Mei Tai

It's very interesting to know how babies are crawling, walking or even climbing! Babies are all different (and I guess the timing of walking is partially related to the baby's temperament), whether they are early or late walkers soon they all will walk and run like a pro!

Most people in Hong Kong use strollers, though I see in recent years there is a slight increase of people wearing their babies (using packs or structured carriers). Personally I think managing a stroller in a highly densely populated small (and the world's most capitalist) city like HK is a torture. It's far less convenient esp when travelling with the stroller in transport.

But I guess in many lower-class families in HK, the stay-at-home parents (usually moms) still wear their los in Mei Tai (we pronounce "Meh Dai" - "Meh"=wear, "Dai"=belt) on their backs when doing household chores like cooking

In many Asian countries (I guess more usual in "less" "modernized" parts) a baby is constantly carried. I also know that in the Philippines many women also just carry their children on their hips. In Indonesia, babies are often carried in a fabric - it's tied and used skillfully like a sling but without a ring (magic!). The sling or the wrap, etc. has a history maybe as ancient as human's.

(I usually see foreigers in Hong Kong pushing their babies in strollers - I don't know why, but the brands of the strollers are always the same - Maclaren - which local people seldom use - is it that good?)

The traditional Chinese Meh Dai requires the baby to sit in a frog-leg position, straddling the tummy or the back of his/her parent. This is believed to provide adequate spine and hip support (I think that the crotch piece of most structured carriers sold on the market is too narrow , the weight of the small baby is being put on his/her spine too early [in addition, the legs just dangle - will the hip joints be stretched too much?]). When I was very young, many children (and their parents, grandparents, ... ) here were still carrried in this way. However, when I first wore DS and went out, one of the questions asked by today local stroller-users was "will you make your baby's legs malformed?" I forget how I responded.