I’ve written before about how I love my mei tai. I wear it everywhere – to my Salsa Babies class, to the grocery store, and around the house. Outside of the car seat and my cloth diapers no other piece of baby gear sees more use here at Casa de Strocel.

When I first started wearing the mei tai I ran into a small problem. You see, they have very long straps, and I live in a very wet city. The idea of taking my coat off and standing in a parking lot on a rainy day, attempting to get the carrier on and the baby into it was not appealing. Some people solve this problem by using a ring sling, since they’re generally considered much easier to pop a baby in and out of. But I found that my one shoulder was not up to bearing the weight of a heavy baby through a whole 45 minute grocery trip.

So I came up with my own little solution. And I decided to make a little how-to video to share my tip with you. It was going to be awesome, let me tell you. Jon was helping me, and he is a professional sports director, so I had that going for me. I would put it on YouTube and it would go viral and pretty soon I’d have this whole multi-media empire. Oh ho ho, I had big plans.

Big plans that came to a screeching halt when it became apparent that the microphone on our digital camera no longer works. It seems that the downside to letting my child take her own photos is that she is not always as gentle as she could be with the technology. We tried our best, but no matter what we did the video just sounded like, “Crackle crackle shoulder straw pfffft!” My dreams of glory were dashed.

I refused to give up, even after Jon went to work and I was all alone with the baby. I ended up using the timer feature on my camera to take several badly-framed, out of focus photos. Which I present to you now, in my slightly less useful but hopefully still comprehensible version of “How to wear your mei tai when you’re out and about without getting it all dirty or subjecting yourself to inclement weather.”

1. While you are still at home or in a sheltered location, put your mei tai on your front in the same way that you usually would. If you don’t know how to do that, you can find some great instructions on the Kozy carrier website. Don’t put the baby in it, and leave the shoulder straps quite loose, so that you can pull the front down easily.

2. Put your coat on over top, leaving it open at the front. Load the baby into the car and drive to your destination.

3. When you get to where you’re going, put the baby into the carrier by pulling the front down low and fitting the baby inside. I took my coat off for this photo, but that’s not necessary.

4. Arrange the shoulder straps around the baby’s legs, pull snug, and tie. Ta da, you’re wearing your baby! No straps were dragged on the ground, and you kept your coat on.

When you’re taking your baby out, you can just perform the steps in reverse. Loosen the shoulder straps by moving the knot toward the ends, and remove your baby. If you have another place you need to go your carrier is ready and waiting.

PS – It is not actually necessary that you be out of focus, or that you cut off the top of your head. I just do that sort of thing to show off.