Babywearing - please help me choose a sling for breastfeeding - huggababy or other?

[pobletsmum]

My 2nd baby is due in February and I hope to buy a sling to be used from the early days. I've read lots of reviews and mumsnet threads, but am still finding it difficult to choose. I like the look of the Huggababy, but several m'net reviews mention them being quite hot. With DS I used a Wilkinet carrier a few times, but found that quite warm (although he was a summer baby), and no good for b'feeding so want to get it right this time.

Here are my criteria:
-suitable from birth (unlikely to use it to carry a toddler)
-breastfeeding possible (size 34G norks, which might make things interesting!)
-very easy to get on and off/load baby
-neck/back friendly-ish (although don't intend to use it for hours on end)
-secure enough that I won't be panicking about baby falling out every time I bend down to help DS go to the toilet etc.
-DH-friendly - fortunately we are similar sizes, with his shoulders slightly wider than mine, but he doesn't have my huge norks!
-price no more than about £40 (don't mind buying 2nd hand)
-prefer not to have a LONG dangly tail (Huggababy fine cos its all stitched together; short tail would be OK)

So...does anyone have any magic solutions for me please?

[SallyInYorkshire]

Hi there! (I'm also due in Feb). I had heard that the hugabub was not great for breastfeeding if you are well-endowed in the norks department. (not an issue for me happily )

The other one on my short list, which I will also be getting, was a mei tai style carrier because they are very neck/back friendly, DH-friendly and suitable from birth. not sure whether poss to breastfeed though. hopefully someone else will advise on this!

[pobletsmum]

Thanks Sally, I recognised your name from feb thread straight away.

I think the Hug-a-bub is different to the Hauggababy, but I might be wrong. Have looked at mei tai style but not sure about breastfeeding, and I think it looks like it would be a faff to tie????

[Dotsie]

hi just a quick one as i have to go get ds1 from school - i've used a slingeasy for years - used it with dd and ds1, now using it for ds2. wouldn't be without it, v easy to use, can feed in it, i love it. link here think mkine cost about £30 but that was 10 years ago. see what u think. hope you like it. got to fly - school run.

[beckmo]

I didn't get on with the huggababy. When DD was first born she was swamped by it and all squashed up -certainly couldn't breastfeed her in it and I wasn't happy carrying her it it either.She didn't fit or feed comfortably in it until she was around 6 months old when I didn't really need it anymore and when she wasn't happy being carried in that position.

[pobletsmum]

Thanks Dotsie and beckmo.

Dotsie - slingeasy looks similar to huggababy. Do you know what the differences are?

beckmo - did you find any other type of sling that you did get on with?

Does anyone know whether an unpadded equivalent of huggababy/slingeasy exists?

[bambi06]

check out www.slingmeet.co.uk theyve go tlots of advice plus they have slingmeets where you can actually try them on with h elp from babywearers

[pobletsmum]

Thanks bambi, off to check out slingmeet...

[foodfiend]

I used a kari-me www.kari-me.com (similar to hug-a-bub) with dd1, which was utterly, utterly brilliant and we used it all the time until she was about 1, when the stretchy material didn't seem supportive enough.

I have long term back problems and had no problems as the weight is well-distributed - in fact my back has been much better since as I think the exercise did it good! As it is just one long piece of fabric it was fine for both me (5'1") and husband (5'11"). Once you have the hang of tying it on (which you can practice without baby) getting baby in and out is easy peasy. Couldn't recommend it highly enough.

I never mastered bf in it though, but dd hated any lying down position anyway, and insisted on being upright. I'm really hoping when #2 comes along that we can get the hang of it.

I borrowed a ring sling (like huggababy) but it was hopeless for us - dd wouldn't lie down and tried to fling herself out in the upright positions, and I found the one-sidedness really unconfortable. I found a wraparound carrier much better, but there are lots of unpadded ring slings available.

