How I Got Pregnant with PCOS 5x

March 6, 2022 // by thetattooedmomma// 4 Comments

How I Got Pregnant with PCOS 5x

When I was 17 my doctor told me “You should probably start accepting that you won’t be able to have babies”. Fast forward to present day and I’m here to tell you, she was wrong & here’s how I fixed it then became pregnant with PCOS.

the tattooed momma 33 weeks pregnant with pcos at 29 years old with her 4th baby taking a picture in front of the bathroom mirror with the title "how i got pregnant with P.C.O.S. 5 times"

At 17 years old, I went in for a normal athletic physical but by the end of that appointment I had been diagnosed with a hormone imbalance and told “I don’t know what your plans for the future are but you should start accepting that you most likely won’t be able to have babies”.

When hearing the doctor’s words I felt my chest sink down into my stomach and felt the space around me moving slower. I can still remember so many details on my doctor’s face: she had short brown hair, brown eyes, a powdered face, a little mascara, and thin lips. Then my eyes moved from her lips to her forehead because I couldn’t even make eye contact with her after those words.

How could I not have any babies? My entire life my plan was to have a big family with at least 8 kids. Now this person is saying I can’t? Then she asked me a question, I just don’t remember what it was but that snapped me out of feeling sorry for myself and started to ask a million questions.

My brain was jumping from things like, “what do you mean?, What if I don’t want to accept it, are there alternatives? Do I still produce eggs? What is a hormone imbalance?”

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you but I only recommend products that I actually use and love. Read the full disclosure here.

WHAT IS A HORMONE IMBALANCE?

My biggest concern was the term hormone imbalance because the way my doctor explained it didn’t make it any better. She said I had higher amounts of testosterone so naturally my eyes bugged out but she could clearly guess what my facial expressions were saying because she immediately said “it doesn’t mean you’re a man! Everyone has testosterone and estrogen. You’re body just isn’t producing the right amounts”.

So I’m thinking…

HOW DO I MAKE MY BODY PRODUCE THE RIGHT HORMONE AMOUNTS?

Mind you, this was 13 years ago and the whole PCOS term really didn’t even exist. In fact, it’s still pretty new even today so there aren’t a whole lot of experts out there on the subject. I didn’t even realize my hormone imbalance was in fact PCOS until I was pregnant with my 3^rd child (but more on that later).

Long story short I was prescribed birth control to regulate my cycle which was going to be the cure-all for what was going on. I didn’t just have extremely irregular periods (about 1 every 8 months), I had hair in places it shouldn’t be, trouble falling asleep, and had the hardest time losing weight even though I was always working out at school and outside of school.

Before I left my doctor told me to stay on birth control then come back when I want to have a baby only if I was having trouble for more than 2 years after being off of it.

Fast forward to present day and I’m here to tell you, the doctor was wrong and here’s how I got pregnant with PCOS

female super hero cartoon dressed in a pink and purple costume with both hand on her hips and the letters P.C.O.S written vertically to her right in color black.

How to Get Pregnant with PCOS + my symptoms

PCOS IS REVERSABLE

The first bit of good news is that PCOS is completely reversible – YES, I said reversible. The key is to find out what your root cause is so you too can become pregnant with PCOS. I found mine with the help of The PCOS Nutritionist. You can join her PCOS protocol group or get all the information for free by listening to her podcast.

PCOS isn’t necessarily a bad thing either, in fact, it’s actually a survival instinct where your baby-making switch turns off because your body is like “WHOA – Something isn’t right here guys. This is not the right time to have a baby because we are way too stressed and need to fix this first”.

It’s more like a super power 😉

Anyway, for me I noticed every single one of my pregnancies happened once I was under a specific weight but the problem is that it’s very hard for me to lose weight. Then I learned that women with PCOS are usually insulin resistant which means your body has a harder time breaking down sugar so it stores it as fat instead. Then that led to another problem because I also become exhausted when I’ve had too much sugar.

