Mei Tai (no, not a tropical drink)

You know how when you find something that you love, you want to call all your friends and tell them, and just randomly stop strangers at the store and people you pass as you take a walk and also send an email to every single person on your contact list and be all, "OH MY GAH! My life is, now and forevermore, changed. You must run, not walk, and buy this." No? Just me? Huh.

Well, my newest "it's changed my life" item (sounds like a new category I need to have - TTHCML [Things That Have Changed My Life]):

My mei tai. What in the world is that, you ask? Well, I'm glad you did so. It is a baby carrier, which allows your baby to be carried on the front, tummy-to-tummy, or on the back, with his legs wrapped around your back. A most interesting history of the mei tai's origin and travel to Western culture I found on *blush* Wikipedia.

Traditionally, the Chinese mei tai was a square or nearly square piece of cloth with parallel unpadded straps emerging from the sides of each corner. It was tradtionally secured by bringing all the straps together in a twist with the ends tucked. The mei tai did not become well-known in the United States until 2003, when several designs that added padding, a longer body, longer top straps and a more "wrap like" tying method were created and made popular.

I have also read on the forums at The Babywearer that the origin of the name is Cantonese, and is more properly pronounced "bay die". So as to respect the cultural origins and soften the fairly obvious cultural appropriation that we have accomplished in coopting the mei tai and making it trendy, I often try to pronounce it in a somewhat mushy hybrid of "may tie" and "bey die". It's quite interesting to watch me do mouth gymnastics and have this whole narrative running through my head when a random person at the grocery store says, "Awww! That's cute, what are you holding him in?"

Okay, if you're still with me, this is the person to whom I credit my new obsession: Tina at Bean Slings. Tina is now the recipient of much of our hard-earned money. I used a pouch sling for The Bear when he was a newborn, but now that he is Mr. Very Busy and Important, he is insistent that he must not be contained by a pouch. After researching a great deal, it sounded as if the mei tai style carrier would work best for us, as it allows his arms and legs to be free, evenly distributes his weight across my back (which is absolutely necessary, as I have a pinched nerve root), and does not hang the baby by his hips - as do the ubiquitous Snugli and Baby Bjorn - which has been implicated recently in contributing hip dysplasia. Care providers who are attuned to this issue recommend optimizing positions in which the baby's legs are splayed, as they are when the baby's legs are wrapped around your waist. The mei tai allows you to hold your child on your front while the pressure of his body is concentrated on his seat, just as it is if you were holding him, or if he were sitting.

My first mei tai, and still my favorite, since it's been broken in and has that soft, mine thing about it, is this pattern. I recently ordered this pattern for one of my bestest friendes in the whole world, E, who will be having baby Owen imminently, and of course, I *had* to order an additional carrier for myself in this fab floral, if only to justify the shipping cost. Hey, it's reversible, so I really saved money by buying two slings in one, right?