babywearingmama

Newborns (without colic) are surprisingly quiet and sleep pretty much all day. Also, the snuggles of babywearing help lengthen naps.

I agree it would be different. My friends in Europe get leave and it works for them. It was funny to write this for a British journal because their perspective on caregiving is so different. Pumping is pretty much unheard of in Europe.

One reason I was going to work was because I love my research, but if I could have taken six months off, paid, without worrying about career progression, then I probably would have spent a whole lot more of that babywearing time reading novels or going for walks outside.

Hi, author here! Happy to answer any babywearing questions or point you to resources. Also it is great to see comments from so many babywearing dads!

Many communities have babywearing education and support groups where you can learn how to wear, get carrier fit checks, and even borrow carriers. If there is one near you, they might be doing remote meeting during COVID. There used to be an international babywearing organization but it disbanded a few years ago. YouTube us also a great babywearing resource.

There a many different styles of carriers so it is worth reading about and, if you can, trying out some different styles. Ring slings and stretchy wraps are great for newborns and are pretty easy to use. Woven wraps like I prefer are great for all ages and very comfortable but there is definitely a learning curve so keep that in mind and don’t get discouraged if it takes a while to get a good fit. There are buckle style carriers that can fit at any age. My personal favorite is the Kinderpack by Kindercarry.

Author here! The subtext to this piece is that this is really about coping with the fact that grad students and postdocs in the US rarely get much parental leave. My institution offers two paid weeks off following childbirth. There’s FMLA but few grad student and postdocs can afford to take unpaid leave. Postdoc parents get very little support and everybody who does it has to find their own way to manage. On top of that is the fact that gaps in your training, if you manage to get leave, hurt your chances of getting a job because it is so uncommon to actually get time off.

I chose to do this because I did not find it to be miserable, although it definitely wouldn’t work for everybody.

In my field (biology), it is typical to postdoc for 3-6 years so I’m actually on the early side. That postdocs take so long is definitely something that needs to be addressed, though.