But I couldn’t stop. I had this uncontrollable hankering for sweets. I originally thought it was a family characteristic because the women on my dad’s side of my family all love their sugar but yeeeears later I come to find out the majority of them HAVE A HORMONE IMBALANCE! <mind blown>

Anyway, it became this spiral effect where I would crave sugar, gain weight, then be too sleepy to work out. Which brings me to the next topic …

Choosing an Energy Supplement

Although I made coffee at home, sometimes I needed a mid day pick me up so I would grab a Starbucks coffee when getting off work (it was in the same parking lot anyway) to do the 2-3 hour drive home. But on the days when I’d get Starbucks I was falling asleep and would need to get off the freeway to take a quick nap. spoiler alert – IT WAS ALL THE DAMN SUGAR IN THE COFFEE!

But I didn’t know this yet. All I knew was that I needed something besides coffee because I really thought I had become immune to it’s caffeine.

That’s when I found Optimum Nutrition Amino Energy. It was on sale at my job and since I have high trust in Costco, I figured it would be worth a shot.

Immediately I saw a difference because for the first time, in a long time, I had the energy to get things done.

After a couple weeks I saw the scale going down consistently but I still wasn’t getting a period.

YOU DON’T NEED A PERIOD TO OVULATE

What I mean by this is you don’t need a bleed to get pregnant; your body just needs to ovulate. This is important to note because with my last baby, Forest, I was pregnant in February of 2021 but hadn’t gotten a period since April of 2020.

Anyway, I was losing weight but still kind of grumpy and I could tell because my husband and I were fighting a lot over the dumbest things. I knew they were dumb but I just was snappy about everything.

MOOD SWINGS

Mood swings are also symptoms of PCOS and the PCOS Nutritionist puts a huge emphasis on getting the proper amount of sleep so I played around with my bedtime schedule. What I learned is that I needed 7and ½ hours of sleep each night in order to be pleasant and happy and just overall glad to start the day.

Daily Rhythm / Bed Time Routine

I started doing a daily rhythm so that I knew what needed to be done in the day, afternoon, and night that way by bed time I was able to wind down and not think about all the things I needed to do the next day.

I also started listening to ASMR videos, specifically, Maria from the YouTube channel Gentle Whispering (David still pokes fun at me when I put this on) but it makes me so relaxed.

Now this is going to sound soooooooooo stupid but doing 10 long-deep-slow breaths does wonders. Youre whole body and mind elevates by doing some true deep breathing once a day. Plus doing this signals the brain to be like “oh ok, no-need to fight or flight. If we’re able to take in some big oxygen right now then that means everything is ok and we can relax. We have time to just kick it”.

All of these things helped me get to the weight by body needed to be at for my body to say “ok, it’s time to make a baby. This body is tip top and there isn’t any danger around us so we can comfortably bring a baby into the world right now”.

GETTING PREGNANT WITH PCOS – THE BOOK

I love the way this book is set up because its nice on the eyes and easy to read so it didn’t feel like a daunting task. BUUUT, I ended up not even needing it because when I started reading it, I was already pregnant but didn’t know it.

This is just a great resource to have on hand but you don’t need to purchase the book because she gives all this information for free on her podcast. paper book $30, digital version $10, audible version $13.

But because I am such a fan of her work, I am going to be doing a give-away. 3 lucky winners will be sent a copy of this book *must reside in the United States or Canada* and all you have to do is be subscribed to my Youtube channel, comment this secret emoji 😭😎 (within this post or on youtube channel), then enter your information below to join the raffle. Every time the youtube video hits 10k views I will do a giveaway and the final giveaway will be done at 30k views. So share share share to reach the goal quicker.

OTHER PRODUCTS I WAS USING for getting pregnant with PCOS

Some of the other products I was using when on my pregnancy journey were Pink Stork’s Fertility Bundle which includes fertility tea, some fertility candies, and fertility support vitamins which are basically a mega prenatal with the addition of some popular fertility ingredients like chaste tree berries, ashwagandha, as well as some others.

I can’t say for sure if these helped but I was using them and would definitely use these products again for my next pregnancy endeavor.

Once I became pregnant I switched over to their Total Prenatal vitamins because they have all the daily recommended values for pregnant AND nursing women plus DHA.

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Best Items for a Happy Perfect Baby

December 7, 2021 // by thetattooedmomma// 13 Comments

Best Items for a Happy Perfect Baby

Top 10 baby items that make life with a newborn an absolute breeze.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read the full disclosure here.

Just when you think you know it all, life throws in a baby that puts you to the test.

Being the oldest of 8 kids I assumed I knew everything there was to know about raising a baby. Like what bottle led to less colic, the correct way to swaddle a newborn, and the secret “A La Ru Ru” Mexican lullaby Tia sings to put the baby to sleep.

