In this Q&A episode of the Postpartum Prep Podcast, I’m talk about babywearing safety after birth with babywearing consultant Jaclyn Fiedler. Jaclyn answers some real questions parents ask when they’re preparing to babywear in the early postpartum period.
Is babywearing always appropriate? Are there situations where you shouldn’t wear your baby? And what if your body, or your baby’s needs, don’t fit the “typical” picture?
Below is an overview of the conversation, with key takeaways to support babywearing safety after birth. Be sure to listen to the full episode for the deeper insights!
When Should You Not Babywear?
Jaclyn gave us a simple way to think about times when you should not babywear: If you wouldn’t hold your baby in your arms in a situation, you shouldn’t babywear in that situation either.
For example, you wouldn’t hold your baby while driving a car, riding a motorcycle, or biking. Babywearing in those situations isn’t appropriate either.
Most healthy, full-term babies can be worn from day one. However, if there were medical complications during birth, or if your baby has respiratory concerns, low or high muscle tone, low birth weight, or was born prematurely, it’s important to pause and seek guidance. Clearance from your pediatrician comes first, and then support from a trained babywearing consultant can help ensure your baby is positioned safely and comfortably.
Babywearing can still be possible in many of these situations, but it often requires specific adjustments and professional support.
Choosing Fabrics for Newborn Babywearing
Another important part of babywearing safety after birth is understanding what your carrier is made of.
Unlike a car seat or stroller, a baby carrier becomes part of your baby’s immediate environment. Babies often chew on straps, nuzzle into fabric, and spend hours in close contact with it. Because of this, many parents choose to be thoughtful about fabrics, dyes, and materials.
That said, safe babywearing doesn’t require the most expensive carrier on the market. Jaclyn emphasizes that there is a thriving secondhand carrier community, where families can access high-quality, well-made carriers at a lower cost.
An added benefit? Many carriers actually become more comfortable and supportive as they’re broken in. A pre-loved carrier is often softer, more moldable, and easier to use than one that’s brand new.
Babywearing With a Plus-Size Body
A common concern parents share is whether babywearing will work for them if they have a plus-size body.
The short answer is: yes!
Babywearing is one of the oldest caregiving tools in human history. Across cultures and generations, people of all body shapes and sizes have carried their babies close. Modern carriers are increasingly designed with inclusive sizing, longer waistbands, and adjustable webbing to support a wide range of bodies.
That said, not every carrier fits every body in the same way. Trying carriers when possible - whether from friends, local groups, or babywearing professionals - can help you find one that feels supportive and comfortable for you.
Your body is already your baby’s first carrier. A well-fitted baby carrier simply builds on what your body already does naturally.
A Gentle Reminder for New Parents
One of the most meaningful moments in the episode comes when Jaclyn reflects on early motherhood. She shares a reminder many new parents need to hear: postpartum life may not look the way you imagined - but that doesn’t make it less sacred, meaningful, or beautiful.
Connection, presence, and devotion - especially in those early days - can be deeply healing for both parent and baby.
Listen to the Full Episode
To hear more about babywearing safety after birth, including lived experience, professional insight, and practical nuance, listen to the full Q&A episode of the Postpartum Prep Podcast.
You can also find Jaclyn on Instagram at @your.babywearing.bestie for more education and support around babywearing.
Submit a Question
If you want to submit a question for a future Q&A, I always share the topics in advance in my email newsletter. Be sure to subscribe here to get all the updates! As an added thank you for subscribing, you’ll also receive a free postpartum prep checklist in your first email.
Ceridwen
Welcome back to the Postpartum Prep Podcast. My name is Ceridwen. I'm your podcast host, and today I am joined by Jaclyn Fiedler.
Jaclyn is a babywearing consultant, and she is here today to answer a few questions for us about babywearing. Jaclyn, could you give us just a brief introduction to you and what you do?
Jaclyn
Yeah, I am a mom to two little ones, and I help families learn how to use their baby carriers and hold their babies and experience the joy and benefits of babywearing.
Ceridwen
Awesome. So if you're interested in babywearing, you're in the right place. Jaclyn and I actually just recorded a full episode all about babywearing, all about the benefits of babywearing and safety tips.
So head on over to that full episode after this one. You can add it to your queue now. For now, we're going to get into the Q&A.
So, Jaclyn, our first question is, are there times I shouldn't babywear?
Jaclyn
Yeah, so there are definitely more times than not that you can babywear. But I think one of the quickest ways of ensuring that you're babywearing safely and at the right time for your child and you is, I would never suggest or recommend that you babywear at a time that you wouldn't hold your baby in your arms in the same situation. So you wouldn't get in a car and hold your baby in your arms.
You would put them in the car seat. You wouldn't wear a baby carrier in the car, motorcycle, nothing like that. But, you know, it is sometimes really worth thinking, even bicycle riding.
Would you hold your baby in your arms and ride confidently? If not, I would suggest not babywearing at those times. Some more of the clinical things we want to look out for is, first of all, is baby, was baby born and experience, you know, a healthy delivery or a healthy birth that is no question with any medical concern, then you can start babywearing from day one.
