My son is a high-needs baby. He’s adorable and I love him madly and he’s everything we hoped for and more, but he is a high needs baby and that is exhausting! He wants to be held all day long and wakes every hour through the night. He loves his mommy and he loves to nurse and anything that gets in between him and those two things is the enemy. Otherwise, he’s a happy, healthy, beautiful little baby.
My doctor suggested he’s likely colicky, except that he doesn’t fit the crying criteria. My family asserts that we spoil him too much, except that my son is far too young to be manipulating me. My friends assure me that this is just a phase and next week or next month or the week after that or the month after that he’ll grow out of it, except that he doesn’t. Baby experts assert that he is “spirited”, except that what all that comes down to is that he is a high-needs baby.
Needless to say, when my son was born after a very difficult 29 hour labour resulting in an emergency c-section, we spent most of our time together snuggled up skin-to-skin. Unfortunately, that meant that for the first few months of his life I have not been able to accomplish much, since he hates me putting him down at all during the day, even if he is sound asleep!
Fortunately, I’m naturally a bit of a crunchy mama. Before my son was born, I had already amassed a collection of all sorts of babywearing wraps, slings and carriers and was keen to provide skin-to-skin kangaroo care to my baby as soon as he was born and as frequently as possible thereafter. Skin-to-skin is such an incredible gift we can give to our children, by snuggling them close to us, allowing them to connect with our familiar heartbeat, smell our unique scent, be warmed by our body heat and be soothed by our cuddles. It has been shown to accelerate baby’s brain development, reduce crying and colic, boost immunity, and improve baby’s sleep quality. Kangaroo care is also so wonderful for the mother, helping her to connect with her child and relax during those first overwhelming days (or weeks, or months!). This then helps to speed her recovery and lower her risk of postpartum depression. If provided immediately after delivery, it can also increase the chances of success for breastfeeding and proper milk production…it’s such a simple but powerful act!
All of the babywearing apparatus I had collected was unfortunately not nearly as helpful as I – a first-time mom – had anticipated it would be: at his young age, many of the carriers or wraps were not ideal for supporting him in a way which was both comfortable for his demands and which would allow me any sort of real mobility. Furthermore, many of them required that I or he both be wearing clothing beneath them because of the uncomfortable straps, snaps, clasps and fabrics.
It was then that I discovered the NuRoo Pocket, a heavy wrap system that allows you to easily and effectively wear a newborn baby. This product was exactly what I had dreampt it would be, and I only wish I had discovered it sooner for those early days when I first brought my son home from the hospital!
It features an adjustable “cross and hug” closure with large strips of Velcro to ensure a secure and comfortable fit for both you and baby, and is available in a selection of stylish colours. The front crossover has an interior no-slip pocket to keep baby in the ideal position to offer skin-to-skin benefits without any extraneous clothing required or any long, uncomfortable straps or extraneous fabric like other babywearing products. This means that when you want to have baby near, it only takes a few seconds to cuddle him in to you, and when you want to take him out, it takes even less time and minimal contorting to do so – trust me other first-time-moms, you want it to be as easy as possible when you have an even moderately fussy baby! No matter how well you feel you’ve mastered the wrap or straps a real live squirming little one is a whole other ballgame from the serene weighted doll you’ve been using!
The generous Velcro strips on the NuRoo are a little difficult to master at first, especially when you have a wriggling little baby in your arms, but after a few days both my son and I became accustomed to the way it worked best for us and it was a breeze afterwards.
The washable and dryer-safe compression-fit fabric is incredibly soft and wics away moisture while still looking like a reasonably stylish wrap shirt, which I appreciated for its versatility – this garment can be used as a maternity shirt when your body is changing daily, then helps you with kangaroo care for your newborn, and can still be used as a warm nursing top because of its easy access style and comfort. It also comes with a padded support belt which tucks under baby’s bottom to keep him secure when you are wearing him and can also double as a post-partum support belt for your changing body.
My baby loves to snuggle into the NuRoo Pocket with me, and I love the comfort it offers both for when we are having a relaxing day together in bed or the rocking chair or when I need to get things done around the house and can take him with me for the ride! Now that he is getting older, he recognizes it when I take it out and it has become a signal to him that it’s nap time, which makes settling him down so much easier – especially since the soft wrap can also dampen ambient light and noise to help decrease the chances of overstimulation during these difficult weeks of development.
NuRoo also sells The NüRoo Swaddler, which is a three-sizes-in-one baby swaddle sack with two interior pockets and a removable seam to extend its length, making this swaddler the only one you’ll need “from birth till when baby rolls”, and a lovely Nursing Scarf. You can shop online to see all of their beautiful fabrics and designs at www.nuroobaby.com
By Aleisha