Wow! Can you believe Elise is a year old this month?! I certainly can’t! It still doesn’t seem real that she’s here, let alone a year old! As you’ve probably guessed if you’re been reading my blog this past year, we have been very into babywearing, in particular using woven wraps. There’s definitely a learning curve with woven wraps and the type of carry that will work best depends on a number of factors, including experience and the baby’s age and weight. So, I thought I’d share what our first year in woven wrap front carries looked like, to give you an idea of what worked best for us from newborn up until Elise’s first birthday.
Now that we have more carries in our arsenal, we mix things up depending on my health, what we’re doing, how long we’ll be wearing and which wrap we fancy using at the time.
Keep an eye out for a blog post all about our first year in woven wrap back carries, coming soon!
For reference, my base size is a 5; my base -1 is a size 4; my base -2 is a size 3; my base +1 is a size 6. I’ll have more information, with photos, on sizes coming soon. The size listed is the smallest size you’ll need for a particular carry. You can wrap with something longer and have flowing tails, or opt for a size smaller and use a ring finish instead of a knot.
Our First Year In Woven Wrap Front Carries: FWCC TAS With Extra Neck Support (base -1)
If you’ve read my Newborn Woven Wrap Carries for beginners post, you’ll know that the first carry I started off with was a front wrap cross carry tied at the shoulder (FWCC TAS). Well, that’s not exactly true. I started off by practicing a front wrap cross carry tied under bum a few times, before working the knot up to my shoulder.
FWCC TAS was the first carry I used with Elise outside the house. It was also the first carry that made babywearing click for me. We used this carry for the first couple of months of Elise’s life, until she was big enough that her feet would reach my legs (while sitting in my wheelchair) and she was able to push up to standing. This lead to the bunched wrap pass being pushed up her back and the whole carry falling apart. So I had to improvise.
Our First Year In Woven Wrap Front Carries: FRTS with Pond Finish (base +1)
I’ve never got on with a standard front wrap cross carry (FWCC). It doesn’t feel secure enough with my wriggly/writhing (with her CMPA) baby. Front Reinforced Traditional Sling Carry with a Pond Finish, however was ideal for keeping Lissie supported and evenly distributing her weight across my back. This is a carry that I took a little convincing to try. It’s one shoulder initially put me off, thinking that it would exacerbate my shoulder problems. However, the majority of weight is taken by the horizontal chest pass, so it’s a lot more comfortable than a standard FWCC.
I found FWCC with Pond Finish great when Elise was a newborn, as it gave her neck a little extra support. But, it’s not just a carry for newborns. It’s still our go-to front carry with a longer wrap, particularly when we’re in a rush to get out of the door.
Our First Year In Woven Wrap Front Carries: Half FWCC with Bunched Passes, TUB and TAS (base -2)
Once FWCC TAS became dangerous with my daredevil daughter, I knew I had to find an alternative which she would’ve be able to pop the seat of. I thought I was being inventive buy taking the bunched pass between Elise’s legs and not just under it. I later found out that this carry is a thing, all be it usually done with a spread pass.
Still, it served use well until Elise decided that leaning backwards was fun!
Our First Year In Woven Wrap Front Carries: Kangaroo (base -2)
I’ve always loved how Kangaroo looks with it’s capped sleeves. It’s ideal if you want to show off two contrasting sides of a wrap. However, it’s not as simple as a FWCC variation. It took me a little while to get my head around how to tighten Kangaroo. A few times I ended up with the wrong section working it’s way off my shoulder. Other times, I made the capped shoulders too big and struggled to move my arms enough to steer my wheelchair! But I persevered and I’m so glad I did! This carry is great to tie around a baby who refuses to be put down. It’s saved many a stressful teething night as a result!
I’m looking forward to using this single layered carry over the summer. It’s a great warm weather option as there’s minimal fabric and the sides are open, meaning that there’s less fabric on baby which keeps them a little cooler.
