I'm still carting Esme about in a sling, though i gave up on the Kari-me (like a HAB) wrap at 10 months as it did my back in having her on my front and it was too risky trying to get miss wriggly on my back alone. I get lots of admiring comments and looks from my new, homemade wrap....
I went to a discount fabric store and bought 2 metres of a thin cotton fabric - it's kind of between gauze and crepe, static but with a little "give", woven not knitted, and it has pink candystripe pattern running lengthways on it. It has raw edges which worried me a little (i was planning a ring sling) but i was desperate, it was 2 pounds a metre and they threw in the 40 or so extra cm (it was the end of the bolt) for free :-)
It's 100cm wide. First i finished the ends with a cheat i got on a website somewhere - lay the fabric flat on the floor. With the edge in front of you, fold each corner into the centre so they touch. Then again with the new folded edge corners, then again and again until you have a little bunch of fabric. Wrap a strong rubber band around this end as many times as you can so it is supertight, then turn the end inside out so the "lump" of the rubber banded bit is tucked into all the folds (i found this bit hard as they kept popping out, but they stayed eventually). Repeat on the other end.
THen i folded the mid-section of the fabric in half lengthways so it was half as wide with the 2 raw edges together. I held DD on my hip, and wrapped the fabric around us both, raw seams up (so her weight is on the folded edge) around her back, folded edge against my side in front of her, so her legs hang over it from about the knee front and back, and with the fabric spread out from my collar bone to my elbow so her weight is spread over my whole shoulder, and knotted it with the knot sitting just in front of the top of my breast. Once i'd seen how i wanted it i took it off and re-tied it tighter (it's hard to get the knot tight with her weight on it) before putting her back in. So she can now ride hands-free on mummy's hip!
She has actually fallen asleep, sat up, her head resting on my breast, in this sling. Inititally i found it made my tummy ache as it's worn on one side, but if you swap sides now and again that wears off. The more i use it the more we like it and she can look right up at my face while i talk to her as well as being able to see where we're going, who i'm talking to etc.
I have a few variations:
- when i'm just carrying her about and she wants to see a lot i have the seams going straight - from her shoulder to my neck and her bum to my elbow. WHen i want her held closer - to snooze or in supermarkets where she'll swing out to grab stuff, i put the edge from under her bum at my neck and the one round her shoulders at my elbow, with one twist in the fabric in the middle of my back. This tightens both edge slightly to hold her closer.
- when i sit down on trains or buses or in cafes but i don't want to put her down, i mooch her round to the front a little so she can side astride my lap facing me.
- I also use it about the house when she's fussy, and can mooch her round a little, half-onto my back, completely safely, when i'm doing something i don't want her grabbying at.
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