Newborn baby in a mei tai

This position is suitable for babies from the very first day after their birth. It mimics the way we hold a newborn in our arms and fully supports the baby’s little head.

A 40-day-old baby in an Asteraki Mei Tai carrier, with the little legs out

A newborn baby in an Asteraki Mei Tai carrier, perfect position

As you can see in the photos above, the ideal position is (as with all Asteraki carriers) with the baby’s little feet out of the carrier, but with perfect support along the whole leg up to the knee.

If there is a reason to wear your baby with their legs in (very small babies, premature babies, special cases, etc.) contact us so we can give you the appropriate instructions. You can wear your baby with the legs out from the very first day of their life (see in the video why this is recommended).

Watch it in the video below with a newborn baby, 40 days old:

Note: There are many more detailed videos with instructions for newborn babies, which are unlisted. Contact us so we can send them to you.

See in the video below exactly what the baby’s legs are like in a cradle carrier. In the video we use a Ring Sling, Mei Tai, but also a KiBi, and the baby is 40 days old.

A baby lying down naturally has their legs in the correct position. See how they will be on your chest, inside your Mei Tai:

Newborn baby, 40 days old. The Mei Tai passes comfortably between their legs.

The baby in the video below is 45 days old and their mum wears them in a Mei Tai carrier. She has chosen the legs-out position (which is the ideal position for the baby’s hips and their correct development).

Parents often notice a gap between the top part of the Mei Tai and the baby’s little head and wonder whether this is safe and whether it offers adequate support. Below you will see how it really is, but you will also find ways to “correct” this gap.

Note, however, that you must always make sure there is no gap between you and the baby. Their little tummy should touch yours and their back should not be too hunched away from you.

Most of the time, the baby will rest their cheek on your chest, and their head will mainly be supported against you. But always, the baby’s neck should be at the height where the straps start to come out of the body of your Mei Tai. That way you will know for sure that the top part of your Mei Tai correctly supports your newborn baby’s little head.

When the baby is placed at the right height, you will see that your Mei Tai never lets the baby’s little head fall back, even if you bend forward. On the contrary, it comes in line with their little back and rests on the top part of your Mei Tai as if they were lying in their bed, even if there was initially a “gap” behind their little head.

You can, however, bring the top part of your Mei Tai closer to the baby by spreading the straps more towards your shoulders. The closer the straps are to your neck, the “looser” the top part is.

On the contrary, by spreading the straps and placing them on the rounded part of your shoulders, your Mei Tai will be “tighter” at the top.

Another alternative is to twist the straps near the point where they meet the body of your Mei Tai, so that the outer side of the strap rests on your shoulder and the inner side now faces up.

Then you will tighten the strap normally and repeat the same with the other strap.

You will find that this twisting narrows the top part of the Mei Tai quite a lot, which will now almost touch the baby’s little head.

The truth is that this gap behind your baby’s little head, especially as long as it is never so large that it lets the head fall behind their spine, is most of the time desirable. Your goal is not to immobilize your baby’s head. Your goal is to make sure they do not get tired (if the little head falls back, your baby, who does not yet have strong neck muscles and cannot lift it, will get tired). And your goal is, above all, to make sure their little head does not fall forward. You do not want the baby’s chin to touch their chest, so that you always ensure free breathing. But otherwise, giving the baby room to do their exercises, to work with gravity and to start exercising their neck muscles, learning to turn their head, is something you want. In fact, these exercises are the equivalent of tummy time, that is, of your baby spending time on their tummy, to get stronger and learn to support their head. Doctors often recommend 10 minutes a day in the prone position (on the tummy) – only when the baby is awake and only under your supervision – precisely for this purpose: strengthening the neck. Now you have an easy way to do it, without upsetting your little one!

Read more: Tummy-time, time on the tummy for babies

Note: The above advice for supporting the head is ideally applied with an Asteraki Mei Tai, because of the angle at which the straps are placed. It does not have the same result with Mei Tais where the straps come out vertically from the body of the carrier or where the opening at the top -the distance between the straps- is narrower!

back to: “Instructions with mei tai”