All things wrap

I by no means am an expert in the art of baby wearing. I like to think myself a bit of a novice. However, I have worn the babe since she was a warm ball of snuggly newborn. It has made my life infinitely easier. Back in those early days as a single mama and new home owner the wrap was the only way I could do ANYTHING. From unpacking a box, to folding laundry, to OH EM GEE GOING TO THE BATHROOM! To this day I haven't peed or showered alone unless she is asleep, but I digress.

My first wrap was a Moby I loved my moby. Its jersey cotton and warm and stretchy for those early days. I loved the newborn hug hold when she was tiny. This progressed to the hug hold then to the lotus hold. I also loved that I could use it as a blanket or nursing cover out in public.

Then summer hit....

HOLY MOTHER OF TINY BABY JESUS!!

It didn't matter how little either of us wore we were both sweating buckets in that thing. I was upset. Gone were the days of putting Avery in the wrap and going grocery shopping or to the mall or just getting things done around the house. I had to start using my stroller for things besides going for walks. I hated how big and cumbersome it was. I missed my wrap. (They gypsy wrap as my family likes to call it.) Avery was big enough to ride in carts when they were available but it never lasted for long. She wanted to be held...by me. I made due until I was on the moby website and saw this new hold and the clouds parted and angels were singing!

YES! Fist pump!

I started wearing Avery in this hold everywhere we went. I loved that it was super fast to put on and put Avery in and be on our way. It didn't take all the wrapping and layering that the original holds had. I could put it on while still sitting in the car, go around and grab Avery and be off. And the greatest thing?! I was holding her and still had both hands free!

But alas, baby buddah is too heavy for a jersey knit wrap. She would start on my hip and gravitate down and I would end up wearing her somewhere around my ankle by the time we were done. I had heard of better options in fabric but didn't want to drop a small fortune on a new wrap when I wasn't sure how it would work. I was planning a trip to Arizona to visit my bestie and got desperate. I DID NOT want to drag the stroller to Arizona. So I scoured the internet for wraps. Do some people really spend over ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS on a few yards of fabric? I refused. Not even because I only had one income, but because that's just stupid. I would make one myself if I had to.

Then I started looking for wraps on my favorite website EVA and behold the cotton gauze wrap . I talked to this lady about getting the wrap as soon as possible as I was leaving for Arizona in about a week. Not only did I receive it super fast, it was exactly as described. I loved, loved, LOVED it!

This is the old favorite side wear.


I love that I can spread the fabric out over my other shoulder to distribute the weight. I can wear her in that hold for hours. She usually wants down before I'm tired of wearing her.

I found instructions online for carrying her on my back by you tubing "rucksack carry" and found numerous videos. My first attempt was a success!


(I'm not sure why that dang mirror is always so foggy. It's leaving with the remodel.) We've had a few failures since then, but it works well. She does get a little heavy on the shoulders which I blame on both the 24.5lb child on my back and the two head sized melons on the front. Again, spreading out the fabric helps a lot. Most recently was this week with my mom. We spent a couple hours in the mall shopping and she was perched on my back the entire time. I even handed back her blanky and she even put her head down for a little while. I had a messenger bag type diaper bag slung across me and voila! Both hands free. That is until we had eleventy billlion bags to carry.

Be warned. Wearing this wrap in public gets mixed responses. Some people give weird looks. Others smile and keep walking. I've had a number come up and ask me about it. Including people at church. I'd like to think I'm spreading the gypsy. :) We've already discussed how I'm hip with the Africans.

My overall review: I'm not sure how I would live without it. But, that's coming from the ex-breastfeeding, cloth diapering, no paper towel using gypsy.