Why do you still wear your 4 year old in a baby carrier?

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I still wear my almost 4 and a half year old in a baby carrier, and here's why...along with some questions I've been asked about that choice.

Why do you still wear your 4 year old in a baby carrier? For a lot of reasons...sometimes, it's because I skip zumba or barre to go to target/sleep/clean/go to target/spend time with my kids/go to target/etc. and I want to feel less guilty about that choice so I decide to burn some extra calories that way. Or because I take my kids out for pizza and gelato and I don't want to spend the whole meal hating myself for eating it (like pretty much every other American woman I know, working on that one in therapy, thank you very much.) It's an excellent work out, child-wearing, and she told multiple people at my workplace "it's not too hard for mommy, it just makes her very sweaty."

Other times it's because I need to get some work done, either around the house or at work, that involves lots of running around or setting up and I don't want to stick her in front of a screen, again. (Not anti-screen time, just anti-mom guilt.)

That oh so sweet but more so sassy 4 year old of mine was born (heck, from the WOMB) a "high-intensity child" (seriously, from the mouth of the pediatrician) and has always, always needed more attention and to be held more than my oldest. Physical touch is also one of her main  love languages. So would I rather listen to her "Can you carry me? Can you carry me now?" and do the up and down dance for 45 minutes or would I rather knock out some work in 25 minutes with her content on my back? The latter.

Also, because it's not very often. Not even weekly do I wear her...so when I don't want to give her more screen time, or don't have access to it, or she's tired, or for whatever other reason I decide to get the carrier out, it's fun and special for her.

Oh and by the way, we live in Alaska. So hikes are a plenty...and if I want to go more than 1/3 a mile without listening to whining the entire way, she's getting on my back. Or if, you know, I'd like to keep her from falling off a cliff (yes, really) she is safer on my back. Besides that one time I had to jump off of a trail in order to avoid a moose and I tripped and we landed on a rock...Which means she basically sat herself down on a pointy rock, really hard...Ouch. But if she hadn't been in the carrier? I'm not sure I would have gotten out of the way of said moose as fast as my speedy little stumpy legs could take me if I was chasing her down, too.

Also, cuddles.

Doesn't it hurt your back? No, I invested in a really nice carrier made for toddlers/preschoolers.

Isn't she too big for that? 1) First, see above. 2) Both of my kids average around the 15% for height and weight. Their dad isn't a big guy. Mama has some curves but I am 5'2" (ok 5'2.5" on a good day.) We are not large people, though I would argue we have large hearts and lots of room in our bellies for cheese but that's just because we have good sense.

All that said, you want to know the real reason I wear her on my back?

Because I am her mother, and I know what's best for her.




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