Wearing During Pregnancy and Wearing Two #babywearing

Hi, I'm Natalie, and I'm thrilled to be guest posting today on wearing during pregnancy and wearing two.  My two kiddos are only 13 months apart in age, so much of my babywearing has been during pregnancy or wearing two. Until very recently, my almost two year old wasn't fast or strong enough to make it through a trip to the thrift store or discount grocery on his own two feet, so he and the baby both got to ride (and I got a workout and lots of double takes)!

When I discovered we were expecting #2, I was still a very beginning babywearer.  I had a sling (albeit not a very good design), and had just made a mei tai.  That turned out to be a very, very good thing, because as my belly expanded, doing a front or hip carry just wasn't very comfy.  A back carry with the mei tai turned out to be a huge lifesaver, and that was what I wore through most of my pregnancy.  I tied the bottom straps above my belly, for a higher back carry that suited both of us well.  I did get lots of comments when I was very pregnant.  One of my favorites was when we were walking around a nice downtown area and were browsing a very fun toy store.  The owner joked, "I guess they balance each other out, huh?" :)  He was just joking, but really, it did kind of balance out!

After the baby was born, I didn't go anywhere for a while... but when I did feel up to going grocery shopping, I was a bit intimidated by the idea of taking a 16 month old and three month old out.  He couldn't walk well enough for me to want to have him walk into the store (inching along in the parking lot gets old fast), and several of my favorite stores, like the thrift store and the discount grocery, don't have carts anyway.  So I experimented with wearing two, and it revolutionized things.  I could go places again!  Here is what worked for me: put on ring sling and tie mei tai straps on waist.  Put toddler on back in mei tai.  Then put baby in sling on chest.  Go out and give people whip lash from the double takes. ;)

This worked well for us, and only recently did we switch to having the toddler walk and the baby ride.

We tried moby on the front, mei tai on the back as well, but the extra bulk of the moby made it hard to get the mei tai straps secure.  If I were a better wrapper, I probably would've taken the time to figure out how to wrap them both.  That looks like a great option for wearing two.  I experimented with it a few times, but am not great at wrap back carries, so trying to do that and wear two wasn't very easy, and definitely not something I'd be up to attempting without help in a parking lot!

One resource I discovered after I had already been wearing two for a while was the "Wearing More than One" section of TheBabywearer forum.  If you're thinking of wearing two, that is a great place to check out what is working for other mamas, and ask for suggestions as well! 

Anybody want to chime in with things you've tried for wearing during pregnancy or wearing more than one?  Or any questions?

Natalie is a Christian, wife, tandem nursing mama to two under two,

homeschool graduate, babywearer, and homemaker.

She spends her days kissing chubby cheeks, washing dishes,

taking paper out of the baby's mouth and butter out of the toddler's hands,

nursing, processing laundry, and squeezing in taking pictures, decorating, and blogging when she has time (or doesn't!)

She blogs at Naddy's Blog and at Babywearing it Up! :)
You can follow her on twitter as well.