Our First Year In Woven Wrap Front Carries: Short FWCC (base -2)
A nasty shoulder injury (blame PMS, hEDS and falling down the stairs), meant that I had to attempt short one shoulder carries quite early on. My delicate shoulder just couldn’t handle having a wrap on it.
I thought that the best option to try would be a short FWCC. Unfortunately, I found this challenging to tighten and ended up with lots of random slack in my wrap. Still, it got us through a challenging time and kept Elise and I mobile. So I can’t complain.
Our First Year In Woven Wrap Front Carries: FRTS (base -2)
Not getting on particularly well with my short FWCC, I decided to try something similar – a front reinforced traditional sling carry. This threw up similar challenges for me – the biggest one was that Elise wriggled lots of slack into the carry before I’d been able to tie off my wrap job.
Our First Year In Woven Wrap Front Carries: Pre-tied Semi-PWCC with a Hammock Cross Pass (base -2)
Semi pocket wrap cross carry (semi-PWCC), was a big success for me. It was the first carry I could successfully able to pre-tie and then tighten around Elise. This was a game changer! Even more so when I learnt about using a hammock cross pass. This made the back horizontal pass much more comfortable for me. I’m not very good at explaining how a hammock pass works, so check out the video below.
For a few months, when Elise was 6-9 months old, semi-PWCC with a hammock cross pass was our JAM!!!!!! It was great for pre-tying when we went on car journeys, as I could get out of the car and put Elise straight in (then tighten). It also made changing Elise’s nappy easier, as I barely had to do any tightening when I put her back in. This carry also served us well when Elise went through the nosey developmental stage. I was able to take her out, turn her round and pop her back in so that she was facing forwards and sitting (supported and tied to me) on my lap. When watching the world go by became too much, I could turn her back round easily.
Pre-tied semi-PWCC was our go-to quick carry until Elise decided that leaning backwards was a good game. The cross pass wasn’t enough to contain her with just a single horizontal pass.
Our First Year In Woven Wrap Front Carries: pre-tied IO FRTS (base -2)
Learning about inside out (IO) carries was a game changer for me. It allowed me to pre-tie a FRTS and tighten with ease because the working tail was from the top layer of fabric, rather than the bottom. So I was able to tighten the underneath layer, work the slack into the top layer and then pull it through a sliding know (my usual choice is a cow’s hitch).
IO FRTS is our go-to short carry as it’s so easy to put Elise in and out as needed. Plus because it’s pre-tied, she can’t destroy my wrap job – a problem I’d previously faced regularly when trying to wrap her to go to a doctor’s appointment.
Pre-tied IO FRTS has taken the place of our beloved pre-tied semi-PWCC, since it’s more lean proof.
Our First Year In Woven Wrap Front Carries: FDH (base)
If you’ve read my The Wrap Club Subscription blog post, you’ll know that I learnt how to tie a Front Double Hammock (FDH) to enable me to have a good play with the size 5 (my base size) Bebe Sachi that Em and Jenni from It’s A Sling Thing sent me to try (since we don’t use FWCC).
I started off with the tied around baby version, since I tend to find pre-tied carries more challenging with my proprioception difficulties (because of my hEDS and visual processing disorder). However, after speaking to a friend, I learnt that people often find the pre-tied version easier. Seeing as how I needed a potable (you can put baby in and take them out without re-tying) carry with a long woven wrap for days out when I’d be wearing a long time, I decided to give it a try. I’ve made progress with this carry each time I’ve tried it. It’s a lovely snuggly option and is very supportive – much more so than a FWCC!
FDH will definitely stay in our rotation. I think the two layers will be very helpful as Elise gets bigger and heavier!
If you’re new to woven wraps, I’d highly recommend attending a woven wrap workshop with a babywearing consultant. Find out where your nearest consultant is on babywearing.co.uk. If you don’t have a local consultant or can’t get to see them, check out the Geeky Wrappers Facebook Group for tips, tricks and troubleshooting woven wrap carries!
What is/was your favourite woven wrap front carry with a 0-12 month old? Did you find that you stuck to one or two carries or did you get adventurous and try different things?
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