Question about back-carrying a younger baby

[jbrac]

Hi there,

First-time mom here! I am interested in learning how to back-carry my 11-week old. I’m guessing it will be a few weeks before I actually attempt this. Front-carries (I have a boba and bought an old Bjorn prior to knowing about the hip dysplacia issue) hurt my back after a while, and I’d like to have another carrying option.

Other cultures back-carry their newborns from birth. I feel that companies should be working harder to provide Western women an easier way to back-carry young babies given the freedom and lower risk of back pain, but I’m sure there are liability issues in a neurotic society hyper-concerned with the .0001% risk of a given choice (many of which are statistically safer than driving with a baby in the car, which we don’t question).

Anyway… I’m wondering who here has experience with carrying their young babies. I am willing to learn how to use a woven but I need to purchase it first and spend a while (not sure how long) teaching myself how to wrap her using this or a rucksack technique with a weighted backpack and then spotted over a bed. Could be weeks of practice?! Not sure! I’m also considering purchasing a mouldable mei tai as this website says they can be used for carrying younger babies. (please recommend any you like!)

According to this website under the subheading “When can I put my baby on my back in a soft structured carrier? (eg meh dai, full buckle carrier)” even a full-buckle carrier can be used with young babies if the parents feel it is supportive enough (although this is generally not recommended). I’m wondering if I could find a SSC or buckle carrier that provides decent support for my nearly 3-month old (who has good neck control), especially if I add a scarf for further neck support (such as at the end of this video).

If anyone has experience with this, I’d be grateful for some insight! Honestly given the busy season of life I’d rather purchase a SSC/mei tai or even an adequate buckled carrier than having to figure out the woven immediately…

Would appreciate any insight and/or recommendations (for a SSC/mei tai or even buckled carrier) from experienced back-carriers

Gratefully,

Kelly

 

[yoan]

@jbrac It is really hard to back wrap a small baby high enough you can monitor them effectively and right enough they don't slump. Really hard. Personally I had experience back wrapping my first and couldn't get my second on my back until after 3 months safely.

Definitely practice front wrapping first. And practice with a stuffed animal or doll on your back before trying with baby. You need to make sure that baby is high enough you can feel their breath on your neck and the wrap is snug enough they can't slump into a chin to cheat position.

It's definitely hard. It gets much easier once baby is close to a year and physically bigger.

 

[yoan]

@jbrac And personally as an educator I'm not comfortable with back carries in meh dai carriers until baby is AT LEAST 4 months and sitting assisted. I have not seen a baby fit well enough before then. A buckle carrier the baby needs to be 6ish months before I've seen them fit well enough.

 

[belive007]

@jbrac I have back carried all three of my babies starting at two weeks in a high back carry/ruck using a woven wrap.

If you are really committed to back carrying your 3 mo, it can be done safely. Find a babywearing group or even a certified experienced consultant to give you some hands on help.

I loved being able to back carry my newborns for so many reasons. It is definitely not normally done in the us.

I agree that using any other kind of carrier (meh dai, buckle) should wait until baby is sitting.

It's going to take some practice, but you can do it!! I'd practice the santa toss before you even get a woven wrap. And it will use new muscles so build up to it slowly so you don't get too sore.

 

[jbrac]

@belive007 Thanks! Any thoughts about where to find a certified experienced consultant? I did a quick google search and didn't find anything. I'm in Waterloo, Ontario.

 

[belive007]

@jbrac I think you still have a non profit Babywearing group like BWI in Canada, basically be libraries with educators to help you.

Wrapping Rachel's website lists some educators and libraries. That is where I would start. Maybe post on a local parenting group (Facebook) and see if anyone knows.

 

[farmhouse1]

@jbrac Yes, you can safely wear your baby on your back! You want baby high on your back, with their head around the nape of your neck, so you can monitor their breathing. And since baby isn’t sitting on their own yet, you’ll need a carrier that fully supports baby’s whole trunk as well as their neck. Otherwise, baby could slump into an unsafe position. Unfortunately, no SSC’s tick those two safety boxes. So I would definitely not suggest using an SSC.

A meh dai is a fine option. The panel of a meh dai is more supportive than an SSC. And you can wear baby higher on your back, for better monitoring.

