ADJUSTMENT TIPS Checklist for a Perfect Beco Butterfly Fit 1) How tight should the shoulder straps be? If the shoulder straps (the ones accessible under your arms) are too tight, they will actually lift your baby's weight up and support it with your shoulders. You don't want that. You want your baby's weight to drop down and be supported at the hips. The shoulder straps just serve to pull your baby in closer to your body. If the padding of the shoulder straps feels like it's chafing your armpits, or you feel pressure on your shoulders, you might have the shoulder straps too tight. If your baby is sagging outward, or sagging downward, or you feel like your baby is not snuggled closely into your chest or back, tighten them up. 2) What's the deal with those front-loading straps? See video below for how to adjust the straps that control the baby's distance from your body (these have the two-handed buckles with the button on them). You want the front-loading straps tight enough so that your baby is snuggled fairly close to you. Your baby's butt should be at or slightly above your navel. If the front-loading straps are TOO tight, then the baby will feel squashed against you, and the baby's weight will not drop down to be supported by the padded waistband. You will feel pressure on your shoulders. Loosen up those straps a little. If the front-loading straps are too loose, your baby will sink down from your chest towards your belly, and lean out away from you. The top of the carrier body will angle outwards away from you. This will strain your back. Tighten up those straps until your baby is back on your chest snuggled up to you. 3) Chest strap placement and armpit rub The chest strap (connecting the two shoulder straps) should be at the base of your neck (in front carry), or just below your collarbone (in back carry). If not, slide it up or down the runners to be in the right place. Armpit rubbing can sometimes be relieved by wearing the chest strap placed *lower* on your body, so experiment with positioning and see if that helps pull the shoulder straps out of your armpits. Armpit rub is also typically caused by having your shoulder straps too tight. Try loosening them up. 4) How tight should the chest strap be? Are the shoulder straps resting just inside your shoulder caps? They should not be resting *on* your shoulder joint, nor too close to your neck, but right in between. If they are slipping out too far onto your shoulder cap, tighten up your chest strap so that it pulls them in. 5) I feel wobbly! or My back is sore! If you are wearing your baby for the first time on your back, and your baby is older, then your core muscles will need to adjust to babywearing. Keep your babywearing sessions short at first and increase gradually as your back and shoulder muscles strengthen. Make sure your posture is good, stand up straight, and go for a walk with your baby instead of standing in one place. 6) When should I switch to back carry? Front carry is less comfortable than back carry. Humans are built to carry weight on their backs, not on their front. The Butterfly allows you to put even fairly small babies on your back easily, so if front carry doesn't feel good, then give back carrying a try. If your baby is 20 pounds or over, you should be primarily wearing your baby on your back. I personally GREATLY prefer back carrying to front carrying, except with very young babies. I don't like having my shoulders pulled forward, and I don't like not being able to see my feet. I had my second baby on my back at 2.5 months and it was great! Much easier on the back, neck and shoulders overall. Pulls your shoulder back so you can stand up straight and tall with good posture. In general, you can put your baby on your back once your baby has good head control. This means that if your baby's body is vertical, he/she can hold her head upright without it flopping over. However, see #5...when you switch from front carry to back carry you use an entirely different set of muscles, so there might be a new period of adjustment for you as your core muscles strengthen and adapt. I've been babywearing for years, and it still happened to me when I went from primarily front-carrying to primarily back-carrying my babies. Adjustment should not take longer than 3-4 days at most though. 7) When should I use the detachable Newborn Insert, and when should I switch to the permanent Insert? Beco's rough estimate is that the newborn insert (the one that is detachable) can be used for babies under 15 pounds, but I would say that if your baby is average sized or above and is MORE THAN A MONTH OLD, you don't need the newborn insert anymore. I have seen 12 pound babies that were too tall for the newborn insert and felt much more comfortable in the regular Y-shaped insert. If the middle of your baby's head is above the rim of the carrier in the newborn insert, take your baby out, detach the newborn insert, tuck it away in the internal pocket, and try putting your baby into the regular Y-shaped insert instead. If your baby is way down deep inside the carrier (top of head below the rim of the carrier body), then go back to using the newborn insert. Otherwise, use the Y-shaped permanent insert. You will also find that using the regular insert makes it MUCH easier and faster to get your baby in and out of the Butterfly. Another tip...with newborn babies be sure to move/scrunch the fabric if necessary to accomodate your baby's legs, don't pull your baby's legs around to accomodate the fabric. The fabric doesn't care if you pull it this way and that, or scrunch it up to get it in between those newborn legs. But babies generally don't like being pulled on, or having their legs yanked. ;-) 8) My baby doesn't seem happy in the carrier Make sure that you are trying the carrier with a recently fed, changed, happy baby. Don't try the carrier for the first time with a hungry, cranky baby. This will frustrate both of you. Also be prepared to walk around a LOT when you are trying to carrier for the first time. If your baby is not used to being worn in a carrier, he/she might need some soothing walking motion to get used to it and feel reassured. Above all do NOT put your baby in and then just stand around like a statue. It's best if you can put your baby in the carrier and then go for a walk. Even walking around your house is fine, if that's all you can manage. Just keep moving. Your baby may dislike the closeness of the carrier at first. Loosen up the straps (both front-loading and shoulder straps) to give your baby more room to move around in the carrier. See if that helps. Babies go through phases. They may hate being in a carrier at three months, then at six months they LOVE it. I have had dozens of parents return carriers because "I love it, but my baby hates it!", and then they turn around and buy the same carrier months later because they tried again with a friend's carrier and now the baby adores being worn. So keep that in mind, especially if you have a print that you love...it might not be available at a later date. Wondering how to adjust the front-loading straps? When you receive your Beco Butterfly, you will need to adjust it so that it fits you and your baby comfortably. The front-loading straps (with a front round button and two squeezable sides) are made extra-secure so that an older child cannot reach over and unbuckle or adjust herself. But this does make them a bit tricky to figure out at first. Here are video instructions for tightening and loosening those front-loading straps. Once you understand how to adjust these, then follow the steps below to check your overall fit! In my experience, a strap length of about 3 inches works for just about all babies. Your new Beco might come with the FL straps much longer than this, in which case you will need to shorten them for a good fit. And here is one more good video on the new shoulder strap buckles found on the latest Butterfly carriers. These are attached to the body of the carrier and not the end of the padded part of your shoulder strap. The main instructional videos from Beco (which you can watch below, and which are found on DVD in your Butterfly box along with your Beco) show the old buckle placement, so if you are confused about why the buckles seem to have moved, this should help clear things up! INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS Beco Anatomy Front Carry with Newborn Front Carry with a Young Child The Back Carry with a Young Child Front Carry with Toddler - Version 1 Back Carry with Toddler Folding the Baby Carrier Download PDF Instructional Booklet

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