One great option to carry your child is in a back carry position. In many parts of the world, back carrying has always been a big part of parenthood. It allowed mothers to work even though they had to take care of their child. Depending on the climate they lived in or the work they had to do, they adapted their carrier material to their circumstances and surroundings.
Back carrying gives you the chance to do all you daily tasks, while having your child close to you. It is a great bonding time for baby and caretaker. You can use all of our Tula Carriers for back carrying. Depending on how tall your child is, one carrier should work better than others for you. Check out our different carrier options.
Before you start carrying your child in back carry, they should be able to sit up on their own. Our Tula carrier will support your child’s legs in their natural sitting position. The caretaker's benefit is that the weight in a back carry is easier to bear than in a front-carry.
Tips for a back-carry:
- child should be able to sit up on their own before back carrying
- child needs good head and neck control
- child needs to be able to spread their legs across caregivers back
- don’t pull up on the straps; smooth the carrier from the bottom to help your child have a good seat
- practice first --> sit on a soft surface when practicing, have a spotter and do it when your child is happy and well-rested
- if you are afraid of getting your child on your back by yourself, just lay the carrier on the bed, position your baby in it, sit in front and buckle up
- practice until you and your baby get comfortable with back carrying
- position your child in a deeper seat when back carrying
How to adjust the carrier for a back-carry?
- put carrier on and roughly adjust
- reach under your armpits and back to grab baby’s leg on one side
- reach up over your shoulder to grab the shoulder strap closer to the top of the body of the carrier
- lift and rotate
- pull up and forward on baby’s legs while gently bouncing and pulling up on the shoulder strap
- switch sides, repeat
- snug down the shoulder straps to get a more secure fit
Back carry will help to continue bonding time when your child gets bigger. The caretaker can still continue to do their daily tasks, to take the dog for a walk, go to the farmers market and cook etc. While babywearing provides the closeness and safeness between caretaker and child, the back carry provides the parents with a little bit more mobility and gives the child the chance to experience the exciting outside world from the comfort of their parents back.