But we all know that no baby is the same. 4 kids later though, I’ve come up with a pretty solid list of things that will turn any fussy newborn into a happy camper.

Here are my favorite baby items that make for a happy – perfect baby.

baby wrap

Currently 2 of my wraps are handmade and the other is a moby wrap. You can click this video to learn how to make your own!

After our 2nd child was about a year old is when a friend of mine introduced me to this lovely thang. But by that time it was too late so once our 3rd infant came along, I was sprung and she basically lived in my wrap until the day she learned to crawl.

large muslin swaddle blankets

These are the best because they are breathable, stretchy, and snug all at the same time.

Not all muslin swaddles are created the same either! Some are scratchy and some are waaay too thin.

I found these bamboo muslin swaddles to be just the right amount of soft, silky, and stretchy. Amazon’s basic swaddles are also a good choice.

https://www.tiktok.com/@therealtattooedmomma/video/7036850306654801158?lang=en&is_copy_url=0&is_from_webapp=v1&sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=7037507470860305926

pacifiers

The only pacifier I use now are the 0-3 months green avent vanilla scented or the regular 0-3 months dark green ones.

These colors are the softest variations for this brand which means you won’t suffer from sore nips if you are breastfeeding and your baby is more likely to accept this binki.

There seems to be a lot of hate around babies with pacifiers but I am definitely pro paci. For one, babies have a natural desire to suckle and the use of pacifiers have been shown to reduce the chances of SIDS by 90%! read more about that here.

frida snot sucker

I can imagine the queasy look on your face now because that sounds absolutely disgusting. I felt the same way until I got a closer look at it.

The snot never touches you because there is barrier to make sure it stays in the tube.

This gadget is really a God sent item when you have a newborn with the sniffles. It’s heart wrenching to see your child struggle to get a full deep breath because their nasal is clogged up

The Frida Snot Sucker will get it cleared up in seconds.

a heavy blanket

A heavy blanket helps comfort baby during nap or sleep time because that little bit of weight makes him feel secure and loved.

For this we use a crocheted blanket that grandma makes but you can get a custom blanket made from this cute shop, Turtley Tangled. I have personally made purchases from her before and they are always flawless.

This organic cotton knitted blanket from Earthloop is the one Baby Forest uses when his crocheted blanky is in the wash.

britax convertible carseat

In 2018 we learned about the high infant fatality rates with babies in newborn-carrier car seats. Ever since then we ditched the newborn-carriers and only use the britax convertible carseat. It has enough padding so baby is comfy and is the only carseat you’ll need from newborn (even premie) up to 8 years old but has a shelf life of 10 years.

automatic manual breastpump

This is only if you are nursing your baby.

The Bumble Bee Breast Pump has helped me keep up milk supply by leaps and bounds.

You just attach it to whatever side you are not feeding on and it pulls milk out which also makes your body think it needs to produce more. I’m never worried if my baby is getting enough milk because this helps me keep an excess amount on demand.

Attach it once and let it do the rest. The option with this stopper is definitely recommended to avoid crying over spilled milk 😉

baby bibs

Any bib will do but here are the ones I use currently.

Keeping a bib on baby while he’s being burped helps keep any spit up from getting onto his clothing and stuck inbetween those baby neck rolls. Meaning less times being changed and less time the baby needs to be bothered.

black and white baby toys

These are my current favorite because they are soft, squishy, have high contrasting colors, and make a light tinkling noise.

You don’t need to have a lot of toys around for your newborn but having 1 or 2 visually stimulating ones are great for brain development.

It also keeps them entertained for a few more minutes so you can do some of the other things on your list.

zip up sleepers

Sleepers that zip up are such a game changer because it makes getting the baby dressed and undressed a cinch.

Imagine matching and buttoning 20 little buttons while baby is screaming? No thank you bruh.

I keep 5 – 7 of these in each size until the baby is either potty trained or out of 3T clothes.

We use the warm Carters sleepers during the cold months and these 100% organic cotton sleepers from Burt’s Bees when it starts getting a bit warmer.

