How to Support Baby’s Head When back-carrying?
Most babies love back carries – it gives them the chance to look around (and especially to see what mom is doing)! Many babies also love having their arms out, enjoying the freedom of movement this position allows. And for most babies, back carries are the perfect opportunity for a nap…
A common question is what to do when the baby falls asleep in this position and their head starts tilting backward. A few days ago, I had the perfect chance to “capture” the answer!
So, Iliana and I were answering emails. Until one of us got bored and decided to take a nap (guess who?).
Unfortunately, Morpheus’ embrace isn’t quite as comfy as mom’s! Since her arms were out, her head ended up tilting back. That’s something we need to fix!
The solution is to gently tuck the baby’s arms back inside the mei tai, so their head is supported. You can see exactly how in the video below:
Hope it helped!
(If I get lucky again with timing, I’ll try to make a similar video using a wrap.)
Note: The angle at which the mei tai’s shoulder straps are sewn plays a big role. It needs to be carefully designed: if the angle is too small, the baby can’t comfortably get their arms out; if it’s too large, the carrier may slip from the wearer’s shoulders and feel insecure. The angle also affects whether you can easily transition from arms-out to arms-in, as seen in the video.
Take care and happy babywearing!
This article was originally written on March 3, 2011 and is republished here from the babywearing blog.