If you’re willing to put some work into learning it, a woven wrap would be the ideal choice. It’s important to make sure your wrap is properly tightened so baby is fully supported. It can be helpful to practice your wrap tightening skills with a front carry first - or, using a doll in your back carry of choice. My suggestion for a back carry would be Secure High Back Carry, since you can make baby’s seat before scooting them onto your back. And that way you won’t have to do a Santa toss, which is pretty tricky.

One thing indigenous women who back carry their newborns have is lots of community support and expertise! It can be so helpful to have hands on help with babywearing. If you have a local babywearing group I’d recommend you check it out!

 

[jbrac]

@farmhouse1 Thanks! I replied generally, but I'd like to specifically ask you if you have any mei tai recommendations.

Also, is there something different about infant throats that causes them to be at greater risk of suffocation with hyper/hypo neck extension?

 

[belive007]

@jbrac A wrap strap meh dai like the Fidella Fly Tai would be a great place to start.

 

[lilbaxter]

@jbrac Before a baby is sitting unassisted they need to have their whole torso (not just their neck and head) supported so that they don't slump and compromise airways, especially on your back where you can't continuously monitor their position in the same way as on your front. While it might be theoretically possible to get this level of support from an ssc, in practice it isn't really as they don't mould to the baby's individual shape the way woven wraps and traditional carriers do. Carrying a newborn safely on your back is not an easy thing to do even with these carriers, the people in cultures who carry their babies from birth this way tend to have been carrying older infant siblings etc in a similar way since they were children, and babywearing safety is so entrenched in their culture it's second nature (also why they may carry their young babies lower on their back than is generally recommended by Western babywearing schools).

Start practicing with a woven wrap now, you may find it hurts your back less anyway, and in a month or two you could back carry your baby with much less risk as well as it being much easier from a technique perspective. I was able to safely carry my baby on my back from about 4.5 months, after I had been wrapping with a woven multiple times a day for a couple of months. I recommend the Facebook group "Geeky Wrappers" as a place to learn more and troubleshoot technique so you can ensure you wrap safely.

 

[jbrac]

@lilbaxter Thanks for your reply! I'll definitely have to practice with a woven.

Could you please explain what you mean by "babywearing safety is so entrenched in their culture that this may be why they carry babies lower on their backs than Western babywearing schools recommend"? I would think that they are not aware of safety in the same way that we are...and yet, I doubt many of their infants are dying due to babywearing suffocation, despite not having the safety checks we do (and yes I'm sure we've both seen pictures of the really low back carries of quite young-looking babies).

I hear what you're saying about practice. I feel that if a 5-7 year old is able to carry their infant sibling, I should be able to learn how to do it without toooo much trouble!

 

[lilbaxter]

@jbrac What I meant by that comment is that because babywearing is such a normal part of life in those cultures, how to do so safely would be "common sense" to them, maybe in the way we would think it's common sense to change a dirty nappy or support a newborn's floppy head when we pick them up. We are learning babywearing from scratch and are often gaining this knowledge over the internet with little or no in-person support so being very consciously aware of things like safety checklists takes the place of generational knowledge being passed down.

 

[jbrac]

Thanks, everyone. Wish we lived in a culture where this stuff is taught earlier

I'm hearing different thoughts about mei tais. To be clear, this website states "Some very mouldable mei tais (usually made of wrap fabric for the mouldability and control) can be used for back carrying young babies too."

If so, could anyone recommend mouldable brands, please? Also, what is the learning curve for a mei tai? Someone is selling this one on facebook that I am considering (looks like someone started a company on Etsy and the mei tai is no longer in production, so maybe not the best choice...looks high-quality and mouldable though).

I may buy a mei tai, but I will probably also buy a woven and practice for a while. Someone else mentioned using a sack of flour to practice with, although I guess this is a little strange because a sack of flour has no legs! It does have weight though, which I guess is supposed to be the most important condition for simulating the feel of a real baby.

Finally, can someone direct me to information about spreading the baby's hips TOO wide? I know there is a lot of info out there about the baby's legs not being "froggied" enough - but what about the issue of hyperextension? Some of these images of traditional societies seem to spread their baby's legs out pretty far...

Thanks Again,

Kelly