Toting the Tot Around Town

Now that Baby M is into her third month and hence more "portable", the Hubby and I have been taking her all about town from Saturday chinese dinners, Sunday brunches with friends to quick afternoon lunches at Novena Square next door. An extra pair of hands comes in handy when we go further afield, what with managing the car boot, the car seat, the Bugaboo Bee and the diaper bag AND Baby M, so I usually leave the stroller to when the Hubby is around to help.

When it's just me however, this is how I prefer to tote her around on the MRT to the office, on quick supermarket runs, a slow afternoon wander around the shops in Square 2 or maneuvering around the crowds at the recent Robinsons sale. Having both hands free without having to deal with a possible runaway stroller has made getting out and about with Baby M so much easier! An additional plus is that Baby M loves being held in an upright position, and carrying her this way on our trips out often lulls her into contented sleep.

Baby wearing is not a new phenomenon, and touts many benefits for both baby and mommy. In Asia particularly, carrying one's baby around in this manner is not unusual in places out of the cities, when a sarong wrapped around a woman's body often encases a newborn or even two. Indeed, we're spoilt for choice with Baby Bjorns, sarong slings, one shoulder slings, mei tais, hip wraps and the lot spawing an entire industry of baby wearing in Singapore. While I spy many moms and dads about with their Baby Bjorn carriers, I've yet to see many women toting the baby around in a baby wrap.

Having tried a sarong sling which didn't work for me since Baby M does not like being carried in a cradle position, we moved onto baby wraps after I did some research and spoke with some friends. We started a couple of weeks ago with a SleepyWrap which was great for a novice baby wearer as it was stretchy and allowed one to maneuver baby's limbs within with greater ease. The biggest drawback after 3 trips out with Baby M is that it's a heat trap in our hot weather, particularly the recent heat spell we've been seeing. The SleepyWrap was only bearable in the coldest airconditioned shopping centres, and even then, both Baby M and I still went home with slightly damp teeshirts from the body to body contact. Worse still, after 3 uses, the SleepyWrap seemed to sag a little from Baby M's weight (which is a respectable petite 5.2kg at this stage!) when I would start the day with her head nicely nestled under my chin and end up much further down a couple of hours later.

We've just gotten a new thin wrap made of woven cotton muslin with a cute polka dot front panel from a friend who sells baby wraps. On our test walk out at mid day, this was definitely more comfortable and did not trap heat as much as the SleepyWrap. The drawback though is that without the stretchiness of the SleepyWrap, contorting Baby M's legs through the wrap was a bit trickier (since one had to tie the wrap first with some allowance for the baby) and if the wrap wasn't tight enough, you had to tighten the wrap with the baby inside. I haven't figured out how to take the baby out of this wrap yet without untying everything, so I'm guessing a few more test runs would be needed before I'm comfortable venturing further afield in this wrap!