More About Wraps

Q: How much do you wrap your children every day?

A: Right now, I usually wear Buttercup between about 3 and 6 hours a day, occasionally less and sometimes more.  We go through periods when I wear one of the bigger kids every day for half an hour or so, although sometimes we are busy with school and it doesn't happen.  Every single day I wear Buttercup for nap, school pick up, getting the big kids ready for bed, and a few quick ups and downs.

Q: When you say "wrap," what do you mean?  Is it like a Moby?

A: I am talking about the category of "German woven wraps."  A Moby is a stretchy wrap, and not supportive beyond the little bitty stage.  A regular woven wrap is some of the strongest, softest, and most supportive fabric there is.

Q: What makes wrapping more physically comfortable than other kinds of babywearing?

A: First of all, a good wrap holds the child very close to the wearer's body.  The closer any weight is to the carryer's core, the easier it is to carry.  When the child has even an inch or two of space between their torso and their parent's, that makes carrying the child much more difficult and tiring.  It is easiest to carry a child wrapped with their arms in, because then they have less weight to move around away from the wearer, but even when wrapping arms-out a good wrap job will pin the child's whole torso, from their underarms down, right against the wearer's body.  This is perfectly comfortable for the child, and much less exhausting for the wearer than if the child had wiggle room.

Secondly, there are many different ways to wrap.  You can wrap the child in different positions.  I find a high carry tends to not exacerbate my back issues, and I can wrap any of the children high enough that their shoulders are slightly above mine.  They also like that because they can look around and interact with their environment.  However, when either me or the child is tired, I can also wrap Buttercup low enough that her head rests between my shoulderblades, or anywhere in the middle.  This uses different muscles and allows me to wear her for a longer period over the whole day.  You can also wrap on the hip or front, although I find those more difficult with the logistics of dealing with three children.

Different carries also distribute the child's weight to different part of the body.  I prefer carries with an integrated chest belt, which places most of the weight right in the center of my chest, and nothing at all towards my outer shoulders.  But after wearing something like that for a couple of hours, I might choose a carry with "ruck" straps (like a backpack) for variety.  I can add a chest belt to those carries, which takes pressure off the shoulders but in a different way than the center-chest-belt carries.  There are also carries with a torso pass, which distributes weight all across the torso.  The tie around the waist actually moves a little weight to the waist or hips, and sometimes I wrap it twice around my weight which actually distributes even more weight to my lower body.

Q: Why do you have so many different wraps?

A: There's a lot to that answer!  Let's make it into smaller questions.

To start with, this is a really dirty climate, and I let my kids eat in the wrap and Buttercup is not usually wearing a diaper and has accidents.  My wraps get really dirty, and fast.  I don't have an ordinary washer and no dryer, so if it's rainy it can take two days to wash and dry a wrap, or more if I'm busy.  That means I need two or three wraps to alternate out and do the same job.

Size:

First of all, wraps come in different sizes, from 1-8, and you can do different carries with the different sizes.  I have wraps in sizes between 2 and 7, which are 2.7 to 5.2 meters long, and one can basically think of it as shorties, mid-length, and long wraps.  Since I am fairly petite, a 5 is my base size and I can do almost all carries with a 6.  

The benefit of the shortest wraps is that they lend themselves to very quick carries, they do not drag on the ground while wrapping, and they fold up small in a backpack.  The downside is that the quick carries are not as supportive as multi-layer carries.  This is more tiring for me as a carry-er, and if my wrappee is tantruming or really trying, she can escape the carry.  I find them useful for things like quick ups and downs like making lunch or snacks, or putting one kid up for bedtime routine for someone else.  It's also useful on an outing when I won't be carrying all the time but we might need it for waiting in line or a quick walk.

The longest wraps make the most supportive, multi-layer carries, and have extra length for things like adding reinforcement on the chest or waist.  The down side is that they take longer to wrap with, and rest on the floor while being wrapped, so I don't like wrapping with them out of the house.  I use them when I will have a long carry that I won't have to re-do, like when I am picking the children up from school.  I also like them for naps, because the longer carries tend to have space for the child to get all snuggled down.

The mid-length wraps are a great compromise, and I use them for all my long outings.  They are not so long that I can't manage them in public or small space, but long enough that I can do supportive, multi-layer carries. I can also do several different carries so I can distribute the weight differently over the course of the day.  I can also do the quickest up-and-down carries, that I could use the shorties for, with longer but not unmanageable tails.

Materials:

Many wraps are all cotton, but some are linen, wool, silk or other blends.  I have a kapok wrap right now -- I had never even heard of that fiber!  Even different cotton wraps have very different textures and weights.  

So, for instance, the linen blends are strong and supportive, and I love them for my big kids or a long walk, but I don't think they're very snuggly for a nap and they are difficult to get a good wrap job quickly.  The wools are breathable, soft on the shoulders, and supportive for the big kids, but they are not practical during the hot days.  

Wrapping qualities:

Every wrap feels different when it's being used!  It's one of the things that makes wrapping interesting.  Some are grippy and some slide smoothly, some hold the child rock-solid and some have bounce, some are breathable and some are snuggly, some are cushy on the shoulders and some are thin.  Like everything in life, every up-side has an opposite!  A cushy wrap tends to be thick and not so good in hot weather; a wrap that has bounce also has sag; a solid wrap gets tiring on the shoulders.  Different wraps are valuable in different situations.

Beauty: 

I just love beautiful fabric, and the wraps are truly beautiful!  I just enjoy the colors and the textures and the feel.  Besides, when you are wearing a child for hours a day, the wrap is part of your outfit!  I totally coordinate my wraps and my clothing for a day out, and I feel like it's a beautiful finishing touch.

Q: Couldn't you get by with just one wrap?

A: Yes.  Absolutely, especially if I had a quick washer and dryer.  If anyone is curious about wrapping, you certainly don't need a whole lot of wraps, and I know people who carry all the time with one wrap.

But at the same time, I really use and appreciate each and every wrap that I have, and I enjoy having a variety to choose from.  I buy most of my wraps used from other wrap afficianados, and I know that if I don't love something I can sell it on the same networks.  

Q: Wait a minute, I thought you said there were NOT sizes for wraps!

A: The wraps are different sizes, but anyone can use any size.  I could wrap any of my three children in any of my wraps, and my 6-foot-2 father could use any of the same wraps that I use.  The determining factor is which carry to choose.

For instance, I can do a Secure High Back Carry with a size 4 for Buttercup, but I would choose a size 5 for my bigger kids.  A large adult might choose a 6 for the same carry.  But if we had a size 4 wrap, that larger adult could wrap their child in a Reinforced Ruck.  I think the most logical way to think about wrap sizing is Base Size, and plus or minus.  So the Secure High Back Carry is Base -1.  I am a base 5, so I do it with a 4; someone else might be a base 7, so they could do it with a size 6, and a 4 would be a shortie wrap for them.