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louiseds
September 3, 2006 - 9:58am
Permalink
Slinging the baby/backpack
Hi Rachel
I used to carry my babies in a meh tai sling on my front when they were too little to control their heads, but switched to the back when they could hold their heads up. I also used to carry them in an Indonesian sarong, 6ft x 3ft, tied in a big knot over one shoulder, so I could nurse while doing other things. All methods worked OK, and they often fell asleep. It was then simple to just lower them onto a soft surface, and let them sleep. However, that was before prolapse became an issue for me.
About twelve months ago I needed to do a long walk, several kilometres in the city with a heavy, but well-designed daypack, and did an experiment on the way. For part of the way I wore the daypack on my back, both up high with a hip strap, and slung low so it sat low on my butt. I also experimented carrying it on the front, both up high and slung low like a pregnant belly. I didn't try the side hip option, as there seemed little point in trying a method which as you say is very one-sided, and not condusive to a well-balanced posture.
I found that the low on the belly method was best for my posture, possibly because I had to carry my shoulders back but low, and my upper back very straight. For some reason I did not feel like straightening my lumbar curve to stay balanced, rather to stick my butt out so as to balance the back against the front. But I wasn't really pregnant, was I? It was very comfortable all the way and left me with no back pain.
When I carried the daypack on my back I think I tended to straighten the lumbar curve; it kind of made me hunch over and round my shoulders, and the higher the load the more hunched I became. Letting the load down, so it rested low on my butt more, made my posture better again, kind of like giving somebody a piggy-back (well that's what we call it in Oz).
This is exactly the opposite of what I have always understood to be the correct way to carry a heavy rucksack, ie, that's why they have a hip strap. True, it does take the weight off the shoulders, and means that the weight is carried more over the centre of gravity, but it would seem that women, having a lower centre of gravity, should fasten a hip strap lower on the pelvis to take the pressure off the belly (reduce the intra-abdominal forces).
I am not sure if this information will be helpful for you in working out how best to carry a toddler; it is really just some observations I have made about my heavy daypack, after years of carrying babies in all sorts of positions, up to about 5 years old on occasions.
Cheers
Louise