Babywearing & play?

SeaSoul

This is a question for those of you who wear your babies a lot of the time, particularly moms of babies old enough to sit up and play by themselves.  Do you also set aside time for baby to play?  We wear DS while we're out, and occasionally around the house if he's feeling needy.  Otherwise, we are playing/interacting with him or he is playing by himself.  I'm trying to get a sense of how often you wear you babies?  I'd love to wear him more, but not at the expense of his developoment, though I don't even know if that would be the case?

The_Spanish_Inquisition

DS is just getting to the point where he wants play by himself, so I do try to set aside some time each day for him to do that. He has a playmat that he enjoys, so I'll lay him on that for playtime, usually when I'm doing something where I don't feel comfortable holding/wearing him (cooking, drinking hot coffee, etc.) For the most part, I'm like you - I wear him when we're out, and for part of the day. The rest of the time he's playing by himself or I'm with him on the floor.

I really just play it by ear. If he seems into it, I let him be on his own. If not, I'll pick him and hold him or wear him.

ncbelle

I wear him when we go out and I wear him down to sleep for most of his naps and bedtime (unless he falls asleep nursing).  Other than that, I just wear him when he wants to be held.  He has definitely gotten more independent and can make it clear when he wants down.  If he's being fussy, I'll wear him until he falls asleep or until he starts jumping around like he wants down - sometimes it's only 10 minutes; sometimes much longer.  Some days I may wear him for several hours total.  Other days, maybe only for our morning walk.

I feel like following his cues has worked pretty well.  Some days he needs more "close" time than others.  And he's hitting milestones like a champ.  I think babies are pretty good at communicating how much independent time they need and how much they want to be worn.

Celyn

My youngest wanted to be on me every moment until he was well over a year.  So, we found ways to play while he was being worn. 

847Christine

I wore DD a lot in the early days, but probably around 3 months old I started doing much more floor time.  She was always a mobile baby, rolling side to side by one day old & never stopped moving from there, so she always needed some time to stretch out & move.  She has always loved napping while I wear her & now the only time I wear her is if we're going out. 

You can always do things like mirror play, blowing bubbles, reading while your LO is in the sling/wrap, if you're looking for ideas...