Cooking is how I nurture my family and honestly, I find it rather relaxing! Cooking and babywearing can absolutely be done safely but there are a few things you need to know. Below are a few tips. Happy babywearing!

1. If wearing baby in a wrap, be sure to tuck in all loose ends. Make sure the wrap is tight and snugly. This will help you avoid issues like dangling cloth in sauces or close to a flame.

2. Avoid cooking with open, wild flames (ie. BBQ) while wearing your child in the front. A sudden high flame or even just fumes can harm your child.

3. When cooking in your kitchen in front of the stove, if you are wearing baby, stand deliberately farther from the stove than you normally would. I stood at an angle with baby at least 6 inches away from the heat source.

4. When front-wearing older children with curious hands, be sure to keep them away from the heat. Keep them busy by giving them age appropriate foods to munch on (carrot strip that you are chopping, etc.) or a spoon to hold.

5. When my children became old enough to get curious about what I was cooking, I moved them to the side or back. My oldest loved watching me cook while being worn on my back and holding a giant wooden spoon.

6. When chopping, be mindful of where your baby’s arms are. Stand farther away from the cutting board than you normally would.

7. Talk to your child while cooking! Sing, explain what you’re doing, narrate the recipe… help your little one feel involved in the process. Have fun!

Memories are made in the kitchen. You can create cooking babywearing memories and stay safe by following the guidelines listed above. Have fun!

At the same time, I was able to zip in and out of the station, weaving through the crowds while holding my 5 year-old’s hand and wearing my 2 year-old in her Boba. Most parents learn quickly that the city is no place for bulky strollers if you’re taking public transportation. They take up far too much space in metro cars and make urban living unnecessarily complicated.

In a city where cars are optional and in many areas, discouraged, a day trip means traveling by bus, foot, & subway. A stroller can easily take up the space that could have been standing room for 2-3 adults. They are also a hassle for pedestrians on the street where fast walking and keeping to one’s side to ensure a steady flow of pedestrians are a must.

Much like traveling internationally with baby, zipping around your city with your wee ones takes a bit of preparation.

Here are a few tips for babywearing success in the city:

• Kids are usually remarkably regular. Wait until your child has had a recent bowel movement to begin your trip. The last thing you’ll both want is to need to do a major change en route.
• If you’ll be spending a significant amount of time underground where it can be many degrees warmer than street level, dress your child in a way where layers are removable without having to unstrap your Boba. Button up jackets, sweatshirts with hoods…these are both great choices.
• Be sure that your child’s shoes are not slip-ons. Look for sturdy shoes with buttons, straps or Velcro that won’t fall off. You’d be amazed by the number of solitary kid shoes I see when out and about! Encourage your older child to use the Boba Foot Straps for added support and shoe loss prevention.
• Keep your trip tokens, card, or fare in an easy to find location (pocket) instead of your purse or backpack so that you don’t have to dig for it.
• Know your baby’s favorite positions: If your little one doesn’t like it when you sit while babywearing, opt for stand-up positions on the bus and subway. Hold the bar firmly and rest against a wall or seat. Be aware of sudden starts and stops to prevent losing your balance.
• The hustle & bustle of the city can be overwhelming for children who aren’t used to it. If you’re from out of town, talk to your baby about what you’re seeing and hearing. Train sounds are loud and can be frightening, explain what is happening.

Have fun exploring your city with the freedom of babywearing! It makes all of the difference in the world.

Want more how-to videos? Check out our library of short baby carrier how-to videos.

Well look no further! Boba fan Amanda (aka @BoulderMoms) and two of her sweet children put together this video The Baby Shimmy in the Boba featuring the Boba Carrier 3G to help you out!

Thanks Amanda! And a special thanks to your little narrator!

For more video demonstrations, visit our site’s baby carrier how-to videos or the BobaFamily YouTube channel.

This is the last thing you need when carrying your sweet little one in a baby carrier. Don't let your lower back overarch when carrying your baby!

Even the most state of the art baby carrier that has incredible weight distribution may not be enough to keep your back from aching.  We need to remember that we need to be proactively focusing on keeping the weight we are carrying off of our lower backs.

How do we carry our babies without ending up with an aching back?

We should use our muscles to keep the weight of our own upper body (and off our little ones’) balanced.  This doesn’t mean having an absolutely straight  lower back, like a military “attention” position.  There should still be some natural curve to your lower back.

