We had always planned to use a sling or wrap when Elian arrived as we love the idea of baby wearing. It always looked as if the baby was comfortable, safe and happy and mum and dad are able to carry on with their day to day with free hands. Wraps look a bit complicated to start with but once you have put it on a few times they are pretty simple to do, and your baby can sit comfortably and snug against your chest and be completely supported and safe.
We have been testing out the KangaWrap since Elian arrived and are loving it. Elian is a super clingy baby, he loves his cwtches and hates being put down (even when asleep!) which has been hard to adjust to in the first few weeks, trying to do normal everyday things and running the business is difficult when one handed and carrying a newborn, but the sling has made it possible.
I noticed that most parenting blogs and child product reviews are written by mums and directed at mums in general so we thought it might be a good idea for Jon to try out the product from a Dad’s point of view as they are just as important when raising children and the KangaWrap really is a unisex item. Here’s what Jon thought of the KangaWrap:
Me and Chantele both liked the idea of babywaring once Elian arrived, and sometimes taking a pram with you everywhere just isn’t practical, even with our light folding Woop Cosatto Travel System, so being able to easily carry Elian while we are out and still being able to use our hands sounded like a great idea. We didn’t really know what the KangaWrap would look like when it arrived, but essentially it is a really long strip of slightly stretchy jersey material. Its really easy to wrap once you have done it once or twice so you can get used to how tight you need to do it up to fit your little one comfortably (check out the video on how to tie your baby wrap here).
It’s really comfortable to wear, and Elian seems to love being tightly pressed against my chest, it’s where he spends most of his time when we are at home anyway! And it feels really safe and secure so I’m not worried about constantly holding him, plus when he is asleep we tuck his head under one side and he doesn’t move as he is completely supported. He will usually sleep in the wrap for longer than he will sleep on our chests usually, so I assume he just feels super comfortable and safe in it.
For us the KangaWrap has been particularly good when going for a walk with the dog. Sometimes the places we take Opie to walk just aren’t pushchair friendly, forests, river paths, woodlands and places which just don’t have nice flat paths. It’s really great that we can easily go for our walks as a family, just like we did before Elian arrived, which means Opie isn’t missing out and we get to share an activity we love as a family of 4! Plus the KangaWrap leaves you with free hands so I can still hold Opies lead or throw his ball if Chantele is busy doing anything else or carrying anything (like the camera bag!)
The only slight downside to the wrap is that it can get very warm when wearing it, and as Elian is a sweaty baby anyway he gets really hot if it is a warm day, so we haven’t been able to use it if it is a very sunny day.
We haven’t had Opie on the blog for a while, and the crazy little fur ball is almost 2 years old now! We managed to get a few shots of him whilst on our walk at Neath Abbey Ruins last week, although he spends most of his time running around like a crazy beast or chasing his ball. He loves to go walking (or running in his case!), playing fetch and meeting new people (especially if they’ll play fetch too!) and he is decently trained so we can let him off his lead and he will usually return to us when called and won’t run off too far ahead of us, unless he sees someone who looks like they might want to play! lol!
We think the KangaWrap and baby wearing in general is a really great concept and we love how close and safe Elian feels in his. Its made going about our day to day so much easier even though Elian is a very clingy baby and doesn’t like to be put down much, I would get almost nothing done with my day sometimes if I wasn’t able to sling him.