If there are medical reasons or complications that might get you to question whether or not I would suggest asking your doctor, your pediatrician, you know, for approval. Sometimes people need different amounts of times, you know, cesarean section, moms versus a different style of birth. You know, when I mean by that is like where they're giving birth, not style.
Whatever your experience was of bringing your child into the world, if they're healthy and doing well, you can go ahead and start babywearing right away. If they have any respiratory issues or if they are considered underweight or low weight or low tone or high tone, you're going to have different ways you're going to need to support babywearing. So in those situations, I would back up, take a minute and find a professional that can support you with that.
What kind of professional would that be? First of all, your doctor needs to clear if there is any any issues with your child or if they were preterm. So if they were born early, they're not at the developmental stage that we would see a term baby.
We want to navigate babywearing. With like support so you can do it. There are ways to wear your your babies, your preemies.
But a lot of people don't really know how and you don't put them in the same style carrier as you would a child who is seven or eight pounds. So, you know, there you would your baby needs to be cleared for any medical reasons that they could not be in a carrier. That's respiratory issues.
If there's any breathing issues, we do not want them in the carrier. That can also include sometimes if baby is super sick, especially really little ones. If they're very mucusy and having trouble getting deep breath in and you're noticing that while the closeness is very healing.
It is important that like their airway is being supported the whole time. So you're monitoring constantly. So I often say that's most likely not the time to to baby wear.
And yeah, so if there's any medical complication or even question going on, just hold off. Get it cleared by the pediatrician. If they say you're good to go, then you can find support from a babywearing consultant who can help you get fitted with your child.
So it doesn't matter if your child has boots like for clubfoot babies or if there is hip issues. A lot of these can be supported with help from a babywearing consultant once cleared by the doctor.
Ceridwen
Amazing. That's good to know. Yeah.
Thank you for that. I'm going to move into our next question. What types of fabrics should I look for when choosing a newborn carrier?
Jaclyn
That is a great question because it is so personal. I mean, some people get really behind, you know, everything that touches their baby skin needs to be a certain type of fabric, organic or, you know, whatever, whatever they want that to be. Some people that's really important to them and some that's not what is the most important.
But I do recommend that we take time to understand that your baby carrier is a layer that is ingested into your child because they are going to be chewing on the strap and they're not like swallowing pieces and all of that. But if we think that the baby carrier is the swing or the car seat that we're putting them in and like they don't interact with it, that's not really how it goes. Your child will chew on the carrier most likely.
Most babies enjoy teething babies. So knowing what fabrics, materials your carrier is made out of is important to some people for that. You get to make that decision.
And I would say also you don't have to get the most expensive fabrics or carriers. But if that is what you choose, there are ways to get carriers that are really good that like that I would recommend that are expensive carriers. But there are ways to get them affordably.
So I don't really always go with the excuse and people are like, well, I can't afford that. Because there are ways there is an amazing, blossoming, secondhand market for baby carriers. People will give you their carriers.
Your neighbors will. If you say, do you have any? Did you use any?
There are so many ways to get really fantastic carriers that I don't really believe in the whole like, well, I'm just going to buy the cheapest one on Amazon. That is synthetic fabrics and all of this. There are so many ways that we can find you an incredible choice that meets your budget.
And that is also textile and all of that friendly for what you want.
Ceridwen
Awesome. Yeah, that's a really good point about secondhand markets as well for baby carriers. I also I got given so many.
I'm trying to actually now that my son is two and a half and he doesn't fit in any of them anymore. I'm trying to actually give them away myself. And it's these things I always like to emphasize for new moms.
Like especially when it comes, you know, there is so much when you're having your baby that you could buy going secondhand for a lot of things can often be a great option.
Jaclyn
And I'll just say one more thing about secondhand or at least pre-loved is how I like to look at it when it comes to baby carriers. They hold such an incredible experience for most families unless they got frustrated and never got help and just threw it in the corner. But for most people who wore their babies in a carrier and are gifting you that carrier, there's good vibe in it.
And that makes a difference when you are wrapping something around your body and you know that it had the intention to hold babies and to help support parents. But also physically carriers have to be broken in most of them, which is something nobody knows or understands. They are your carrier softens as you wear it.
And as you use it, just like any hundred percent linen garment or shoes, leather, whatever it is, it has to be broken in. Some have been sort of processes have helped them be a little bit softer and a little bit more moldable. But the goal is to have your carrier, even the most structured ones with buckles, to be as multiple to you and your baby as possible.
And so a lot of the time when they're secondhand, they're coming to you already. That process is broken in. So they just like come on to you at like butter versus like tin man.
Ceridwen
Yeah. So there can actually be even even more benefits than just saving a few dollars is it can actually be really helpful to get secondhand. Yeah.
Awesome. We're going to move into our last question for today. She says, I have a plus size body.
I'm wondering whether baby wearing will still work for me.
