Soft carriers - how to get your baby onto your back
The Hip Method

By Micaela Walker

Micaela used this method to get Duncan onto her back in an Ergo carrier from when he was 5 months old. You could try this with other soft carriers where the shoulder straps are attached rucksack style (not crossed in front).

These instructions are a guide only - use them at your own risk. Neither Micaela nor TheBabyWearer accept any responsibility for your use of these instructions.

The Hip Method
Figure 1.
 Start with the shoulder straps done up at the correct tightness. Loosen the left-hand strap a bit (this is the strap which will be on your left shoulder when the baby is on your back). Put the waist band on your waist and leave it slack enough so that you can turn it round your waist.
 Twist the waistband round so that the back of the carrier is draped down your right hip (Figure 1).
 Sit your baby on your right hip above the waist belt and pull the back of the carrier up and around the baby's back - it is important at this point that your baby is centered exactly in the carrier. Hug your baby to your side with your right arm holding the back in place. Your arm should go over the baby's left shoulder, across their back, and under their right armpit for this to work (Figure 2). 		Figure 2.
Figure 3.
 Hold the back of the fabric in place with the right strap either over or under the baby's right arm (depending on the size of your baby). I usually grip the top of the right strap, where it joins the back fabric, under baby's right armpit (Figure 3).
 Grip the waist belt with your left hand and twist the ergo carrier and baby round to the right towards your back. You must lean forward while you do this. You may need to bounce a bit to help you move the baby round smoothly.
 As soon as you can (before your baby is actually on your back) reach behind you with your left arm and pull the left shoulder strap on (Figure 4). Pulling the left strap on will pull your baby round further onto your back. You should still be leaning forwards. 		Figure 4.
Figure 5.
 Reach your left arm across your front to hold the right side of the back in place, slip your right arm into the right strap (Figure 5). Now you can let go and fasten the chest strap while still leaning forward. You can also bounce your baby up and down a bit while twisting the waist belt to ensure that he/she is now centred on your back.
 Still leaning forward with your baby lying up your back, hitch him/her up again so that the waist belt is quite high on your waist. Push the fabric of the belt under their bum against your back with one hand and tighten the belt with the other.
 Now if you are confident that the back of the carrier is up around the baby correctly stand up straight and let your baby's weight slide into position. I would still have somebody spot you the first time you do this.
 Finally, if you are worried that the back of the carrier is not sitting high enough up the baby's back, pull the head flap up over the back of your baby's head and keep pulling upwards. This should pull the back fabric with it and ensures that everything is in place.
Getting baby out
OK Ten steps of happy Ergo use. Now you say - how do I get them out on my own? Well it's almost a reversal of above - so here goes -
  1. Twist around a bit and hug your baby around their back with your right arm as much as you can and lean forward a bit.
  2. Slacken the waist belt a bit.
  3. Take your left arm out of the left shoulder strap.
  4. User your left arm to pull the waist belt round so that the baby is moving onto your right hip - still gripping the baby to your side with your right arm.
  5. Once he/she is almost on your right hip twist round to grip the baby's right under arm with your left hand.
  6. Once you have both hands on your baby you can lift him/her free of the fabric and give them a big hug.
I know this sounds complicated, but in practice it is not. Ds did not take long to understand what was going on, and so does not wriggle or struggle while I am doing any of this. I do not know how long this technique will last. As ds gets bigger is might be trickier to twist the carrier around, but by then he may be able to climb onto my back and hold on while I pull it into place.

Afternote
These instructions seemed to have worked for us up until about 1 year old. I am not sure whether it became difficult to twist him round due to his increased weight and size, or whether it was because during the colder weather he and I wore so many layers of clothing (our clothes just kept on getting tangled up and twisted). I am now using the instructions that came with the carrier, which my son has taken to no problem at 13 months.

© Micaela Walker, 2003. All rights reserved.