Soothing Ryan

Ryan is doing well, but out of my three babies, he seems to be the most fussy. Sometimes, when I'm in the mood to see the humour in the situation, I think that when Ryan's cranky he looks like an angry little old man! I had a certain character in mind when I started thinking this. Are any of you familiar with ventriloquist/comedian Jeff Dunham's character, "Walter"?


The squinty eyes, down-turned mouth, and even the fringe of dark hair around Ryan's head reminds me of "Walter"!

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I have been searching for some options as to how I could soothe Ryan, yet keep up with my daily activities. It's been a bit tough to help Andrea and Kevin, and do the housecleaning, when Ryan is "demanding" to be held and comforted. Some days, it feels like I just can't get anything done! So, I went browsing for some ideas, and came across some websites for baby slings/pouches. I've had a carrier before, but didn't use it for any of my kids, because it was awkward and heavy, even without a baby in it! A sling, however, is just light fabric sewn together and folded to make a pouch for the baby.

Yes, I am aware that there are concerns about the safety of baby slings, but I did my research. It's common sense: position the baby so that he's secure, but so that he can breathe properly.

Well, my pouch arrived in the mail last night, and I decided to give it a try. It was a perfect night for it: Ryan had been miserable all day, and I had lots of chores to do, but nothing was getting done. It took a few tries for me to get him positioned, and as he was already mad, he didn't like that at all; so, when he was first in the pouch, he cried a lot. I thought, good thing I didn't take the tags off this thing. It's going back to the store. However, Ryan suddenly stopped crying. I looked down. He was sound asleep. He slept in the sling for a good 45 minutes! I even folded and put away laundry, and he didn't wake up. I finally took the sling off because I was ready for a break!

Here's some pictures I snapped of myself with Ryan in the sling. (I took them in the mirror, and you could see the camera and flash, so I cropped that out.)

His position wasn't perfect, but he was comfortable and safe. We're going to have to practice with it a bit more, so I can get used to putting him in better, but so far, it seems like a good purchase. :)