Sleepy Snuggles: How Our Community Uses Babywearing for Rest
Last week, we shared our recommendations for safe and snuggly babywearing sleep. This week, we hear from our wonderful community about how babywearing helps them and their family’s get much needed rest.
Napping on the Go
Babywearing is the busy family’s best friend for many reasons. Napping on the go is one of them! When your baby gets used to a comfy carrier snooze, it’s so easy to keep plans with your friends or show up to your toddler’s playdate. Our community members love babywearing for on-the-go naps!
Alexandra Cassidy: We use our lark for all naps when out and about! No worries about skipping a nap, he’ll just sleep in the lark it’s so nice knowing we don’t have to sacrifice naps to be able to be out!❤️
Kelsey Remme: We love contact naps when we’re out and about in the afternoon! Babywearing helps prevent an overtired baby for us ❤️
Kaitlin Wagner: My daughter and I walk to and from work everyday (I work at the daycare she goes to), and wether i use the lark or a ring sling she gets her 10min mini nap before and after school. I wore her at the zoo for mothers day too and she was able to nap in her sling after we walked around a bit. I have also been successful in a nap transfer from car seat to carrier so she was able to nap the whole time we were at the store.
Handsfree Contact Naps
Even if you stay home for naptime, babywearing still makes it easier for your baby to contact nap. You’re not nap trapped on the couch anymore. Like our community members, you can do some chores or take a walk. Or simply wait out nap time more comfortably.
Shannon Fleming: I work from home and babywearing while contact napping has been a life saver! Ring sling, lark, and meh dai!
Tiesha Blizzard: We don’t nap in the carrier on the daily but it definitely helps when out and about or when she’s extra fussy something about the ring sling just helps knock her out plus makes my life easier since now I can be hands free while she naps since we contact nap all naps at the moment
Sasha Quinn: Our baby sleeps beautifully in her bed at night. Day time? Carrier or wrap nap ONLY. If she's not wrapped up it's 20 mins max. In a sling/wrap/lark we can get 2+ hours.
Kynzie Rogakis: All 4 of my babies have contact napped in carriers. Especially as we’ve had more kids, babywearing is the only way we function most days!
All Part of the Routine
Some of our community members like to incorporate babywearing into the nap- or bedtime routines. Their baby might not stay in the carrier to sleep, but this doesn’t mean they don’t snuggle down while cuddled close, getting themselves ready for a nice, long snooze.
Cadence Moore: My 18 mo son loves our ring sling🩵 usually we start off his daily nap in the sling and then I transition him to his bed and he cuddles with it for comfort!
Mikhaila Rowaan: We use our kid lark daily to put my 3 year old to sleep! Helps her calm down and feel close and connected before bed. It's one of my favourite parts of the day!
Jennifer Fowler: We love our Lark naps. It's the only way we get our 11AM naps in so we don't spend the entire afternoon being overtired.
We usually start by petting the kitties while getting loaded in. We then do a quick walk around the garden before embarking on our neighborhood walk! 20 minutes into our 60 minute walk, we fall asleep. End up with a lovely 40 minute nap and one happy baby 🥰
Wish the rain would hurry up and go away as someone has been FUSSY without her outdoor Lark naps 🫠 I know I could pace around the house but it's just not the same. She loves hearing the birds and feeling the breeze. And let's be real, you go stir crazy being trapped inside for too long.
Jozie O'Brien: When we night weaned we added Babywearing to our bedtime routine! Our routine is nurse, brush teeth, read books, and into the carrier on mom or dads back until he’s asleep, then we transfer him to his bed.
At 20 months he doesn’t nap in the carrier as often, but I treasure the times he does ❤️
I don’t have a recent carrier nap photo, but here’s one from right before his 1st birthday ❤️
Jordan Engel: My babe falls asleep in a back carry now that she’s closer to 18mo, and we’ve recently incorporated a morning carry around the neighborhood for some sunlight, and a bedtime walk as well- I’ve only recently started using a meh dai and sling but she’s actually falling asleep in those more easily than my structured carriers because they’re a tight secure fit!
Katie Myers: We use our Lark for our last cat nap every evening! If we don’t go for our nightly walk, it’s a rough night with an overtired baby and a lot of fussing. Into the Lark and she’s out within 5 minutes. Plus, the dogs get their walk and I get some exercise!
The Power of Snuggles
As caregivers, we’ve all been there: your baby hasn’t slept. They're overtired and starting to lose it. You’re starting to lose it. How do you convince a sleepy baby that all they need to do is close their eyes? Our community members turn to babywearing in their times of need, proving time and time again that the power of snuggles for sleep is strong.
Jessica Carrillo Cruz: If my little is overtired, the deep pressure from a sling or meh dai carry will 9 outta 10 get her to sleep. 💕
Shelby Rae: My daughter was substance exposed prenatally and NEVER stops moving. The only way I can get her to nap is in a ring sling, it has saved our sanity
Marta Rose: My one year old doesn't nap in carriers anymore. However, our lark and ring sling are crucial tools after sleepless nights. When we're both exhausted, babywearing in our hope&plum carriers keep both of us comforted and regulated.
Jenny Tafur-Ruth: Babywearing saved my soul. 🙃
When I went back to work, the postpartum anxiety hit hard. People always worry about moms with newborns but it wasnt until months later that it really hit for me. But every day I'd pick my daughter up from daycare and wear her. I'd be dripping in anxiety from the separation and she'd be overwhelmed from the new routine. We were both disregulated messes. But wearing her after work, it was the closest thing to "putting her back" as I could get. Within minutes of wearing her we'd come back to that mental equilibrium we had in the womb and during maternity leave.
Fast forward to every time we struggled to regulate- babywearing got us thru every sleep regression, traveling three time zones away, moving to a new house, getting thru the loss of a family member, weaning ... every time we were disregulated, babywearing brought us the comfort we BOTH needed to regulate.
Tori Brown: Baby wearing walks are our secret weapon when bub is exhausted and fussy but bedtime is still an hour away. Literally stops all fussy behavior and keeps our dude calm and content instead of us trying to play and overstimulating him further
Raven Garcia: We love a ring sling nap! On the go or at home, we sling nap at least once a day. The deep pressure of the sling does wonders for my baby.
Emma Burrows: My little one naps in our h&p carriers all the time. Lately when she’s struggling to fall asleep we pop on a ring sling and after a bit of bouncing on the trusty yoga ball, she’s sound asleep. My favorite are meh dai snuggle naps though—the best!
You've seen how our community uses babywearing to help their little ones snooze. Tell us how you incorporate carriers into your family's sleep health!
