One trade-off of working for yourself is you don’t really get much of a maternity leave.
Luckily for me, a lot of what I do can be done on my phone (thanks social media apps!), and I’ve become very well acquainted with writing and working on my phone while breastfeeding. Still, there were times during those early weeks with Lulu where I needed to get work done that required two hands and an actual computer. If my husband wasn’t available for me to pass her off to (or even if he was, but I didn’t want to stop holding Lulu because I pretty much never wanted to stop holding her in those first several weeks), then I turned to the BEST BABY PRODUCT I OWN.
The Moby wrap.
In those early days, it was the only thing that let me get work done. I’d wrap Lulu up against my chest and she’d fall asleep for a couple hours. Another important aspect of the Moby wrap is that I could stay at my desk without getting up every three minutes to check she was still breathing. Yes, I was…uh, still am…one of those moms who feels the need to check my child is breathing all. the. time. Other moms tell me this is normal. Hopefully they’re right and I’m not on the path to becoming a crazy helicopter parent.
So the Moby wrap let me hold the baby, know she was safe, and get work done, all when Lulu was just a couple weeks old. It also helped me feel like I had some “me” time when I was in the throes of new parenthood. She would be so content in there she’d sleep two to three hours and I could move about the house pretty freely or furiously type, type, type at my laptop before she woke up.
The Moby wrap definitely has a learning curve. The thing is massive. It’s just one super long piece of fabric that seems impossible to wrap around your body in any manner that is going to hold your baby safe when you first open it. I almost gave up on it after a few tries, but fortunately I persevered. Watching YouTube videos helped immensely. I’m pretty sure Lulu was thinking “what is this crazy lady doing to me” the first several times I put her into it, but once we both got used to it, she and I both loved the Moby.
Lulu was over eight pounds when she was born so I was able to start wearing it almost immediately (it’s recommended not to use until eight pounds). If your baby is under eight pounds, check with your doctor first.
Now that Lulu is older, Tom and I have more systems in place for me to get work done throughout the week, but the Moby wrap still comes in handy. Sometimes for getting extra work done during the parts of the week I don’t have help and sometimes simply for giving me sanity throughout the day. If she’s fussy, putting her in the Moby often helps. Lulu doesn’t like to take long naps so far, but almost always Moby + Vacuum = Sleep, meaning I can actually get some housework done! And an uncluttered work environment is a productive environment, so they say. The Moby wrap also comes in handy for eating at restaurants where it’s not practical to bring in the car seat.
There are many other types of wraps and baby carriers on the market. The Moby works well for me, but you may find one that works better for your lifestyle. The site www.babywearinginternational.org is a great resource if you’re new to the world of baby carriers.
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