November 13, 2009

When we announced our intention of traveling halfway across the world with our 5 children, our friends were surprised! We had never taken the kids farther than 3 hours from home and never ever on an airplane! That was all about to change as we planned for our 5 month trip to New Zealand and Australia! We needed to prepare for 15 hours in an airplane, hiking, snowing, beach cruising, 4 birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, & Christmas, all while in a foreign country with our little kids (our oldest is 6!!)

My husband prepared by getting all 12 hours of the Lord of the Rings movies loaded onto his computer and ordering additional cables & wires from Amazon.com for our various cameras & computers. I prepared by making 4 mad dash outlet mall shopping trips to find suitable snow gear for the kids AND new swimming suits for everyone and by agonizing over which baby carriers to bring! 1 for each parent? Too few! 1 for each child? Too many! 1 of each style? Maybe….

As my dad dropped us off at LAX International Airport, we counted our bags. 9 carry-ons, 14 checked bags, 2 strollers, and a partridge in a pear tree! Just kidding about the partridge part, but it seemed to fit right in!!! We had the 5 kids, 2 laptop computers, 2 cameras, a video camera, toys, children’s school books, 1 new GypsyMama wrap (my going away present to myself!), 2 Kelty backpacks (1 with kickstamd and 1 rucksack style with storage), 1 pouch to have in the rental van in case of emergency, 1 Solarveil Ring Sling for beach & swimming, and my favorite baby carrier of all, my Echino Scooters!!!

6 weeks into our adventure, we have worn the Beco daily, the Keltys countless times on our hikes, the Ring Sling three times to the pool, the pouch zero times (no emergencies yet!) and the wrap 3 times by me and once by my husband who found himself without the Beco and used the PURPLE Bali Baby wrap in the sling style to put Baby #5 to bed for his nap while out with #3! I also wore a piece of cotton sheet as a SPOC for part of my Halloween costume, but that is a blog post for another time!!!

I was thrilled when they let me go through the metal detector at the airport and at the American Embassy with Baby in the Beco, and now, with just a few more weeks until our next plane trip over to Australia from Auckland, I’m hoping that he will be as happy in the Beco as he was on our first flight where I wore him for about 20 hours straight!

Wish me luck, and I’ll have an update for you on the other end of baggage claim!

November 3, 2009

Q: Chris from Columbus, Ohio asks…

I’m due with my fourth child in January. What two carriers will work together the best so I can carry my toddler and the new baby?

A: Congratulations! When you add a new baby to the family it can be a challenging time for everyone. Having the ability to carry your children and keep your hands free will be vital!

The best way to wear two children at once is to have one on front and one on the back. Your toddler will go on your back, and your newborn in front. We’ll start with the newborn.

You will need something that is easy to ‘pop’ your newborn into for a front carry. Our favorite is the Moby Wrap. This carrier can be wrapped on yourself first using easy-to-follow instructions and once it’s in place you can work on getting the toddler on your back. Another option for the newborn would be a Ring Sling or Pouch.

To get your toddler on your back a Mei Tai or soft structured carrier would be the easiest. Go ahead and get the toddler on first, securing the waist strap of the carrier under the Moby Wrap, and the shoulder straps over the Moby. Then you can pop your newborn in the Moby and spread out all the layers of fabric. With a carrier like the Beco Butterfly or Ergo, you probably will not be able to fasten the chest clip in front of you. If this doesn’t work well for your body shape, then choose the Mei Tai, which usually hugs closer to your body and fits better backpack style.