Babywearing in the Rain

Believe it or not, when it rains, babywearing might be the most practical option to leave the house with a small kid! Keep reading to know why I find babywearing in the rain so useful.

The practicity of babywearing when it rains

Today is a very rainy day in Luxembourg. Rain is not so uncommon, but days with *heavy* rain, like I was used to in Buenos Aires, are somewhat rarer. I had to leave the house with my two kids and it took me like 30′ to get them ready! Yes, every parent knows what a hassle it is to go out with kids when it rains. Even if here in Luxembourg we are all quite used to it, and all kids have appropriate rain gear, it is still annoying when it rains heavily and you get very wet in no time.

Today I actually wanted to leave the house with the stroller. Yes, being a babywearing consultant and a passionate about carrying my children does not mean I hate strollers (though it is true that I use them very rarely). But the rain made me reconsider: it seemed like a lot of work to find the rain cover, and the idea of pushing the stroller with one hand while carrying an umbrella was exhausting. Also I knew my toddler wasn’t going to want to be on the stroller a long time, so I would have to negotiate and find different solutions while getting wet. So I desisted from my original plan and left, like I usually do, simply with a wrap.

This made me realize of how incredible practical babywearing is when it rains! Ok, there might be a few thins to tweak to make it work, but I assure you is absolutely worth it. And since rainy days are not a rare exception here (thanks Luxembourg!), I thought these tips might come in handy to many.

Clothing and accesories

Let us start with the not-getting-wet part. There is a phrase that goes “there is not such thing as bad weather, only bad equipment”, and I couldn’t agree more! So let us talk a bit about what kind of equipment I would recommend to use for babywearing in the rain.

For the adult: a water-proof jacket

If you can afford it, I recommend you to get a water-proof babywearing jacket. The one I have is from Zoli portage, and I couldn’t recommend it more. It allows you to carry your kid on your front and on your back, and it is so pretty that I use it daily to go to work, without the babywearing insert :).

But if you don’t want to spend extra on this, you can make do with an oversized raincoat, for instance from your partner. Specially for wearing on the front, it should work just fine! The important thing is to keep you both dry.

For your baby: a rain hat

Since we are getting waterproof layers on top of you both, the only thing you need for your kid is a rain hat. On the pictures my toddler is wearing a rain hood also from Zoli, which is also amazing. This is the baby model that goes from 6 months to 2 years, but my kid is almost 2 and still has a lot of space to grow into the hood. That being said, I am a very impatient person, so I already ordered the next size which goes from 2 to 6 years. I got it in a newer model that has a rim to protect from the rain even more… I will tell you more about it when it arrives!

Below those garments, just wear warm layers as you normally would! If you know your kid will want to get out of the carrier at some point, don’t forget to pack a waterproof jacket for them. But the best is for them not to wear it while on the carrier. You both will be more comfortable that way, and they will not be cold when they get out.

Optional: an umbrella

This might sound weird, but I do think of umbrellas as optional. Don’t get me wrong, living in Luxembourg I always have an umbrella on my backpack. But I almost never use it! For me, it is normally enough to just wear the hood. However, when the rain is somewhat stronger and we do use an umbrella, how cool is it to be able to still get one arm free? I Repeat: pushing a stroller with one hand while holding an umbrella with the other is the worst.

Carriers

Of course, you can use any carrier to babywear in the rain. But maybe it would be helpful to take a few things into considerations:

• Ringsling: very practical because you leave it on you, so it never gets wet! Your kid can come up and down as frequently as they wish.
• Full-buckle: since it does not have straps, it will not get wet or muddy either. But it is very likely that you will need to take out your jacket to get your kid in and out.
• Woven or stretchy wrap: This is maybe the hardest choice because of the long tails, but in both cases there are plenty of pre-tied carries to try! On the photos I’m using a semi-PWCC with a size 4 woven wrap.
• Meh-dai or half buckle: to not get the long tails wet, you can leave it pre-tied! Then you simply adjust and loosen the straps to get baby out. This trick may work better with smaller babies, though.

Bonus: putting on a babywearing jacket while back-carrying!

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A post shared by Belén Farias, PhD (@rebozo.luxembourg)

Well, that is all for now. I hope these tips helped you! As they say, we can’t have sunshine all the time. We have to learn how to dance in the rain!