Do yourself a big favor.  Hold your upper body weight up with your abdominal muscles; don’t tighten your abs just use them to move them to a neutral spine. Your ribcage should be parallel with the floor.

When you are tired or have been standing for a while, it is easy to compensate by absorbing the load on your lower back.  You stick out your belly, your ribcage points upwards and your hips tilt toward the floor (if you need a visual here’s a picture of lordosis). If there is a bar stool or a rock around lift up one leg and take a load off and rest.  If not, just tell yourself-

“I will not allow my lower back to slump under my upper body and the weight of  this sweet babe that I am carrying!”

Wearing your baby high will also help keep the weight off your back.  Facing  your baby out will prove for an awkward load and almost force you to stick out your belly and your backside and let your lower back absorb all of the weight.  Having the fabric extended to the back of baby’s knees and making sure that baby’s bottom is higher than your belly button, while your baby faces you, will bring the load closer to your core and better equip your body to carry your baby properly.

Happy back= Happy babywearing!

Congrats to June Maggio, who won a Boba Wrap during the LIVE broadcast, and who is giving birth to twins! Thank you everyone who joined the recording, got involved in the live chat, and loved up the Boba Carrier 3G on the show! And thanks to Shari and her team for an awesome segment – we love your show and appreciate all the help you give to new and expecting families!

Enjoy!

The fabric was spread to the back of the knee and subsequently baby has a wonderful seat. Plus her bottom is above mom's belly button. Nice!

I used to tie wraps on to moms. I would guide them through the steps. “Yep, “x” in the back of your body- then “x” on the front of your body”. Although I will admit that tying the wrap tight enough with no twists, or loose or hanging fabric is a big part of getting the right fit for you and your baby, tying the wrap so that it conforms to your body is only half the battle!

Putting your baby into the wrap is just as important! As this point I would have the eagerly anticipating mama pull the “x” away from her body. “This is where your baby will sit”, I would say. And we would place the baby in the wrap. “Spread the fabric over baby’s bottom and wide over baby’s back”. But the most important thing, I often neglected to mention.

It has taken five years of manufacturing baby wraps to give a concise way to moms to discern whether they are wearing the wrap well or not. There are only two points. Here it goes.

1. Make sure the fabric is spread all the way to the back of the baby’s knees.

Covering baby’s bottom with the fabric is not enough. Your baby needs a seat. Imagine yourself sitting on a hammock. Would you want the fabric bunched up behind your hamstring or would you want it all the way to the back of where your knee bends. To really make a seat, your baby’s legs should be flexed and widespread. Like the babywearing expert from Canada says, your baby’s bottom and legs should look like the capital letter “M”. Bottom down and thighs at least parallel to the floor.

though a gorgeous carrier there is not a seat for baby. Baby should be in the piggy back position with support under the back of the knees.

What you don’t want is two little legs hanging straight down in front of you.  If wearing a woven wrap or other cloth carrier on your back, then you certainly don’t want little legs hanging down in back of you either. You want them hugging your sides. The easiest mistake to make is only spreading the fabric over baby’s bottom.  When you spread the fabric all the way to the back of the knees, it naturally pulls the legs up into a flexed position.  The legs are then supported, the pelvis is turned under and the spine supported in a natural c-shape. The head of your baby’s thigh bone perfectly fills out the hip socket with flexed widespread legs.

2. Baby’s bottom should be above your belly button.

You’ve probably heard countless times that stretchy wraps are only good for the baby’s first several months. As long as the fabric is spread all the way to the back of your baby’s knee and your baby’s bottom is sitting above your belly button, it is tough for the baby to go anywhere. Wearing your baby higher is safer.

When you wear your baby high on your chest the load you are carrying is closer to your center of gravity. A closer higher load helps out with your balance and it helps take the pressure off of your back. Moreover, you are less apt to be leaning forward or leaning backward to compensate for the extra weight that you are moving.

I once put my five year old into the wrap to prove my point. I pulled the fabric to the back of her knees and tied it so that her bottom would be above my belly button. And you know what? No Sagging!!!!

My girl was five here. Spread the fabric as far as I could. Look no sagging!

From now on, I will say “spread the fabric to the back of the knee and make sure that baby’s bottom is above your navel”. That’s all you really need to know. If it worked for my five year old, it will work with your yummy chunky monkey.

Drea Boba Boba Baby Wrap on You Tube