Now I’m not recommending this is how EVERYone should pick up children…but it works for us!
Step one: Pick up a child.
Step two: Go for a walk.
Step three: Return child (if it wasn’t yours).
Note: If it is not your child, you should probably give the parents a heads-up before attempting Step 1. Just a thought.
Leave the carrier, stroller, wagon at home and carry that squirmy, wiggly, little person. Expect that you will not get far, and that not getting far will take you WAY longer than it ever has. Distance is not the goal here.
And, GO! How far will you get? Go try it! I’ll wait… 😉
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Well? How far?
The first time I tried this, my second was a couple of months old. “I’ll walk down the lane, I thought, no sweat.” The lane is 400m long, that’s not even far! I wasn’t even halfway when I turned around. Too hard.
I’ve had a lot of practice since then (this is something you need to build up to slowly). We managed 2km today, and she’s a lot bigger now! The thing is, she’s also trained! (Yes, you can train children. It’s amazing. In fact, I think it’s why people have children. I’m not even sure how our dishes got to the sink before we had kids and could spend 10 minutes negotiating with them after every meal. Try it. It’s super fun. I digress).
Here’s the thing. You can train your child to be easier to carry. It requires that they sit differently and they need to balance. It’s helpful if they can hold on and aren’t wearing a slippery snow suit (come onnnnnnnn spring!!!). I’ll post some tips on this soon.
Alternate use for stroller… Put the dog’s bed on top (we picked her up from a weekend at the neighbour’s) and get the 1 year old to push it.
Now you may be thinking… why on Earth would ANYone want to actually use their ARMS to carry their child? There’s a whole industry telling us there are better ways. (I’m not judging anyone for their baby transporting decisions here… I have 4 different styles of baby carrier, 3 strollers, and 2 wagons. Also, I may have underestimated the number of baby carriers. I’m a fan). So I’m not saying to get rid of all of your baby transport options. These are all tools in your child-rearing arsenal and we both know that you need all the options you have.
What I am suggesting though, is that you should add baby CARRYING to your toolbox. No one is going to make money from this choice, so no one has probably recommended it, suggested it, or shown you an ad for it.
Here are the benefits for carrying your baby:
– you get stronger
– your baby gets stronger
– you always have all the equipment you need and won’t forget it anywhere (ask me sometime about leaving my fancy stroller on the sidewalk in town and not remembering until the next day)
– it’s FREE!!
Of course there are downsides. I’m not going to be a downer and list them. If you come up with more downsides than benefits, then don’t carry your baby. It’s not for you, and that’s OK. You still have carriers, strollers and wagons. You’re doing alright. I didn’t deliberately carry my first ANYwhere and she’s doing alright too.
Buuuut, let’s break down the everyone gets stronger piece. It’s compelling.
You get stronger:
– You’re walking (yay!) and carrying more than your body weight.
– You are using your arms (which are probably not as strong as they should be. Mine aren’t.).
– When your arm gets tired, switch arms! Then you’re using your OTHER arm. It is probably most definitely not as strong as it should be and almost certainly weaker than the arm you started with.
– You strengthen your shoulders and upper back.
– Carrying your child is a workout for your core. Seriously. How cool is that?
– Also, you vary your position a LOT when you’re carrying wiggly children, so you get lots more movement than your typical just-walk-straight-ahead-walking gives you. It all counts.
How your kiddo gets stronger:
– Children in carriers, strollers and wagons are not moving, they are BEING moved. Big difference.
– A baby/toddler in arms has to use THEIR core to stay upright.
– They need to react to your movements.
– They turn their head a LOT more.
– Children trained to be carried will grip and use hand/arm strength to hold on.
– Is your baby old enough to walk? Put them down every now and then (puddles are good motivators. Do laundry when you get home… more movement!). It all counts.
Here are some examples of carrying that I used today on our 2km walk. That one where I’m facing backwards? That represented me walking backwards, cause kiddo likes to face forward to watch the dog. How many others can you think of? The next time you’re heading out for a walk, consider carrying as an option and see how it feels. I’d love to hear how it goes!