Hi, I'm Rachel and this video is going to show how to do a mei tai back carry while pregnant.
I'm going to show a few different ways to tie your waist belt
so that you have a few options for getting comfortable.
A mei tai is a carrier with two short straps and two long straps.
The short straps are for your waist. I put it on like an apron, behind me.
If you are less than 20 weeks, you might find it comfortable to tie the waist above your belly.
You might find that comfortable till the end. Everyone is different.
If you are further along, you might prefer to tie the waist belt below your belly.
If your mei tai has wide, long straps, you can also spread it out below your belly and tie off to one side.
For me that feels like a little belly support.
Wherever you choose to tie, tie a double knot.
I'm about 24 weeks and prefer the waist tied below the belly.
Then you want to get your toddler up (or your big kid). I'm going to go get him another popsicle. ;)
After you've tied your double knot for your waist belt,
You can hold your toddler on your hip and scoot him over to your back.
I'm holding him on my hip. With my other hand, I'm going to hold his bottom.
Then I swim my arm over him, and reach for his bottom around on the other side.
Then I keep a hand on him.
With one hand on his back, my other hand begins to smooth the panel up over his back.
I get to a point where I can find a strap.
I bring one strap over my shoulder, keeping a hand on him.
Then I bring the other strap up over my shoulder.
I'm going to do a little bounce to get him nice and snug in here.
I hold the straps up high and bounce gently.
I work with my straps one at a time.
I bring the strap under my arm like a backpack strap.
I take the strap over his first leg and try to close off the gap on the side here.
Then I bring it under his second leg.
This one also goes under my arm like a back pack.
It goes over his first leg, closing off the gap on the side.
and then under the second leg.
Now I have the same options I had before.
I can tie above the belly, below the belly, or nice and wide below the belly.
You can also tie tibetan.
Tying Tibetan is when you bring the strap across your chest
tuck the tail under one ruck strap,
and do the same on the other side.
Bring the tail across my chest, under the ruck strap,
and tie off with a double knot.
Once you've done that you can spread out the shoulder and get it comfortable.
Another possibility when you are pregnant if your waist straps are long enough
(and mine are probably not because they are petite straps)
is you can actually tie tibetan with your waist straps as well!
To do this, you untie your waist strap, holding one between your knees while you work with the other
Bring it across your chest and under the opposite shoulder strap.
Do the same on the other side,
and then tie a double knot with those as well.
Then you have no weight on your belly at all which is pretty comfortable.
I'm tying in the very tippy tails. My straps are not quite long enough to tie tibetan with the waist straps.
You can spread out your shoulder to make sure it's comfortable.
Reach back and make sure your child's legs feel well supported.
I'll also show really fast how to take your child down.
If you have tied tibetan with your waist straps,
You should tie them below or above your belly while you take your child down.
Then you can untie your shoulder straps
Undo your tibetan tie.
Take the cross passes out from behind the legs.
Then you are back to this point
Here you can take one strap under one arm.
Keep one strap over one arm.
Using one hand to hold both straps, use the other to guide baby back to your hip.
It can help to loosen the waist belt a tad.
I slide him back around to my hip.
The carrier is holding him because the shoulder strap is just under his arm.
I bring my arm over him and leg the carrier go toward the floor.
Then I set him down and we're all done!
Thank you!