The instructions on my sling mention that you should put the baby in when he is calm and well rested. This is a good idea, in theory. However, in my experience over the last few days, I actually found the sling to be one of the better calming influences. Of course, this means that I often find myself attempting to maneuver a squirmy, screamy little person into proper position. But when he gets in there just right? Asleep in minutes. It’s a miracle.

And once he’s asleep and not craning his neck to look every which way, I can release the hand that helps support his wobbly, curious head and go on with my daily business. Some of which, of course, involves conking out into oblivion, myself.

I never really thought much about the whole baby wearing thing in terms of a parenting philosophy (attachment parenting), just that having something on the body to carry a baby around in might be nice for going for walks or to parks or the mall or grocery shopping or something. I figured that when we were around the house, we’d always have someplace to put the baby like a bouncer, a playpen, the floor, a husband, wherever. Even in my own arms when there are things that don’t need two hands to do. What I didn’t really count on was the fact that newborns really do appreciate a constant closeness. At least mine does. I can’t speak for yours or anyone else’s. Anyway, wearing the baby around the house has been fun and rewarding for both of us. It redistributes the weight of his little body in a way that is different than trying to hold him all the time, and it allows me freedom to move around and go about my business without having to give up any part of our bonding time. I love it. And if doing this involves me in the whole attachment parenting “movement,” that’s fine, because it means that this stuff isn’t just working for us, apparently it works for a bunch of other people, too.

So this is at least one thing that I’ll keep doing. I’m sure it will get even easier once he can hold his head up on his own, though he will keep getting heavier and heavier. But I’m very glad that we invested in the sling because it’s already saved me several hours that could have been otherwise occupied with attempting the thousands of other ways there are to calm a fussy baby.