I get TONS of questions about back wrapping. The most commonly asked questions I get are “How do I get a good seat in my back carry?” and “How can I tell if I have a good seat in my back carry?” Hopefully this blog post will answer those questions!
First off . . . What does a “good” seat look like?
A perfect seat has three things:
- Baby’s knees are higher than baby’s bottom.
- The fabric goes all the way from the bend of one knee to the bend of the other.
- Between you and baby, the bottom edge is tightened and makes a straight line from knee to knee.
#3 is the one that is the most confusing. What does the seat look like between you and baby? Jay at www.modernbabywearing.com created a really wonderful graphic to show what the seat looks like between you and baby:
Notice how in the top picture, the bottom edge is making a straight line from knee to knee. That’s what the seat will look like between you and baby. Jay has a really wonderful explanation of why the top seat works so well in this blog post.
Next, how do you achieve this seat? Many people find it difficult to reach behind them to make the seat. One thing that can help you reach more easily is a small change in hand position.
Take a look at the image on the left. In that picture, my hands are over both of baby’s legs. With my hands over baby’s legs it’s really difficult to move the fabric between baby and I.
Now look at the image on the right. In this image, my hands are under baby’s legs. This makes it MUCH easier to bring the fabric between us.
To achieve the straight line of fabric between baby and I, I reach my hands under baby’s legs and pull the bottom edge of the wrap straight down. Then, I bring the bottom edge tight and take it to the bend of each knee.
Hooking my fingers in the wrap, I pull upward, sweeping baby’s knees higher than baby’s bottom and bringing the bottom edge between us.
Now the seat is perfectly knee to knee and the bottom edge is already tightened.
For more seat tips, check out this video:
Happy back wrapping! 🙂
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