To not buy a pram for baby?

[starsshineinthecountry]

I know it seems to be on the list of essentials but I have a lovely sling and a wrap and don't really see me pushing a pram much. I have hardly any space, like walking in areas where pushing a pram would be difficult and want to keep costs down.

Is it worth buying one or can I get away without using one?

I think what everyone is trying to get across is you need to be as open minded as possible, looking for buggies now when you don't have a baby is a good idea. If you need one then getting the right one is worth its weight in gold.

With my first I bought an awful buggy and sold it very quickly, I then bought a cheap one thinking that would be ok and that was also a waste of money.

I know many people who have used a buggy for all of their children, when they have managed to get it right.

On another note, my 8 month old weighed 24Ibs at 6months, he is also a baby octopus (there are many versions of octopus in babies!!) he will only tolerate the sling for short stints and frankly so can I!!!

Go look whilst you can, then you can easily order or send someone to collect if you need it.

Of course YANBU.

However you never know how you will feel after birth. I brought a sling with the intention of using it all the time but I was just too sore for the first 2-3 weeks (no cs, just many stitches after loosing loads of blood) so was eternally grateful for our pushchair.

We leant our pushchair which eventually turned into a long term loan, as our friends didn't want it back and let us keep it, do you know anyone you could borrow a pushchair from? They do take up space so if that's a concern could you leave it in you car?

If it's just the cost that's the issue you can get pushchairs second hand for £30!!

I wouldn't be put off by people saying dc get too heavy. My dd is 27months and still carried every day in her sling. You just need to find a comfy one :)

Opps meant handful!

I don't understand the pl who struggled to go to the loo with baby in a sling? :/

I struggled to do pretty well everything with a baby in a sling, they were always in the way. Pushchair every time for me.

Agreed. I was surprised and rather disappointed to discover that sling wearing wasn't for me...but I found it very awkward. And I tried a few.

I think YANBU, but I would research prams so that if you end up needing or wanting one you know which one you want.

I loved slings. Used them with twin dds and DC4. DC5 is now 18 months old and hated being slung. Even going to the sling library and borrowing endless different ones didn't help.

Also do you have anyone else who'll be around to help with baby? My MIL taking DC5 for a walk in the midst of colic/refluc/non sleeping was a sanity saver, but she couldn't have slung even if DC would have tolerated it. DH also never got on with slinging with any of them so he always used the pram.

I think a big difference in the sling/pushchair ease if whether or not you have a baby who really wants to be held. If you do, pushchairs are not all that useful.

I have five dc and couldn't have coped without a sling with child 4 & 5 especially. It really depends on so many variables.

YANBU. Dc4 is 14 months and has only been in a pushchair a handful of times. She didn't go in one at all until she was about 9 months old. I don't drive either but get the big shop delivered or dh does it in the car. It's actually easier on the bus with a sling as often you need to fold a pram, get the shopping out from underneath, juggling baby, shopping and pram.

I do have a pram from one of the other dc. It is an umbrella fold cheapy. I occasionally use it when we are carrying a packed lunch but usually carry baby in a sling anyway and use the pushchair as a trolley!

Yanbu. I bought a (thankfully cheapish) pram for DD and barely used it till she was about 9/10 months or so. By then an umbrella stroller would have been fine and much more compact too!

I must have been doing something totally wrong with the sling, used to use it for short trips, or on school run so I didn't have to mess about with buggy in and out of car, or sometimes around the house when putting washing out etc if baby unsettled but once baby past 3 months ish would absolutely kill my back! But to see so many people successfully using them up to aged 3 yrs I don't know what I was doing wrong ? Anyway as pp have suggested a umbrella fold stroller that lies flat is good as a standby and only £50 ish - or less.

It depends on how big your baby is. By the time ds1 could walk he was sooo heavy that I couldn't carry him in slings or back packs. He was just a very big kid and a late walker.

Ds2 was easier to carry in a sling, but I still found it invaluable when he was in the pram and fell a sleep, I then had all my hands and body free IYSWIM and he was happy asleep.

Well the consensus here is of course YANBU because there are plenty of people who managed fine with/without/with every possible combination of baby transport devices.

