Baby carrier and long hair – any ideas?

Hannah used to do this to me (occasionally she still does, just turned Two).

I tell her off.

;-)

a snug-fitting hat with all the hair tucked up inside it?

I can do that with the ultra-dorky Sunday Afternoons hat.

This is probably contrary to your parenting style, but if a wolf pup uses teeth on Momma's Wolf's teats, they get a quick nip and don't do it again. 14-month-old humans are slightly smarter than 4-week-old wolf pups and able to learn what's allowed and what is not.

I got into a argument with my wife about putting an electric fence along the upstairs loft bookshelf with the 12-foot drop onto the dining room floor. She was, well, shocked, that I would consider it. I maintained: it doesn't preclude us from intercepting our kids climbing up the bookcase before they fell off, but in a moment of distraction, there would be belt&suspenders in place and getting zapped is better than falling 12 feet onto your head or smacking the granite countertop corner 9 feet down.

But what about a front carrier? Our kids slept and nursed much more easily in a front carrier at that age.

Put tight mitts on the kid's hands. Plus, tie the mitts together with a cord so that they can't be jettisoned.

–B.G.–

You think that's bad?
Try carrying a baby who has been eating sweets and got their hands sticky! Pure nightmare!!! (The sweets did keep baby happy.)

Bob G's suggestion of light cotton mitts (with string anchors) is what we ended up with too. They meant baby did not get sunburnt hands as well.

Cheers

Get rid of the bookcase. While I'm sure it was in jest and electric shock may be better than a fall, but put a piece of plywood over it. As far as the hair pulling, enjoy it while you can. Don't tie the kid up. Try tieing a toy around your neck. Give the kid an alternative.

Be their parent and not their friend. I'm appalled at what I see going on in the supermarket. If I pulled my mom's hair she would have pulled mine back.

I never owned a stroller and carried my daughter on my back every day. I have always had long hair and for a while I would have to braid it very tightly so her little fingers could not get through the braid. I had a framed pack for her that I could take off and set on the ground. The few times she pulled too hard I would set her down immediately. The rest of the time she would just hold by braids ; they became like a pacifier to her. She could not fall asleep without holding my braid to her nose with both hands. We swam in the ocean with her floating on my back holding on to my braids.
The suggestion of a hat seems good. A toy, a distraction. Weaving the hair tighter. A sharp "no" and putting her down for a bit.
Not always fun at the time, but it is true that this time will fly by and I remember and miss feeling those little feet in my hands and those arms holding me a little too tightly.

Your wife could wear a Buff around her hair (which would be in either 2 side pigtails, or 2 side braids, or 2 side buns). Access no longer possible!

Love, love, love Kat's photo!!! :^D

OK, i resisted last night, but I can't pass any opportunity to extoll the virtues of a woven wrap! (not jersey).

No idea if it would resolve the hair issue. But it would get her more contact, which, I suppose, could maybe ease up the desire for hair contact. The positioning might also make it less convenient. Any you guys should just try one anyways!

Basically a woven wrap is the flat tarp of baby carries. They are also far less cumbersome than the framed carriers. Personally I like Vatanai wraps (striped are the lightest) tied in a "double hammock" carry.

(no affiliation)

I have a 14 month old too. We wear/carry him in all sorts of devices, including woven wraps and a Poco. He's been a sporadic hair-puller since he turned 6 months old. Toys haven't worked particularly well–they apparently are not enough of a distraction and not nearly as fun as hearing mommy yelp. The hair pulling is worse when he is bored, tired, or hungry/thirsty. So I try to address those issues one by one and see if there's a root cause. Taking a break for snack/water/nursing/potty usually solves it.

I also make sure I'm keeping him fully engaged with where we are and what we're doing. They're very proto-verbal at this age and love to hear the names of things repeated over and over again. "Juniper, Joshua Tree, Pinyon, Yucca, Juniper, Yucca, etc…" If she knows any songs with hand gestures (Itsy Bitsy Spider, etc) you can try singing those while carrying her–encourage her to use her hands (and brain!) in more positive ways.

As one of the other Kat—s mentioned, 14 months is old enough to begin to introduce consequences: if you pull, you don't get a ride. Yeah, it means stopping and putting the baby down, but in the long run it's better than going bald!

In our household my husband has the long hair and I have the short hair, but baby still prefers pulling my hair. Go figure. It may be that your wife produces a more exciting response than you do–if she can stop making "Ouch!" noises, squealing, yelping, it'll probably make the "game" less fun for little one.

When all else fails, I throw a pair of knee socks on his little paws and call them "sun-gloves"–two birds with one stone, you know?

You may want to head over to the forums at thebabywearer.com — the parents over there have a wealth of experience hauling little ones all over the globe in all kinds of ways and I'm sure there are some threads on hair-pulling you could dig up!