The Elevator’s Out and the Baby Is Coming With You
Oct 20, 2026
Picture this.
You’re in a hotel, 5th floor. It's 10 pm, and the power goes out for the whole building. The smoke alarm won't stop. Baby starts screaming. Parent grabs their phone for a flashlight, scoops up the baby, their purse, and maybe the diaper bag, and heads for the stairs. Five flights. One free hand, maybe. A toddler, maybe.
Or a flash flood warning comes in, and the family has twenty minutes to leave.
Or the heat goes out in January, and the house is getting colder by the hour.
Or a fire warning sounds while you are just waking up.
We spend a lot of time teaching families how to use a carrier for walks, naps, chores, and fussy evenings. We don't often talk about the days when suddenly everything goes wrong. But those are the exact days when a baby carrier stops being a ‘nice-to-have’ and becomes the very tool that gets everyone out the door safely, with hands free for other things while also keeping baby close.
With storms, wildfires, and the coming snow season and outages (depending on where you live), this feels like a good time to talk about it. Not to scare anyone, but to help families feel a little more prepared.
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One Question to Add to Your Classes & Follow Up
Here's the question I'd love for you to start asking:
"If you had to leave the house in two minutes with your baby on you, could you do it?"
It sounds simple, but the answer tells you so much. Some parents will say yes right away. Others will pause, laugh, and admit the carrier is in the trunk of the car, or still in the box, or that they've only ever put it on with their partner's help. Or share that they don’t even have one, which is why they are at your class.
The pause is your opening. It shows you where the gaps are:
Is there a carrier they can put on alone, without a mirror or a video?
Do they know where it is right now?
Could they do it with a crying baby, in a hurry, in low light?
You don't need to turn the whole class (or follow-up email) into an emergency drill. It's one question, maybe five minutes of conversation or consideration. But it often reveals that the parent needs more practice with their go-to carry than they realized. And that's useful far beyond emergencies. A carry they can do quickly and confidently is a carry they'll actually use on a regular Tuesday.
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The Best Emergency Carrier Is the One They Already Know
There's no single "emergency carrier." The right one is whatever the parent can put on quickly, correctly, and without thinking too hard. A gorgeous long woven wrap is wonderful, but not if they've only tied it twice. A buckle carrier they use every day will beat it every time in a rush.
Help families pick their go-to and then practice it until it's boring. A few things worth talking through:
Where it lives. A carrier in the closet behind the winter coats won't help much at 2 am. Encourage families to keep their go-to somewhere they can grab it on the way out, like a hook by the door or on the back of a bedroom door. (We have a whole post on where you store your carrier if you want to share it.)
Speed with accuracy. Have them time themselves, just for fun. How long does it take to go from carrier in hand to baby snug and checked? The goal isn't to race, it's to make the steps so familiar that stress doesn't scramble them.
Solo practice. If one parent always does the carrying, the other needs at least one carry they can manage on their own. Same goes for grandparents or anyone else who might be home alone with the baby.
A backup. If they have a second carrier, a ring sling or a simple stretchy wrap tucked into a go-bag or the car can be a nice safety net.
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Stairs, Darkness, and No Heat
Emergencies tend to take away what makes carrying easy. Here's how to help families think through the big ones.
Stairs. Here in New York, many families live in walk-ups, and anyone in an apartment building or high-rise could end up on the stairs during a fire alarm or an outage. A front carry is usually the easiest to get on fast, but a baby sitting low can shift the parent's center of gravity and make walking down stairs harder and riskier. Remind them that a high (close enough to kiss, without straining) snug (don’t move independently of each other) carry so they can see over the baby's head, one hand on the railing, and slow, steady steps. Better yet, encourage them to master a back carry ASAP so they can keep the view clear ahead of them and baby’s weight comfortably spread for them - but only suggest it for families who are already interested.
Darkness. Even in the dark, we can monitor the baby. This is where the ABCs really shine. Two of the three don't need light at all. Parents can listen for baby's breathing and feel the rise and fall on baby's back with their hand. For the look check, a headlamp is a great addition to any go-bag. It keeps both hands free, which a phone flashlight doesn't.
Cold. If the heat goes out, a carrier is a wonderful way to keep baby warm. Body contact does a lot of the work. Remind families to put the extra layers over both of them, like a coat zipped around the carrier or a babywearing cover, instead of bundling baby in thick layers inside the carrier, which can mess with the fit, among other things. Our post on babywearing in cooler weather goes deeper on this.
Heat. No power in summer means no AC, and two warm bodies together get hot fast. Shorter stretches in the carrier, lots of breaks, and keeping an eye on baby's color and breathing all help. Here's our post on why babywearing still works in the heat for more.
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Bringing It Up Without Scaring Anyone
New parents already carry a lot of worry. The last thing we want is to hand them one more thing to lie awake about. So how you bring this up counts as much as what you say.
Keep it light and practical. Try something like this in your workshop,
"One thing I’d like everyone to try before they leave today: could you get this on by yourself, fast, if you ever needed to? Let’s time it so you have your starting time.”
Frame it as confidence, not catastrophe. Most families will hear it as a fun challenge, and many will feel proud when they nail it.
It also helps to connect it to everyday life. The same skills that get you down the stairs in a blackout get you out the door when you're late for a pediatrician appointment. Fast and confident is useful every single day. If you’re teaching prenatally, then this is a great topic in general for them to imagine what they would need to add or change in their emergency preparedness anyway.
If a parent does get anxious, slow down and follow their lead. Some families have lived through a fire, a flood, or an evacuation, and this topic can land differently for them. You don't need to push. Just let them know the carrier is one more tool they have, and that practicing it is something they can do whenever they're ready.
We wrote more about this kind of conversation in "Is Babywearing Safe?" How Educators Can Answer Without Creating Fear. The same calm, honest approach works here too.
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Ready Doesn't Have to Mean Scared
None of this needs to be dramatic. It's really just good teaching: help families find one carry they can do fast and well, make sure the carrier is somewhere they can grab it, and talk through what changes when the lights go out, the time runs short, and the emergency is at hand.
Most families will never need it. But the ones who do will remember who helped them feel ready.
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So here's my challenge for you this month. Ask the two-minute question in your next few classes, group meetings, or consults and see what you learn. Then come tell us about it. I'd love to hear what families say, and what you'd add to this list for your own corner of the world, whether that's hurricanes, snowstorms, wildfires, or a six-floor walk-up.
