Easy Newborn Carrier From 3 T-shirts

This simple carrier is especially good for babies under 15 pounds and requires NO pattern, NO sewing, NO tying.

Step 1: Find 3 shirts

Find 3 t-shirts that are slightly too small for you. You want seamless t-shirts (no seams/stitching down the sides) that are made of 100% cotton jersey (regular t-shirt material.) You can find cheap t-shirts at thrift stores, or check the men’s underwear department for packs of plain white undershirt t-shirts. Just make sure they are a size too small and seamless. Jersey stretches; you want as much support as possible.

Step 2: Cut

Cut all three shirts straight across right below the armpits so you have three loops. No need to hem; jersey won’t unravel. If you choose to hem, use a zigzag or stretch stitch, otherwise the stitches will snap.

Step 3: Wear

Put one loop around your hips. Put the second around your torso over one shoulder and under the other arm (like a sash.) Put the third across your torso in the opposite direction of the second (so you have them going in an X across your chest and back.)

Step 4: Insert Baby

Insert baby upright with the X going between their legs. Spread both passes of the X out so that BOTH passes extend from one of your baby’s knee-pits to the other. The bum should sink down into a little “seat” with the knees slightly higher and supported. Don’t spread past the knees - the knees should be able to swing freely. If baby needs a little extra neck support, lay their head on your chest and pull the loop that is behind their head up over it (so it is covering the back of their head, leaving their airway clear.) Pull the third loop up from around your hips and spread it from the nape of baby’s neck down to tucked under their bum, all the way so that it comes up in front of them between the two of you. Make sure this pass doesn’t cover their feet. This pass should also support knee-to-knee.

Step 5: Safety

Make sure baby stays upright, supported, visible, kissably close. Make sure baby is always supported by all three passes. Jersey gets saggy with bigger babies, so this carrier is only really a viable option for them when they are very small. This is NOT a safe carrier for back carries. Always refer to TICKS for safety, and as with any stretchy carrier, ALWAYS use all three passes to support baby, even if they are small enough that two passes "feels" safe.

Step 6: Optional, Getting Fancy

If you want to make your carrier slightly more like the K'tan brand baby carrier, cut a strip of scrap from your unused t-shirt bits and tie the two cross-loops together where they meet in the back. Then cut the horizontal loop at a diagonal (if you were wearing it as a t-shirt, you’d be cutting from one armpit down to the opposite hip, so you get a long tapered parallelogram) and use it to tie around the baby after getting the cross passes into place instead of wearing the loop around your hips and pulling it up.

-- Alyssa Leonard - 2016-07-16

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