I forgot how wonderful it is to snuggle with your little one. After having two children close together, and feeling very physically depleted, I have been struggling to get back on MY feet and understand what makes me…well me.  For me, being pregnant, taking care of a newborn, nursing, being pregnant again, and nursing again…for about 2 years straight was difficult mentally and physically. The past months I have been able to see a small light at the end of the tunnel of toddler dependency, and now have the time to sew, craft, cook, and create for my family, but really for me. For my soul and for my sanity.

As much as I feel I need to separate myself from my two needy-ones, I also love to get close. Lately I have been feeling that the my second child has been getting a little less than the first one. (Yes, this probably always happens, fewer pictures, less individual time, etc., etc.) So, I decided to take a trip with my daughter who is now 21 months old. I figured it would be easier to travel with just one (although probably not the younger one who is in full-on tantrum-mode at present.) We are flying on this trip and I needed a way to carry her and our belongings by myself. So, I fashioned a sling.

I did a bit of research on the Internet and figured the easiest toddler sling for me would be one that is sewn without rings and I found the perfect pattern in Amanda Soule’s book, Handmade Home: Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials into New Family Treasures.

Using printed curtain fabric I picked up at the thrift store for $1, I easily cut out and put together our snuggly comfy ride. I tried it on us and this is what happened.

…she fell asleep for her nap.

There were grommets already in the curtain, which I chose to use. I strung a bit of fabric I had sewn into a cord  through the holes so to cinch the sling snuggly around her back. I also doubled over the fabric, so the “inside” also has the print design in it, and the piece is sturdy enough to carry her 25 pounds. (Now, my ability to lug her 25 pounds through the airport is another story.)

I have been carrying her with me a bit this weekend in the sling to try it out, figure out how to get her in and out of the thing, and to get her used to being up near mommy. She absolutely is delighted with the new visibility at a higher elevation, and she adores drinking her bottle of warm milk snuggled up against mommy’s shoulder.

I feel calmer when she is next to me, I am more aware of my breathing, and heart beat when I am at rest with her. We relax as she drinks her milk and I knit, watching her favorite show, Olivia, which she calls “VEE-a.” During my first pregnancy I had read that warm snuggles with mommy is wonderful bonding for the baby, but I didn’t realize it could be so amazingly wonderful for mommy’s soul too.