Facing the world

This will be short because Jupiter went to sleep about a half hour ago and every minute I spend upright is a minute I lose before he wakes for his first nighttime meal. Also my computer is getting very hot from sitting on my lap because computing while on the couch with your husband feels much more like hanging out together than computing at the table does. So.

Yesterday and today Jupiter and I tried two baby carriers - the ring sling and the handmade moby-style wrap. We had tried both of these before, but without much head control he had to face my chest. While many small snuggly babies would love this intimate, close position, our boy has always wanted to see what's going on around him. So with his five-week birthday rolling around, I thought it was time to try both carriers in the forward-facing position. He's making progress during tummy time (more on tummy time in a later post...), and he certainly picks his head up (over and over and over again) when I'm burping him after a feeding, so I figured he has sufficient head control to not end up squashing his little windpipe in a baby carrier.

Yesterday, we tried the wrap. He lasted about ten minutes before he got tired of it. Not bad. He may have just gotten fatigued from the effort of supporting his big sweet baby head. Here we are yesterday morning:


Today we tried the ring sling. The key with both of these carriers is to stick him in it in the morning, after he's had a long rest and is generally cheery. The sling, for our boy, is NOT something to use as a soothing tool. It can really piss him off. So this morning, first thing after changing him, I stuck him in the sling.


He lasted a bit longer than he did in the wrap and I was able to get lots of things done: breakfast, taking the dog out, making coffee, putting in a load of baby laundry. And then he melted down. Eventually we will get to a point in his life at which everything will not have to end with a meltdown. Eventually.

Right?