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4 Unique and Fun Ways To Announce Your Pregnancy

August 24, 2021 // by thetattooedmomma// 4 Comments

4 Unique and Fun Ways To Announce Your Pregnancy

So you’re gonna have a baby? CONGRATULATIONS, here are 4 fun and unique ways to announce your very special pregnancy.

pregnant woman in backgroudn wearing a white long sleeve tshirt with the title fun wats to announce your pregnancy

Finding out you’re going to have a baby is one of the most magical moments a person can experience and each pregnancy is remarkable in it’s own way. For 9 months you get to help create a tiny human that will have half of your unique features and half of your loved one’s.

There’s something so soul-filling about it so why not make the announcement equally outstanding?

Here are 4 fun ways to announce your pregnancy

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you but I only recommend products that I actually use and love. Read the full disclosure here.

antique desk grandfather clock for a really fun way to announce your fun ways to announce pregnancy

1. Grandfather Clock – Fun Pregnancy Announcement

This one has got to be my top favorite way to announce a pregnancy because it’s so out-of-the-box thinking. You can easily Amazon deliver a grandfather clock to the grandfather to-be with an added note saying, “From your loving daughter and son in law“. It will be so much fun having them guess why in the world you randomly sent them a clock one day.

Or for added fun, hand deliver it yourself and record soon-to-be-grandpa’s reaction!

We did this to my dad for our 1st pregnancy reveal and 8 years later he still has it sitting on his dresser as a memory of that special day. He spent hours trying to figure out why in the world his daughter left a random grandfather clock on his front door steps. hahaha…classic

If I could do this one differently though I would put both clock hands pointing the number 9 just to be thorough 😉

a picture showing 2 children posing as players from Mario Kart and a picture of a stroller with pink balloons that says "new player" to announce pregnancy

2. Mario Kart! – Fun Pregnancy Announcement

As a 90’s baby, this Mario Kart themed pregnancy announcement is so nostalgic. I know I said the first idea was my favorite but I’m starting to second guess that now because this one is pretty darn cool.

What you’ll love about this one is that it won’t just be hilarious as a first baby pregnancy announcement (dad, mom, baby) but it’s interchangeable. So siblings can be included too and you can use the idea over and over, for your first baby or for your fifth baby.

We did this one when announcing our 3rd child but looking back I really wish I had done better on the graphics. I was just too excited to announce our first baby girl so I rushed it.

Here’s a list of Mario Kart characters you can choose from to make this fun pregnancy announcement idea work for your family:

Male

Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Toad, Donkey Kong, Wario, Waluigi, Morton, Yoshi, Boo

Female

Princess Peach, Wendy, Toadette, Rosalina, Daisy,

If you want the gender to be a surprise then just say, “Mystery Player”.

3. A Punny Video

Make a punny video to any song that insinuates or directly says “we’re having a baby”. There are so many fun ways to announce pregnancy and the creative options are endless. Here’s a list to inspire your creativity:

Ice Ice Baby – Vanilla Ice
All American Girl – Carrie Underwood
Pregnant Again – Loretta Lynn
Baby Momma – Starrkeisha
Baby Shark (doo do doo do do do) – Pink Fong
Oops I Did it Again – Brittney Spears
Baby One More Time – Brittney Spears
One’s On The Way – Loretta Lynn

We did our 4th pregnancy announcement to the song One’s On The Way by Loretta Lynn and it was a big hit with our family and friends. If you want to see it you can check out that video here. It was a lot of work but also tons of fun and worth every bit of time put in. It’s our favorite pregnancy reveal yet and our kids ask me to play it constantly because they love seeing themselves messing up my bed, throwing rags out, and running through the house.

picture of a baby dressed in cowboy gear: blue flannel shirt, black cowboy hat, brown infant cowboy booties, red handkerchief, black belt, and gun holster. Next to sign that says "this outlaw is gettin' a partner in crime" for a fun a pregnancy announcement

4. Partner In Crime

Okay, I know this one isn’t THAT unique but I felt it was worth mentioning because it’s an upgrade from the “sidekick on the way” bit people usually do. Don’t get me wrong, the whole super hero thing is cute but I’d be pretty upset if I was that baby being referred to as my brother’s side kick…ya know?

So for this one choose something that is going to equalize the new baby, like —> PARTNER, buddy, pal, bestie, etc.

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How to Cloth Diaper for cheap – under $15

August 6, 2021 // by thetattooedmomma// 4 Comments

How to Cloth Diaper for cheap – under $15

Want to start cloth diapering, but don’t want the big expense? Don’t worry, I’m gonna show you how to enter the cloth diaper world, with just $15.

white, orange, and green Econobum cloth diaper liners pictured together.

