Legs in or Legs out when carrying a baby in a Stretchy wrap?

I almost always teach legs out when supporting parents wrapping their baby in a stretchy wrap.

Many stretchy wrap manuals show legs in positioning for newborns and then suggest legs out as baby gets older.  But I normally encourage parents to skip this for three main reasons

1. Legs in can place weight on ankles and feet.  While unlikely to be dangerous, if you imagine sleeping in this position yourself you can easily picture getting pins and needles or inadvertently ending up a in calf stretch for a long period.  While if legs are out of the sling, legs and feet a free to wiggle unfettered and aren't bearing any weight.
2. Legs in can make it easier for baby to slump to one side in the sling or even result in baby trying to stand up in the sling when they wake which can feel less secure and a bit alarming
3. Most babies are born developmentally ready to sit in the cross with a leg out on either side, so it's simply not necessary to have their feet in.

How can you tell if your baby is ready to sit with one leg either side of the cross?  Firstly look at your baby when not in the sling - i.e when you hold them, when in the bassinet or cot... do they hold their legs all squished up together with knees together or are they starting to open their legs out (knees apart)?  If starting to open out then they should be able to sit comfortably in the cross.  The material is soft so you simply spread the wrap just enough to fit your child and where they most comfortably hold their legs.

If they are still really squished up it might not feel right putting them in the wrap with legs out on either side.  But there are other options!  The same wrap can be used to carry baby in a different position that allows legs to be together but feet still out of the wrap.  Examples include Pre-tied Front Double Hammock, Kangaroo Carry or Seated Sideways (video tutorials of each of these can be found here).

Or if you prefer to wrap with feet in, if this feels more natural to you can do so knowing that ideally we want the feet and ankles in particular to be free of weight and restriction, so once baby is in sling you can run your hands inside to check that they are sitting squarely on their bottom with legs tucked towards your tummy and not under their bottom.  That way you know baby is sitting comfortably!  Then once they do start to open their legs more and start to unfurl you can move to wrapping with legs out

-Madeleine

PS... Worried about cold legs?  Check out these wonderfully soft MooMo legwarmers or these super cozy wooly Babywearing Socks available in our webshop. 

PPS... Wrap shown in the picture is the Izmi Baby Bamboo wrap which is reviewed here and available to purchase here.