Outward facing sling for older babies/toddlers

[MollFlounders]

Hi DD is 10 months old and a whopping 12.5kgs and our Baby Bjorn Active days are numbered- she is very tall so sits too high in it now, as well as verging on the safe weight limit. I'd like to keep using a sling/pouch but I can't find one for heavier/bigger/older babies where you wear it on your front and the baby faces outwards (DD loves being carried that way). Can anyone recommend an outward facing front sling/pouch for the bigger baby/toddler? Many thanks.

[Tangle]

As you've, most slings that cater for larger toddlers don't tend to allow facing out positions - there's a couple of reason's that I know of for this. One is that when they're being carried a child's weight tends to go in the direction they're facing - so if they're facing in gravity pulls them into you whether facing out they'll be pulled away. That means that it will be harder work for you to carry them facing out than facing and, as they get bigger, the increase in work will increase (if that makes sense). The other is that slings for older toddlers are usually designed to support them under the thighs as well as under the crotch - in order to make this work the child's legs need to wrap around your body, and if they're facing out their hip joint just don't work the right way.

Have you tried carrying her on your back? I started carrying DD in a moderately high back carry around that age and she loved looking over my shoulder (and it gets much easier on your back to have her there rather than on your front as she gets bigger)

[Tangle]

Sorry - as you've found...

[FaintlyMacabre]

Agree with Tangle- -I would go for a back carry- maybe in a mei tai like a Babyhawk?
I can carry my 22 month old for hours in it, then again, he's yet to reach 12kg! I'm very impressed with you managing to carry 12.5kg of baby facing out in a Babybjorn.

[MollFlounders]

Thanks Tangle and FaintlyMacabre. I guess I should look at back carriers. I just haven't tried it and, despite the fact that my back is probably about to give up the ghost thanks to the Baby Bjorn efforts, I've just gotten so used to DD being on the front. Perhaps I just need to try a few on. The gravity and leg points Tangle mentions makes perfect sense though. Thanks very much.

[Tangle]

Do you have any idea of what type of carrier you'd be moest comfortable with? I still carry DD on my back from time to time and she's 2.5 and 30lb now - I use either a woven wrap or a Mei Tai. Of those two a MT is probably easier to get to grips with. Soft Structured Carriers are also quite popular as they're more buckles than knots, and some of those have a type of internal harness so you put the baby in the carrier and then put the whole caboodle on like a rucksack. Its finding what works for you, really.

Can you get to a slingmeet? It would give you a chance to try out different styles of carrier with experienced mothers to give you a hand.

(I'm also in awe of you still using a baby bjorn - I lasted 10 minutes with one when DD was a month old and weighed about 5 kg! Does your DD really disklike facing your front? I used to carry DD on my front up till about 18 months when she just got too tall - you might find that if you turn her around and had a better sling it got a lot more comfortable again)