Cloth diapering is supposed to save you money but now a days getting started is so expensive!

I have found the MOST EFFECTIVE and INEXPENSIVE way to start your CLOTH DIAPER STASH and am sharing all the secrets with you here.

There is so much information out there on cloth diapering that it begins to become overwhelming and most people just end up throwing in the FLOUR SACK TOWEL (pun intended).

scroll down for video

Why You Want to Cloth Diaper

Save Money
- When first pregnant, I knew I wanted to use cloth diapers mainly because of the savings. According to countless sources, including my own, you can expect to spend anywhere from $500 – $900 on disposable diapers just in your child’s first year of life!

Potty Training
- Cloth diapers help with toilet training because they allow baby to understand when he has a dirty diaper. Disposables are designed to pull the moisture away from baby so he isn’t able to learn the difference between wet and dry.

Cloth Diapers are Better for Baby’s Skin
- Sodium Polyacrylate is the chemical inside disposable diapers that keep them dry which is why people feel disposable diapers are better for baby’s skin. But if you change your baby’s diaper when needed, cloth diapers won’t cause a rash.
- Most disposable diapers contain the chemical dioxin which is known to cause cancer in humans.
- You can obviously choose a totally chemical free disposable diaper but the problem with those is back to my first point being that it will cost you a pretty penny.
- A common question I get is “what if my baby is allergic to the cloth used in cloth diapers?”. At that point, you would just find a type of cloth that your baby isn’t allergic or sensitive to. You can change the material that sits against baby’s skin to whatever you feel is right for your child.

Cloth diaper inserts are ANY PIECE OF ABSORBENT CLOTH

picture showing the wide variety of fabrics that can be used for cloth diapering such as an old tshirt, flannel shirt, flour sack towel, a cut up blanket, and microfiber towels.

For more info on cloth diaper inserts, click the video here.

(Good for Environment)
- I have this one is parenthesis because it’s really hard to prove cloth diapering is better for the environment. Yea, you’re not throwing the diapers into the waste bin but you are having do an extra load of laundry which will then mean using more laundry soap and water. Then if you don’t line dry, you’re also using more electricity and gas to dry the diapers.
- Most cloth diapers are made from cotton, which according to NWF.org, is a crop dependent on pesticides, even if you buy organic.
- If you want to make sure cloth diapers are going to be better for the environment then you want to do these few things suggested by Standford Magazine.
  - (1) line dry line dry line dry. The biggest carbon footprint you’ll make when using cloth diapers is using the electric dryer so always line dry if you can.
  - (2) only wash if there are enough cloth nappies (another word for diaper) for a full load.
  - (3) reuse your cloth diapers for the next child.
  - (4) use an HE (high efficiency) washing machine.
  - (5) only wash the outer part of the cloth diaper when the lining is soiled.

Econobum cloth diapers being line dried to lessen our carbon footprint

Want to learn how to clean cloth diapers? Click here for a video guide.

How to Start Cloth Diapering under $15

After 4 years of trial and error I found the perfect cloth diaper, with an unbelievable price tag.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when trying to figure out what type of cloth diaper is going to work best for you. Espeically since terms like “all in one, all in twos, flats, prefolds, fitteds, pockets” and so many others are out there just slapping you in the face with more required researching. uuuuuuuuugh – No thanks bro.

Before I tell you my favorite cloth diaper cover, let me start by saying cloth diapering doesn’t have to be this cute baby trend.

We are here to save money and find an inexpensive alternative to disposables.

The 2 things you’ll need:

Since our goal for today is just to see if you even like to cloth diaper, you will only need ONE diaper cover and 1 pack of flour sack towels to get started. This should last you a full day because the covers only need to be changed if the side lining gets soiled .

Other than that, you would just wipe the inside of the diaper cover with a wipey and put it back on as if it were new.

1. Econobum Cloth Diaper Covers (also called liners or shells)

This is the material you see on the outside part that acts as a shell or protective case. They are a plastic type fabric and 100% waterproof to keep everything inside the diaper.

Econobum Diaper Covers are my go to for this because I have NEVER had a problem with leaks.

