Your Guide to Tandem Carrying
from Carrying Consultantancy Mother Rucker
When I became a mother for the second time, one of the things I was most excited about was that I could start tandem carrying her with her two-year-old brother! The options and choices for carrying both of them together were vast and I was so excited to try them all. You can use pretty much any type of sling or carrier to tandem carry your child, I quickly became adept at using one woven wrap to carry them both! However, when my toddler son wanted to get up and down a lot and my newborn daughter was sleeping – this swiftly became impractical outside of nap time.
Stretchy wraps and buckled carriers soon became my “go-to” carriers. They offered flexibility, variety and I could get both of my children in and out independently of each other. As they grew, this evolved into using two buckled carriers for speed. They are now 2 and 4 years old and I still tandem carry them from time to time.
As a Slingababy trained Carrying Consultant, I have also worked extensively with parents of twins and multiples to help them carry their babies singularly and together from birth. For the purposes of this article, I will be focusing on carrying two children at a time, both twins and siblings. If you need to look at how to carry more than two children at once, I encourage you to find your local carrying consultant or sling library for help. If you are in the UK you can use Sling Pages to find them.
The first thing to consider about tandem carrying is the ages of your children. If you have twins, then the tandem carries available to you at different stages are different from those available to parents of siblings of differing ages. If you are looking at carrying siblings, it is very important that you have two carriers that are the correct size for your child.
Tandem carrying is really useful when caring for more than one child, it allows you to meet both of their needs at the same time and still have your hands free to care for yourself. It is also great when you are out and about as it means you are free from the restrictions a double buggy may place upon you whether you’re hiking for a picnic or shopping in town. We call it a “ Mummy Sandwich” and it always makes my two giggle, especially when they’re playing peekaboo over my shoulder!
It is really important to ensure that you are well balanced when carrying two children. You need to ensure that their weight is level whether tandem carrying both on your front, or one on the back and one on the front. It is really important to maintain a comfortable alignment. If one child is lower than the other, this can pull your back and as your body tries to compensate it can cause aches and pains.
We’re going to look at two twin carries, one for newborn twins using an Ergobaby Aura Stretchy Wrap, and one for when they are 6m+ using two Ergobaby Omni 360 carriers. We’re also going to look at two sibling carries, one using an Ergobaby Aura Stretchy Wrap with an Omni 360 and one using an Ergobaby Embrace with an Ergobaby Omni 360 carrier. I have also created a video series on YouTube demonstrating how to perform each of these tandem carries.
Twins | Newborn | Ergobaby Aura Wrap
- Tie the stretchy on tightly, with enough room for both babies.
- Place one baby in one side of the passes, ensuring airways are clear and the fabric stretches from knee to knee.
- Use your forearm to hold them in place whilst you pick up the second baby and place them in the opposite side, ensuring airways are clear and the fabric stretches from knee to knee.
- Retrieve your horizontal pass from underneath the babies and, bunching it up into a rope, bring it over all four legs and nestle it under their bums.
- Pull the top hem up to their necks to hold them securely in place.
Twins | 6m+ | Ergobaby Omni 360 x2
- Clip both Omni360s around your waist, with the back one on top of the front one.
- Use your favourite back carrying method to get one of your twins on your back. Ensure they are secure.
- Now, place your other twin in the carrier on your front and ensure they are secure.
Siblings | Ergobaby Aura Wrap & Omni 360
- Tie on your Aura wrap and ensure you have enough room for your newborn child.
- Get your older child on your back using your favourite method.
- Place your newborn into the stretchy wrap on your front, ensuring the airways are clear and the fabric is spread knee to knee.
Siblings | Ergobaby Embrace & Omni 360
- Clip both waistbands around your waist, with the Omni360 on top of the Embrace.
- Loosely clip the straps of the Embrace around your torso.
- Use your favourite back carrying method to get your older child on your back using the Omni360. Ensure they are secure.
- Place your younger child in your Embrace on your front, tighten up the pre-clipped shoulder straps.
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