Baby/Toddler Assistive Technology Carriers

By Christina Mills, CFILC's Deputy Director

There are several different types of baby carriers on the market. Fortunately, they come in all different shapes and sizes. In my opinion, some are relatively easy to take on and off while others are more complicated and take some practice in tying, wrapping around or buckling independently. 

My husband and I researched carriers online and also went to a couple of different stores to try some out. Our research taught us that what worked for me, as a short stature wheelchair user, and him, as an ambulatory short stature person with shorter arms, was not the same. Furthermore, we had to take into account that our baby is also a person with a disability and needs a carrier that wouldn't put too much pressure on her body and would still allow us to safely get her in and out of the carrier without putting her or either of us in some pretzel or fancy yoga-type positions. 

We didn’t pick out what we thought would work the first time. In fact, the first time we went we simply tried on what the store had available and then went home and read reviews on the ones that worked best for each of us. When we made our second trip to the store we tried on the carriers we liked the best again and then wore them around the store to see if they still felt right while moving around. For me, this was really important because I would be wearing a carrier while pushing my manual wheelchair. I had to test how it impacted my push and transferring on and off of my chair. 

It may sound funny, but I really wanted to make sure that if my daughter and I were alone and she was in her carrier and I had to go to the restroom, that I would be able to do it.  Just a few weeks ago I found myself in that exact situation and fortunately I could do it. It worked!  Of course she despises the sound of the toilet flushing, but I was happy that we learned that we could do it successfully.

Originally I carried my baby girl in a Balboa Baby Sling. It has an adjustable shoulder strap that stays in place and allowed me to carry her high enough on my chest to where it didn’t rub on my wheelchair tires. It didn’t work so well for my husband so instead he went with the Infintino Baby Carrier. 

The issue that we found with all upright type carriers was that the area between where the baby’s legs would go was typically too wide for our daughter’s small hips. Therefore we used medical tape to make everything that required us to put her legs into it narrower by wrapping tape around it a couple of times. This included her bouncer, walker, and carrier. I was able transition from using the sling to the carrier for a couple of months but now my wheelchair comes in handy for the two of us.

Now that she’s a toddler and has gained better balance, control of her trunk and is getting too tall for any type of carrier, I often get her around by sitting her on my wheelchair footplate and lock her in with my legs around her torso. She loves it so much that she often gets upset when we stop moving or when I put her down!  Enjoy our short mommy/daughter video clip, It's a Two Seater.