White, orange, and ribbit green Econobum cloth diapers covers displayed in a row

It’s pretty embarrassing when someone hands you back your baby because his cloth diaper didn’t do it’s job correctly and now your poor guest has a shirt wet with your child’s urine. *insert dramatic horror music*.

I was already the “weird mom” for using cloth diapers on my baby instead of getting with modern times and using good ol’ dependable disposables. So when people are already doubting your methods and then they have proof as to why your method is not gonna work, it makes it all even worse.

Lucky for me, I had my husband’s 100% support and comedic personality to always turn things around and make it go from horror to hilarious.

To get the daily inside scoop on The Tattooed Momma’s family life, follow along on Instagram

Now trust me when I say, I’ve tried a ton of different brands. Top name brands, knock off brands, even home made cloth diaper makers but all of them failed the leak test.

Econbum Diaper Covers go for $12 a piece but you also get the option to choose from their “seconds” collection which are marked down to $10 a piece – no added tax either.

Don’t be fooled by the title “seconds” because that doesn’t mean second hand. It just means there is something imperfect about the diaper so the company doesn’t feel they should be sold at full price. I have purchased most of my cloth diaper covers as “seconds” and I cannot find any differences between the full price ones and marked down ones.

Even better, they’re an all-in-one size option! They can adjust to fit like a size 1 disposable diaper, all the way to a size 4.

click one of the links below to take you directly to Econobum Cloth Diaper Covers.

Econo bum Diaper Covers $12

Econobum “Seconds” Diaper Covers $10

2. Flour sack towels

The second thing you’ll need are cloth diaper inserts. This is the fabric that will be touching baby’s skin and will soak up all the urine.

As I said before, cloth diaper inserts are ANY ABSORBANT PIECE OF CLOTH.

So you can use anything from flannel, to microfiber, to cut up blankets, or even old ripped up shirts. It all just depends on what will ultimately work best for your mindset and your budget.

Now that we got that out of the way, my favorite inserts to use are plain old flour sack towels. They are my secret ingredient to making the perfect cloth diaper concoction.

wicker basket filled with flour sack towels and fresh cut french lavender from the herb garden

What makes flour sack towels so great? Lots of things!

they are thin enough that they dry super quick, especially if you rather line dry all your clothes.
they are easy to find at your local convenience store. Whenever you’re out shopping, just go to the kitchen section and there they’ll be, conveniently waiting for you to pick them up.
they fold into whatever shape you want them. Example: for my boys, I would just fold the towels up into a rectangle but for my girl I would fold them up to have more of the cloth towards the front.
cost. on top of everything else, flour sack towels are inexpensive. Depending on where you purchase them from, you’re looking at paying .75 cents to $1.25 per piece.

click one of the links below to take you directly to some flour sack towel options.

Target Flour Sack Towels $4/pk of 4

Walmart Flour Sack Towels $4.47/pk of 5

Amazon Flour Sack Towels $16/pk of 12

Click the video below to see how to fold a flour sack towel & get an up close look at the Econobum cover.

Brand new to The Tattooed Momma? Click below for my most popular posts/videos.

Make your own Baby Carrier

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How to Moby Wrap

Quick Baby Carrier DIY – no sew

January 28, 2021 // by thetattooedmomma// 4 Comments

Quick Baby Carrier DIY – no sew

An easy and quick DIY baby carrier wrap – no sew. And it’s just as good as those pricey name brands.

tattooed mom holding infant girl in a blue hand made knit baby carrier - no sew

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you but I only recommend products that I actually use and love. Read the full disclosure here.

If you’ve never sewed before, don’t worry because this DIY only requires scissors, measuring tape, and some stretchy fabric.

Scroll to the bottom for printable instructions

When our 3rd baby arrived I couldn’t get away with just setting her down to play while I did the daily chores since her 2 toddler bothers, I mean brothers, would get too excited and innocently frustrate her all day long. This led to me constantly tending to a fussy baby.

mom displaying how short a 20" hand made baby carrier isn't tall enough to cover baby's head

So I decided to purchase one of those fancy Moby wraps I had seen all the moms sporting but I didn’t like the patterns OR THE PRICE!

Were they really worth that much?

Lucky for me (and you), my aunt had just bought herself a Solly Wrap so I was able to get a closer look at just how “special” these things were.

I soon realized,they are all just ONE GIANT LOooooooooNG PIECE OF FABRIC!

