Almost 9MO baby - too late to bother buying sling?

[chatnamefortonight]

DD2 is 8.5 months and i can't decide whether it's too late to bother buying a sling. She likes being carried a lot but my back is a bit buggered from having her on my hip the whole time. But, have tried baby bjorns with both when they were really little and whilst lovely they did also knacker my back.

I like the look of the hippychick seat but it's not hands-free is it? Are there any good slings that:
a) allow you to have baby on your hip
b) can also be used for front and back carrying
c) aren't very complicated - I haven't ever been able to get on with the wraps
d) don't play havoc with your back

Thanking you...

[lillylane]

The Beco Gemini Carrier lets you do all those. I don't have one myself but I have a Beco Butterfly2(front and back carry only) and I find it very comfortable. Some shops online let you hire one for a while to try it out I think.

[YunoYurbubson]

I adore my Patapum. My 4yo still fits comfortably in it (for holidays and unusual days out). Brilliant for a 9mo. It is a back carrier. A bit like an Ergo I think - never had an Ergo though.

[PrinceRogersNelson]

We bought an Ergo for our DS when he was about this age. It is great.

Best in front and back carry - can do hip carry, but it is not as easy.

We now have DD in it, but think we may be stopping soon as at 14kg's she is getting a bit heavy.

[NormalityBites]

It's definitely not too late. I used a sling when DD was 9 months - and 19 months and 29 months and 39 months and 49 months Not gotten to 59 months yet

Have you had a look at a mei tai? I seem to have been recommending them a lot today - I'd say have a look at a Himmel/Bamberoo/Dream Carrier at the top end or Babyhawk/FrontBackandSides/Kozy at the cheaper end.

[chatnamefortonight]

THanks so much y'all.

Crikey - there are so many to choose from. I had no idea.

Yuno which Patapum did you buy, is that the regular baby one? (because I saw on the site that they also have a toddler on)

[chatnamefortonight]

Like the look of the Beco Gemini but it's really quite pricey and couldn't see any examples of it being used on the hip, don't want to risk shelling out £80 and then finding it's not as versatile as I thought

[thisisyesterday]

i got my first sling when ds1 was over a year! and it got used a LOT

was a cwtshi mei tai

i am not keen on hip carrying because it puts too much strain on one side, so prefer one you can have on front or back

[thell]

I had a Beco - it was brilliant for front and back carries, right up until she was about 2 and a half. And really easy to use - no tying, just clips.

I used a cotton ring sling to help with hip carries - they end up more round the front anyway. But this is best for shorter carries - e.g. popping to the corner shop - otherwise your back will start to ache on one side. For longer carries the child needs to be centred, on your front or your back.

[thell]

Ring slings can be pretty cheap, and good for popping in your bag. Really handy when your little one is walking but gets tired and needs a lift occasionally.

I bought my Beco second hand for about £50, which is about standard for a good carrier.
I either got it from thebabywearer.com on the for sale or trade forum, or from the UKbabywearingswap group on yahoo.

[Montifer]

We got Ergo at that age for DS and loved it, still use it occasionally if going for a long walk and he's 2.6 now.

I never mastered the hip carry but DP used it quite a bit, I tried the Hippy Chick hip wedge thing and thought it was a bit rubbish, didn't seem to free your hands up at all.

Had a Moby wrap and Bushbaby front carrier when he was little but the Ergo is my favourite by far, easy to use and really comfy to carry.

[Gmakes3]

Swear buy freedom slings, used from a few weeks to 18 months and still going. I have weak hips and did have a hippychick with dd but it used to give me hip pain/discomfort. With DS went for the freedom sling, took a few goes to get used to it but love it now. Not as expensive as some either.

[NormalityBites]

Personally I don't like the freedom sling, the rings are quite small which can lead to fabric getting snarled, the fabric itself is quite a thin cotton, and doesn't have enough width IMO.

If I were to go for a ringsling I'd definitely say go for a wrap-fabric ring sling made by wrap manufacturers. So Didysling, BB Sling, Storchenwiege ring sling.

Ring slings look deceptively simple and are often difficult to master in my experience. The freedom sling is one of the slings I see problems with on a regular basis (I run three sling meets, a sling library and have been teaching people to use slings for over three years) There are also different shoulder styles which suit different people. Didysling has a hotdog shoulder as does BB sling, Storch a gathered shoulder. Of the two I prefer gathered but if you can find a SBP shoulder, (licensed by Jan Andrea of Sleeping Baby Productions) then that suits most of the people most of the time.

[chatnamefortonight]

Sorry had to go out. Really appreciate all this feedback - very helpful indeed. Sounds as if I might be looking for 2 different products (££££!). But if it saves my back a bit it'll be worth it.

[Montifer]

If you try Slingmeet or one of the other online sling forums (depends whereabouts in the country you are) you should be able to arrange to hire a few different models to see what you like before forking out.

[craftynclothy]

Yes, going to a slingmeet would be a good idea. The Natural Mamas forum has a good buy/sell section.

I'd recommend a Mei Tai for front/back carries and a ring sling for hip carries, like others have suggested. Depending on your budget I'd agree with NormalityBites' recommendations. I love my dream carrier (iirc I got it 2nd hand from the forum above for about £70). You can always sell your sling on if you don't get on with it or when you've finished with it and recoup most of the cost.

[makingafamily]

Another Ergo fan here. Recently got one for dd who is 9 months, haven't really mastered the hip carry yet but it's brilliant for front or back. Just have to master getting dd on my back when on my own

[chatnamefortonight]

Slingmeet sounds like a v good idea. Not sure if there are any round here but I'll do a search.

makingafamily and anyone else who's recommended the ergo - have you had a any backache with it? If you already have a strong back that might not be an issue but the only sling I've tried is either a wraparound (which I found really complicated) or a babybjorn and both were uncomfortable quite quickly. I suppose I'm wondering if that's just the nature of slings or if I've just been trying the wrong ones

[makingafamily]

We had a material sling when dd was younger but only used it a handful of times. I can't carry dd on my front for long distances in the ergo but on my back is brilliant and my fitness and strength is crap!! Spent over an hour in the week walking round Costco with dd on my back and almost forgot she was there :)

[Montifer]

I found a brilliant technique for getting DS into Ergo when on my own, watch out for light fittings though!

Haven't experienced any backache at all using Ergo (unlike other slings I've tried), hence why it's my favourite.

Sorry for hijack but have any Ergo users had the infant insert? Am expecting DC2 and would like to use it from birth this time.

[chatnamefortonight]

Thanks for all the advice folks. Went with the ergo in the end, should be arriving any day now. Thanks for the link Montifer - think it might be a while before I try out that particular manoeuvre though!