Guest Post: Babywearing with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Tonight we will be featuring a guest post from a local Mum who wanted to showcase some of the amazing, diverse qualities of Babywearing! Enjoy!

My name is Barbara. I am a mother, a wife, and a babywearing advocate! I also happen to have Rheumatoid Arthritis. (For those of you who aren’t familiar with RA, it is an autoimmune disease in which my body thinks my joints are something foreign, so it attacks them. It causes pain and long term damage when not managed).

My daughter was born with no complications VIA C-section. The first 6 weeks were rough. I was told that I could not lift anything heavier than my baby. Okay! Except, wait, my daughter wants to be held ALL THE TIME and my wrists are getting sore. Maybe I’ll go for a walk. Okay! Except, wait, all I have is a stroller which weighs nearly as much as me and I live up a set of stairs. Hm.

I started babywearing on the advice of my family doctor. She suggested that to save my wrists and save my sanity I look into a carrier. I went through a few different carriers to find something that really worked well for me. Our first carrier was a super pretty Beco Butterfly II I bought second hand off our local swap group. I remember being shocked that the woman I bought it from had SEVERAL of these “expensive” carriers. Why would she need more than one? I asked my husband. Little did I know...

Me wearing Evelyn in our Beco Butterfly II at two months old     

We soon found that these babywearing thing-a-ma-bobs actually made life easier. And more fun! We were able to snuggle our baby close. And our 5 year old nephew!

Wearing a Mei Tai

I tried several different styles of carriers before finding what worked best for our family. For my husband, Tim, he appreciates the simplicity and ease of a soft structured carrier. So we retired the Beco and bought a little less girly Ergo, which he is quite comfortable using.

Halloween 2012 in an Ergo

And for myself I found love in woven wraps, and wrap conversion ring slings

In our Storchenwiege WCRS in Vicki – fast asleep

I often get asked variations of the following questions:

“Isn’t that hard on your wrists/hands/knees/feet?”

And the truthful answer is, sometimes yes, it is. But because of my RA I would have that same pain if I was pushing a stroller or if I was wearing my daughter. Personally, if I am having a bad day I feel safer having her close to me. I know that I won’t accidentally let go of her if a jab of pain hits.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to just push a stroller?”

Actually, no! We sometimes use a lightweight umbrella stroller when my daughter insists, or when we have more babies with us on visits. When I push the stroller it puts more strain on my wrists and hands from needing to stay in the same position for so long. I also get worried that if I have pain, or stumble (which I do often) I will accidentally let go of the stroller.

“Do you need help doing that?” (Usually as I put my daughter up on my back)

Nope! I know I look very awkward doing what I am doing, but I have found ways that work for me without causing pain or stiffness later on. If I need help I am not shy about asking for it!

“Does your baby really LIKE being carried all the time?”

She loves it.