Jaclyn
OK, so I would just say one of the things that is so special about baby wearing is how it connects us to our ancestors. And with that, I'm going to say not every human being from the beginning of time as baby wearing is one of the if not the oldest tool in human kind. If you think about it, we have been strapping babies onto our bodies since the beginning of time to protect our offspring and to be able to do the work that we needed in the world, whether that was hunting, making tools, whatever.
It is since the beginning of time through every culture, tradition, generation, there has been form of baby wearing. Some have less, some have lost more, some the skill set isn't even there anymore. But people are teaching.
But my point is, is that humans have carried babies since the beginning of time, whether it was a piece of cloth or full buckles and structure. That process has happened forever. Every kind of human body can put a baby safely, securely, comfortably on your body.
Your arms are the very first initial baby carrier. They are the safest baby carrier up until the point until you are too tired, raging out, upset, like you need something to help you, most likely. The baby carrier is the second best thing.
Putting your baby on your body, holding them, has been done throughout time by all humans. Number one, yes, any human body, disability, wheelchair, as long as you are, again, when not to baby wear, as long as you are coherent and not having a substance in your system or anything like that. If you can drive a car, you can wear your baby.
And if you have a human body, you can wear your baby. Some brands are more inclusive and are making space for every human being body to wear their carrier. So you have some brands who are accommodating for extra, extra small up until 2X or 3X or I don't know.
Often you see a waist around 46 inches, but we are having brands now coming closer to having webbing that we can cinch down to like 56 inches, I think is one of the bigger ones, maybe 60. And so there's a lot of room there. Big husky dads can use baby carriers.
It's just some of them are going to fit a petite body better than a plus size body. And even within the petite bodies, they fit differently. So if you get the chance to try your friends before you buy your own, that's a really nice way.
Find some people who you like, ask a mom at a park, can I try that on? Or how do you feel that if they have a similar body type? But just because it says it can work for every body, there's differences in that.
But absolutely, you can wear your body. I mean, you can wear your baby. Please do and enjoy the body that is holding the most precious thing in the world.
Ceridwen
That's a really nice sentiment. And I just loved what you said about connecting us back to our ancestors. Because when I had my baby, I got really obsessed with Googling to learn about what life was like in prehistoric times, especially when it came to moms and babies.
And I think there is something like, I don't know if it's psychological, I was just thinking about it a lot about how the way that I was caring for my baby. And I think it's not just that we have been baby wearing for this long. It's also our babies have evolved, I guess.
Jaclyn
Our babies are born to cling. And it is so fascinating when you see how a human baby, they cling in the posture that they're intended to be held in. So it's pretty phenomenal.
Ceridwen
It's amazing. Yeah. To learn more about baby wearing, you should definitely go back and listen to our last episode because we talked all about it.
And we talked all about, you know, how it supports both mom and baby. Thank you so much, Jaclyn. I actually have one more surprise question for you.
I wanted to ask you, I usually, for anyone who's listened to this podcast before, they'll know I usually would ask this in the main episode. I just kind of forgot to ask in the main episode. But I like to ask, if you, thinking back to like your pregnant self before you had your first baby, if you could go back and say something to her, give her some advice, what would you tell her?
Jaclyn
Such a big question. And I take it seriously because I had a really rocky start to motherhood for a lot of reasons. And I think I would really, if I really could speak to right before having my first baby, I would say, it is not going to be or look the way you think it is going to look or be.
But that doesn't make it not unique. That doesn't make it unsacred. That doesn't make it unholy or not beautiful enough or raw enough or you're not something because of how it all flows and goes.
And if I could just bring that peace to my heart, that it is going to be such a wild ride and be completely different, completely different than I thought it would be. If I knew that I would come out of it feeling or not come out of it, but evolve with it up to this point right now, knowing that there's passion that can still be discovered. There's freedom that is going to come in time.
And that right now, if I can just focus on devotion and dedication to this one thing of being with my child, holding my child and really being present when I hold my child, so much healing is possible. So it's not going to look the same. It will be magical, though.
And it is a journey that you will not want to get off that ride, really. You'll say you want to, but you don't. And it's so good.
And it feeds you. And so buckle up and enjoy.
Ceridwen
I hope that our listeners take that away from this conversation, too. Thank you again, Jaclyn, so much for speaking with us today. I hope everyone will go back and listen to our previous episode.
As a reminder, for those of you listening, I always share our guest Q&A topics in my email newsletter in advance. So I will add the link in the show notes for you or in the episode description for you to come join my email newsletter there so you get all the updates. Jaclyn, for anyone listening, where can they find you?
Jaclyn
They can find me on Instagram at your.babywearing.bestie. And that's really where I live with my teachings at this point for the public and virtually. So come find me there.
Ceridwen
Go on, head on over. I know I follow her there and I love her content, so I'm sure you will, too. Thank you so much.
And for those of you listening, we'll see you next time on the Postpartum Prep Podcast. Bye for now.
Jaclyn
Bye.