 Ask
Roxanne
I am 5 months pregnant with
my first and my husband I are going to use attachment parenting. I have
been looking for a sling or baby carrier front/back pack thing. I know
that the slings are recommended for attachment parenting but I have one
concern. I broke my left collarbone in highschool and since then cannot
handle carrying a light- weight pruse or a wearing a heavy winter coat
without pain in that shoulder. I have found a "Snugglie" brand front baby
carrier that has a lumbar support belt that would put the weight of the
baby on my hips (which is what you do for backpacking), but am concerned
that this is not the wisest carrier for my baby. In your information about
slings it says that the weight is evenly distributed. Doesn't this only
work if you are carrying the baby on the hip and that can only happen when
it is older?? I would appreciate any help in this matter.
Thanks for your time!
Stacey
Dear
Stacey:
So sorry about your
constant pain. Yikes. I hope you're getting pregnancy massages and
adjustments to help offset any results of weight gain and moving muscles
(though I'm not a doctor, so take that with a grain of salt). But congrats
on your pregnancy and on knowing so soon the kind of parents you want to
be.
Sounds
like any weight at all on your left shoulder is a no-no, but the best
argument I can find for the sling in your case is that you can carry baby
on your left side (a boon for right-handers) with the sling weight
actually on your *right* shoulder. The majority of the weight is, of
course, distributed across your back, but the one-shoulder-strap part of
the sling will rest on your good shoulder. That seems like it should be
okay. But remember, in Attachment Parenting, as in all good parenting, we
have to make sure we're not harming ourselves while doing good for our
kids. So if the snugli ends up working better once baby is a heavier
weight, use it and don't beat yourself up about it. You can't really use a
snugli in the very beginning anyhow, so try the sling and see how it works
for you. And check out all the sling info, not just the front page, from
health benefits to more, in our
sling central section.
And be really easy on
yourself the first months of motherhood -- use lots of pillows to support
that shoulder in bed, and, when nursing, be sure to bring baby towards you
and not to slouch over to baby, which will strain your back even more and
lead to sore nipples (a BIG negative in anyone's book!)
Good luck!
Roxanne
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