The Tattooed Momma cutting blue fabric in half to baby a no sew baby carrier.

It’s also worth noting, you can make these for $2! No, that’s not a typo, it’s $6 total but comes out to be $2 DOLLARS A WRAP – and it’s way easy! If you know how to use a pair of scissors, you can do this.

I know what you’re thinking, this all sounds too good to be true and it’s not gonna hold up or will be super uncomfortable…but no – it’s perfect!

I used mine through Prim’s first year and it is still like new just waiting for the opportunity to snuggle the next infant.

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The wrap is essentially just a cross back baby carrier so it distributes the weight of the baby evenly. It was very lightweight on my back and the most comfortable baby carrier I’ve used so far.

Now to the good stuff – HOW DO YOU MAKE YOUR OWN BABY CARRIER WRAP?

Get 6 yards of any knit fabric.
- Note – Knit fabric is just fancy sewing talk for stretchy fabric. (I got mine for a dollar per yard at Walmart.)

Figure out how TALL you want it. This is the part that covers the baby from head to toe so choose any height between 20″ and 30″.
- So you get an idea, the black/white wrap on the left is 20″ tall and the blue wrap on the right is 30″ tall.
- NOTE: most wraps range b/w 20″ to 30″ wide by 5 & 1/2 yards to 7 yards long.

tattooed mom holding infant girl in a blue hand made knit baby wrap

Cut your fabric at however tall you have chosen (20″-30″).
- NOTE: you won’t have to do any cutting for the LENGTH. The length will always be the original 6 yards you started with.

The Tattooed Momma measures width of double sided stretchy knit fabric with blue measuring tape

And you’re DONE!
- NOTE: you will now have 2 or 3 wraps.

Need more help? Check out the video below.

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Yield: 2-3 wraps

Easy DIY Baby Wrap Carrier

DIY Baby Wrap Carrier. Easily replicate those expensive name brand baby wraps.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Active Time 10 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Difficulty Easy

Estimated Cost 6

Materials

•6 yards knit (stretchy) fabric

Tools

•Fabric Scissors or Rotary Cutter
•Measuring Tape

Instructions

1. Purchase 6 yards of ANY KNIT FABRIC (aka stretchy fabric)
2. Figure out how WIDE you want your wrap to be. Choose
between 20" to 30"
3. Cut your fabric at the WIDTH you have chosen.
4. ALL DONE! wasn't that EASY?

Notes

view below for more detailed instructions

➡DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS
1.Purchase 6 yards of ANY KNIT FABRIC (knit fabric just
means STRETCHY fabric

2. Figure out how WIDE you want your wrap to be. Choose
between 20 inches to 30 inches. This is how tall your wrap will be and
what covers the baby from head to toe. NOTE: most wraps range b/w 20 inches to 30 inches wide. and range between 5 & 1/2 yards to 7 yards long

3. Cut your fabric at the WIDTH you have chosen. (20", 21", 22", 23", 24", 25" ,26", 27", 28", 29", or 30") NOTE: you won't have to do any cutting for the LENGTH. The length will still be the original 6 yards you started with. All you are doing is making your original 6 yard long piece of fabric into MORE 6 yard long pieces

4. ALL DONE! wasn't that EASY? NOTE: At this point you should have either 2 or 3wraps, depending on how wide your fabric was to begin with and depending on how wide you chose to make them.

If you don't already have a good pair of fabric scissors, it is definitely worth investing in a pair for this project. It makes things easier and quicker. I used a regular pair of scissors on my first wrap. Once I upgraded to fabric scissors though, I wished I had done it sooner.

If you want to lessen the bulk of your wrap, taper it on both sides. To Taper: make or become gradually smaller toward one end.

I did this with the double sided knit fabric (that I bought at Walmart) because the knot ended up being too bulky. My goal was to have a warmer blanket like wrap during the winter months. Tapering the ends made it possible to have a warm wrap without it looking like I made it myself, if you catch my drift.

WINTER WRAP - if you want a warmer baby wrap, choose a warmer or thicker knit. Examples of warmer/thicker knits: sweat pant or sweat shirt type fabric.

SUMMER WRAP - if you want a wrap that will allow you and the baby to stay cool while being so close, chose a lighter/thinner knit. Examples of lighter/thinner knits: yoga pants material or tank top material.