We also got a mei tai later, as these are much easier for getting baby on and off your back, and still use it for hikes etc (dd now nearly 2). I have tried it with (on the front) a tiny one when demoing for another mum, but I didn't find it nearly as comfortable for a small baby as the kari-me, which is soft, stretchy and adjustable.

hth

[SallyInYorkshire]

Oh sorry, you're quite right, the huggababy is a padded ring sling. You can get non-padded ring slings from loads of websites, Big Mama Slings has a fair selection and I was thinking about getting one from their site if the ones I'm getting don't work out for me.

My friend had a ring sling (unpadded, and not specifically huggababy) which she found lovely for the first few weeks, but less good as her LO got bigger, and to my knowledge she never got the hang of breastfeeding in it!

Mind you I gather that breastfeeding in any sort of baby carrier is a bit of an advanced art. The easiest are reputed to be pouches but I don't know how good these are if you have back probs because all the weight goes through 1 shoulder.

Am very much a newcomer to all this, I got most of my information from the website called The Baby Wearer, which has very active forums and also second hand carriers for sale which may work out cheaper for you. have you seen it? it is worth a look.

[SallyInYorkshire]

Oh sorry, you're quite right, the huggababy is a padded ring sling. You can get non-padded ring slings from loads of websites, Big Mama Slings has a fair selection and I was thinking about getting one from their site if the ones I'm getting don't work out for me.

My friend had a ring sling (unpadded, and not specifically huggababy) which she found lovely for the first few weeks, but less good as her LO got bigger, and to my knowledge she never got the hang of breastfeeding in it!

Mind you I gather that breastfeeding in any sort of baby carrier is a bit of an advanced art. The easiest are reputed to be pouches but I don't know how good these are if you have back probs because all the weight goes through 1 shoulder.

Am very much a newcomer to all this, I got most of my information from the website called The Baby Wearer, which has very active forums and also second hand carriers for sale which may work out cheaper for you. have you seen it? it is worth a look.

[SallyInYorkshire]

sorry for double posting!

[esmebaby]

hi, the best sling i brought was by a company called freedom sling. The one i brought was the padded freedom sling and its is recommended by midwives to enable hands free breastfeeding...im still using mine for my 10 month old and she loves it. they are really reasonably priced, think mine was about £30 including postage and i had it within 48hours. There website is either www.freedomsling.com or www.freedomsling.co.ukit is a scottish lady who started the company x

[foodfiend]

Try www.freedomslings.co.uk/

[FillyjonkisCALM]

poblet, what is the age gap between your kids?

This makes a massive difference imo.

I am going to get FLAMED for this but IMO if you have a smallish gap, say >2.5 years, you MUST have something that allows you to carry the baby handsfree.

It also MUST be super-easy to put on, no faffing with great double sheets of heavy woven cotton.

I also have to say that I have NEVER, not EVER, managed to bf in a sling. Why do you want to bf in a sling?

I worked out the other day that I have tried +25 slings...at least .

FWIW, the best sling I have tried is probably the baby bjorn (oh I know, boo hiss) , though am going to try out the close baby sling also this time (thanks to my lovely mum!). The close baby sling is a lot like a tricotti, but adjustable. Its a bit out of your price range (£50) BUT seems to have a good resale value.

[FillyjonkisCALM]

(oh and then moving to an ergo at about 5-8 months, dep on baby)

[foodfiend]

What did you like about the bb fillyjonkisCALM (Are you really? if so, I am jealous.)

We were given one, and I found it quite handy early on, but by 3 months I felt like I had a giant weight dangling round my neck and it gave me chronic backache. did you have one of the ones with more back support?

[FillyjonkisCALM]

oh agree, baby bjorn only works for 3-4 months.

The thing is, IME, if you really need a handsfree sling there is NO sling on the market that works after that time.

There is a tricky period between around 4-6 months.

