Torso Carries: Back and Front

The next COTW is torso carries, but I decided that there are so many variations that it needs to be split into two "days." First, we tried back torso carries...because they seemed scarier and I wanted them out of the way! I should mention that of all the carries we have and will try, these seem the most hardcore. It's like performing with no safety net. Most of these carries lack support over the shoulders and/or between the baby's legs. For a test-tube-shaped mama like myself, and an inveterate leaner/leg straightener like Max, I knew we'd be defeated before we began. My main goal for these carries was to get them secure enough to take photos. That meant I'd done the carry correctly, although--as I discovered--it didn't necessarily mean that my technique was any good! I used our 3.6m Turkish Delight for these, which is grippy but thin. Well, except for the Kanga, which required a beach towel!

To sum up, we tried:
* Kanga - the first one we tried. It's really neat! I love that you can do it with a beach towel (in fact, it's recommended--a wrap is too long and slippery.) It felt reasonably secure and I'd love to get comfy enough to walk to the pool like this!

Now this time, his legs are supposed to be like this--no karate kick here. He felt much more supported than in SBCC.

* Back torso carry - REALLY hard. It's the hardest part of double hammock, TWICE. And that's the whole carry. Not so good for a baby who likes his arms out, either.

 
* Reinforced back torso carry - Only slightly less awful, because it goes between baby's legs, so while Max could still flip out the back, he couldn't pop his butt out and fall out the bottom.

Ummm...yikes.

It looks less scary from the side.

 * Double Hammock Rebozo/Back Reinforced Torso Rebozo - Also pretty neat--I love being able to DH in a size 3 or 4 wrap! I wore Max to the mailbox in this one. It felt OK until he started trying to stand up; then I realized I hadn't made a good enough pocket. Also, I'd overcompensated on this carry, pulling the second hammock *really* tight, and practically applying a tourniquet to Max's legs. Need to focus on tightening the TOP rail next time. I will use this one again, though.

This one seems like a pretty carry.

The problem with all of the carries was definitely my inability to get the wrap tight enough, which has been a common theme in all my wrapping. It eventually leads to a sinking baby and sore shoulders. Or, in this case, a sore lower back and walking kinda hunched forward. But I think I may return to some of these on a regular basis (if Max lets me!), not so much to actually use them, but to remind myself how tight I should always be wrapping, even when using ruck straps allows me to be lazy about it.

On Day Two, we tried front torso carries...Unfortunately, it turned out I could only find a tutorial for the Front Reinforced Torso carry. There is also a front torso carry that is simply wrapping directly around you and tying off, but I couldn't imagine it would work any better than the back torso carry above, so I skipped it.

This Front Reinforced Torso carry was surprisingly comfy, but would certainly have sagged in very little time. I don't think I could have made it much tighter. I wonder if carries like this were intended for smaller babies, or for needing to restrain a baby while sitting down. This is my 4.0m DIY osnaburg wrap.