Babywearing a 26-month-old

Dash is officially 30 pounds, confirmed by the doc's office on Monday. Yet, I am still carrying him in a sling. Why, you may ask? He's been walking since he was 9 months. And it must be hurting your back to carry all that weight?

Not to worry:

I wear him because he still gets tired and wants to be carried; without my sling (a Maya Wrap) to assist, my arm muscles would give out.

When he falls asleep in the car (like on Monday, while he was sick), I can easily transfer him from his car seat to the sling (in a hip-carry) without waking him. Once he's in the sling, asleep, I use the tail of the fabric to cover his head. If he's awake and tired, he'll tell me that he wants to "hide" under the fabric, which is a sure sign that he's going to fall asleep soon. I can also transfer him back to the car seat from the sling without waking.

The Maya only hurts my shoulder muscles (not my upper or lower back) after an hour or two, and even then, not a whole lot. I've been carrying him in the sling since he was an infant, so my muscles have been adapting as he's gotten bigger.

If I do have the stroller out and Rosie is also with us, she will want to sit in the stroller. It was once hers (and apparently still is), so I can understand her territorialism. We went on a hike recently and I had the stroller with us, expecting that Dash would ride and Rosie would walk. Luckily I had the sling with us, because given the speed of the group, Rosie had to ride and I carried Dash in the back-carry position with the Maya.

Dash also LOVES the sling! If he sees it lying around, he picks it up and brings it to me, saying, "Mommy ride! Mommy ride!" I love this enthusiasm and will snuggle up to him in the sling as long as he'll allow it.

And until my chiropractor tells me not to.