I could say 'neither of my children ever used a pushchair' and people will say, oh wait until they are big/heavy/there are two of them/three of them/you have to pack the kitchen sink etc

Or I could say 'I never used a baby carrier' and people will say.....well, mostly nothing, although some folks will say how much their baby hated a pushchair/car seat, it's good to be hands free etc.

Point is, in this day of next day delivery, when you can pick up a pushchair for under £20 if you so desire, it's really not a pressing problem. Buy one, don't buy one, buy one if you feel you want one....it's not a statement of baby rearing philosophy. Honest.

But do visit a sling library.

DS is above the 99th percentile and was therefore nearly 11kg at 5mo! My sling was fine but he was heavy and huge strapped to my front, I couldn't see my feet and as he was long he got in the way if I wanted to sit down. He sleeps in the buggy so we use a lie flat (Quinny Zapp Xtra 2) now.

Look into buggies and get one when/if you need one.

I would love to be able to manage without my pram and planned to do so as soon as I discovered pretty slings and wraps. I have two mei tais and have borrowed a gorgeous wrap from the local library but can't carry my baby as my stomach is so painful (I am 12 months on from a natural birth) across my belly button section when there is even slightest bit of pressure on it. I think you maybe need to be prepared that whilst it sounds like a fab idea you may still need something.

Bounced has reminded of a a good thought on coats for baby wearing - I actually picked up (& in fact still use even now sometimes for DS who's nearly 1) an XxL waterproof fold away cagool from mountain warehouse, £20 in the sale as my 'baby wearing coat'.... Really wind and waterproof for both me and DS and as it was so cheap it won't give me palpations when I eventually have to give it up.... heck will probably just keep it for those feeling Really fat days

Don't know about one that's suited for back carrying as most folk I know haven't back-carried till at least a year old at which point the wee ones are usually wearing their own coats/snow suits by then....

I hoped to use a sling a lot, but I couldn't do anything with DD in it and I didn't like having something heavy strapped to me, as much as I love her!

I had a bugaboo bee which was a brilliant buggy, small and easy to push with one hand, and DD loved it. Used it for 2 years, then Phil and Ted's double buggy when DD2 came along. Both buggies were so handy, obviously for shopping as well.

A friend tipped us off about this so we just bought a cheap second hand Uppababy from EBay thinking we'd get a posh new one after a month or so. We have hardly used the pram but it was handy in the first month or two for just rocking nipper back and to in the kitchen or garden when she wouldn't sleep. Otherwise we have a babybjorn which she loves being in (facing outwards) and which seems to go down well with the locals/when we pop to the shops as perhaps people can interact with her (and she's v happy/responsive) when she's strapped on rather than asleep under many layers cocooned in a pram.

We're up and down the motorway a lot and I have now got over my shame of having her strapped in the carrier and nipping to the disabled loo at the service stations (normal loos too cramped when she's attached). Christmas shopping with her attached left me hands free and offering to open doors for a couple of exasperated pram pushers.

Will deffo get buggy for when she's trying to walk (8months now) so we can have a resting place for her when we're out. As for pram, I'm v glad we didn't spend loads on one from the get-go as there are plenty of other things to spend £££ on at the outset!! Best of luck with your decision :)

Babies can go on your back in a sling from birth. I started carrying dc on my back from 4 months old so I could get things done around the house.
You can't be comfy with a babybjorn type carrier (known as a crotch dangler) for long as they are completely unsupportive for both parent and baby.

Teo little blooms, have you tried to wrap your dc on your back with a woven wrap? You can spread the fabric out across your chest so not touching belly

Shameful - your question lower down about why it's difficult to go to the loo while wearing a sling. It's because it's difficult to wriggle out of the all-in-one catsuit underneath whilst wearing your baby

I would not blithely recommend back carrying a newborn. Back carries are tricky to get right and Santa tossing such fragile cargo onto your back is not a simple maneuver.

We bought a relatively cheap travel system (Mothercare Roam for £249) and I'm looking to pick up a couple of slings over the next while too. Will use whatever suits us best in different situations and whatever baby prefers! DH has a 5 door Vauxhall Astra so boot room isn't a massive issue.