyday in Disney World—it is awesome for quick ups and downs.”

They are all gorgeous, right?

Do you wear your baby? What are your tips, tricks, favorite carries, and must have wraps?

Holly teaches design at a small NW Ohio college. She spends her days off hanging out with her foxy musician husband and their gorgeous new baby and ridiculously smart pre-school aged son. Holly has a passion for food, photography, beautiful letter forms, and the possibilities that can be found in a single sheet of well made paper. You can read more from Holly on her blog, Artist Mother Teacher.

photo credits
Holly Whitney
Dana K
Cate Linden