I found out I was pregnant the morning of my son Maxwell’s first birthday party. He wasn’t walking yet; he didn’t start walking until he was fifteen months old. Before I got pregnant, I wore him everywhere, and hadn’t used a stroller in months. So the natural question for me was, how am I going to carry this kid when I get bigger (and bigger and bigger . . .)?

The Toddler Gets Older

I can’t deny feeling a bit relieved when Maxwell finally started walking. I was into my second trimester. He’d been getting bigger and heavier, and it’s kind of nice to get the load off of your pregnant back! Anyway, I wanted to wean him out of the carrier a little so I can wear the next baby. Maxwell is now twenty months old and has learned the word “down,” so in truth, he walks more and I wear him less as the pregnancy progresses. I’ve also broken out the stroller for the last few months of the pregnancy, though I mostly use it to cart around the diaper bag. But I digress, we’re here to talk about babywearing.

Carrying Position

Well, first of all, by the time I got pregnant, I was primarily carrying him on my back anyway. I could still do front carries for a little while, but this got to be unwieldy because there was less room, and my center of gravity was shifted forward with the pregnancy, making any front-and-center carry almost comical after a while. Yes, there are the hip positions – I’m not really a fan, but we could manage them until the late second trimester, when my belly got big enough to displace Maxwell’s front leg. Around this time, he stopped wanting me to carry him on my hip, carrier or not – it just wasn’t comfortable. That left us with mostly back carries, which is what I was doing anyway. As I write this, I am in my last week of pregnancy, and I can still manage a back carry without too much trouble.

Type of Carrier

My favorite carrier before the pregnancy was my woven wrap. I can’t wait to get back into it, but I got an pack carrier (rectangle with straps) as a gift, and it turned out to be easier to use as I got bigger. I’ve never used a pouch, so I can’t speak to how that would work out during pregnancy, but my ring sling was a thing of the past as soon as I started “showing.” The way it cut diagonally across the top of my belly made it less comfortable than more symmetrical carriers. I was used to doing a rucksack carry with my wrap – quick, easy, Maxwell loves it. The Tibetan carry doesn’t take much more time, and it takes all the pressure off of your belly! I found that for me, though, it was hard to breathe with all of Maxwell’s weight across my chest in the Tibetan carry, and the baby pushing up from below. So when using a wrap, I just tied it in rucksack position above my growing belly, and that was fine, actually pretty comfortable.

The bigger issue I had with back carries in a wrap was getting Maxwell on and off my back, with my altered center of gravity. So I started using the pack carrier more and more, just because it was easier getting him up and down. I like to tie the waist straps right above my belly, and I position the shoulder straps like a backpack, so there’s nothing pressing on my chest. In summary, a Tibetan carry with a wrap or a pack carrier will take the pressure off your belly, but if it makes you short of breath, there is no need to do a Tibetan carry if you don’t want to – just tie the waist a little higher in your wrap or pack carrier.

Getting Baby On and Off Your Back

This was the biggest challenge for me. Getting Maxwell up is still no big deal to me – just lift under the armpits and toss him onto my back. He’s been carried so much that he knows what to do once he’s there. Getting him down is other story. Up until my second trimester he couldn’t stand by himself, so I did what I’d always done – untie the carrier, and shift him around to my left hip. But I got bigger and Maxwell got heavier, and this wasn’t working after a time. So now I untie my carrier and kneel, and he slides to the ground behind me, where he stands on his own.

Improvising

I’d never done a torso carry until I found myself at the beach one day, 32 weeks pregnant, with a sleeping baby, and no carrier. I did have a beach towel! I discovered the torso back carry worked nicely, since it wraps around the chest above the belly. I wore him for an hour while we had lunch. The torso carry was so incredibly comfortable, I don’t know why I didn’t do it more after that.

In Summary

Find what works best for you! I recommend using something symmetrical: a wrap, a pack carrier, or a torso carry (such as with a pareo). I highly recommend back carries; I can’t think how else you’d wear a heavy toddler while pregnant. Tibetan-style back carries take the pressure off your growing belly, but can exacerbate shortness of breath. A rucksack carry with a wrap or a pack carrier is easy to do and works fine if you just tie the waist a little higher. Try the torso carry – it was wonderfully comfortable. Be careful getting the baby up and down – your center of gravity is different now! And consider that your older child may be ready to walk a little more.

Congratulations, and good luck!
~Lori Colan, M.D., F.A.A.P.