The jersey fabric ones (tricotti is the main one I've tried) just stretch stupidly, and aren't adjustible anyway (though have high hopes for close baby sling)

I did try a woven wrap a few times with ds, and liked it, BUT it really is too faffy for me to manage with a toddler already (kudos to you if not). The problem is that it is very, very long and I tend to get myself stuck in wet windy car parks having to put a baby in a sling with older kids screaming at me. Also, IME, they are pretty hot and I don't like that.

Actually, if you want something that will work long term, newborn to around 2, I'd suggest an ergo with a newborn insert. You can probably get this combo for about £50 secondhand (you don't need a new style one IME-I've used both and the new style ergos don't add much extra, except £££)

[FillyjonkisCALM]

its sitting up that is the problem, btw between 4-6 months.

once their backs are strong enough, they can go into a backpack like the ergo, or even a bushbaby or similar.

But at 4-6 months they are too heavy for a front facing sling really.

Note I am talking here about a situation with 2 kids close in age, meaning that the older one still needs lots of carrying, bending down to be attended to, etc.

This time around, ds is 4 and I think it would be fine for us to have a side sling, if it wasn't that I also have dd who is 2.

[LadyVictorianSqualor]

I have a freedom sling, got it from ebay for about a tenner.

[nappyaddict]

i wouldn't go for a stretchy wrap or pouch - they don't tend to be very comfortable after about 20lbs. you could use a woven wrap. you don't have to have a long trail of material behind you - you can tie it in a short bow thing. you could go for a ring sling but i don't find the whole one shoulder thing very forgiving on my shoulders or back.

was going to suggest a mei tai but am assuming if you couldn't bf in a wilkinet you wouldn't mangage in a mei-tai either.

is it important to you that you carry beyond 5 or 6 months ish? i ask because at about this time it becomes much more comfortable to back carry than front carry but if not then something like the freedom sling or tricotti looks good to me.

[nappyaddict]

sorry didn't mean the freedom sling i meant the close baby carrier!!

does anyone know why you can't do a back carry in the hugabub but you can in the kari me?

[nappyaddict]

ah according to this the hugabub is too narrow to be able to back wrap safely.

[foodfiend]

Lol at windy car parks - I remember providing a right old cabaret in the park the first time I tried to tie on a woven wrap outdoors - thank goodness I didn't have any other kids to deal with, so I can certainly see the problem. That's the advantage of the stretchy wrap - tie it on first and then deal with the baby.

For what it's worth, I carried lo on the front quite comfortably for up to a couple of miles until she was 1, by which time she must have been about 25lb. To be honest, I stopped more because I couldn't see any more than because of the weight. And before you ask, I'm very short and not especially sturdy! I hated not being able to see what she was up to on my back.

You can put a child on your back with a kari-me, but only with someone else there to post them in and make sure they're wrapped up tightly. I always found she would gradually sag down...

[nappyaddict]

you can do a back carry using the kari me without help but you don't pretie it. you tie it around the baby using the bwcc wrap.

[FillyjonkisCALM]

ok, I think if you have only one child, knock yourself out and get whatever. It doesn't massively matter, tbh, they all have a decent resale value.

if you are on your second, and have less than about a 2.5 year age gap, this is what you probably need to consider IMO.

1. You will be bending down a lot, so need something that keeps the baby VERY secure. Thusly ruling out any side carry slings.

1. You will sometimes need to pick up the older child. Again, this tends to rule out side carry slings.

1. You need something that is very easy to put on and off. Thusly ruling out any great swathes of fabric IME.

1. If you probably ARE going to be wearing it for quite long periods (not a bad idea-toddlers need your attention IME, babies just need to be close, a sling gives both the best of both worlds), you need something with proper weight distribition and IMO/E this should mean straps or fabric or whatever across both shoulders.

I don't know why I feel so strongly about this, but I do. I have tried SO MANY slings, and while a lot of them are great if you just have one baby (not much in it between brands, IME), 2 small kids makes all the difference.

Like I say, I'd recommend a carrier style. Actually, I'd recommend planning to buy two-a baby bjorn or close baby carrier for the first few months, then an ergo. Buy secondhand and you should have change from £50 if you're careful.