Yes - been here - normally with MIL!
Perhaps they are watching you because it is so unique and different to 'the norm'. You are baby wearing and a proud Mum doing what's natural for your LO! Perhaps when you are looking at them to see if they are looking disapprovingly they are misinterpreting your look as struggling? I think I used to do this but now I smile if people are watching and chat to T making sure that I look like I know what I am doing.
I think once you're feeling more confident you'll start to like people looking.. If you are looking around waiting for criticism you'll get it whereas if you are confident in yourself wrapping as if everyone does then you will start to relax and forget the people around you. When people do watch you might find them asking you all sorts of questions too! Any you can tell them about carrying and some of the benefits of BW! (See here readers who don't haven't read any: Didymos advantages)
If you feel confident in your wrapping then wrap and un-wrap your baby confidently! After all - as long as you have support from people in your life that matter to you and are important to you it really doesn't matter at all what anyone else thinks. It is YOUR baby that YOU decide what to do with !!
Nice try to make me feel better! Unfortunately, having been carrying him in a sling for 9 1/2 months and on my back for 5 of those, I have had plenty of practice in differentiating between disapproving and approving looks - unfortunately the latter are few and far between. When someone shows an interest and engages then I always chat to them about why I use a wrap and about the benefits, and to start with I always met the negative comments with an attempt to explain the benefits but it was inevitably met with scepticism and further comments, so I am afraid I have completely given up on the nay-sayers. If it was simply the occasional disapproving look then I wouldn't be too fussed, but for some reason the old ladies in my area are not backward about coming forwards and are quite prepared to make critical comments either to my face or within my earshot. One of the favourites is to talk about me to someone serving in a shop while I am in the queue or have just finished paying.
I am competely confident when I wrap him - I have been using a woven wrap or a mei tai for back carries since he was 4 1/2 months, and I can safely say that I have never messed it up in public - so I don't think it is a question of me looking like I am looking around for help. I am always leaning over while I wrap him so I am mainly looking at the ground anyway!
I hear what you are saying, but I am not someone who is new to babywearing and feeling a bit unsure and reading more into a situation than is actually there - this is something that has been building over time and I have finally lost patience with it.
