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Baby Carriers / Slings

171 replies

Flashman · 29/05/2008 20:21

Hi - Just wondering where other chaps stand on the issue of the babycarriers (slings and things like that) We are due our first in 55 days (not that I am counting!!), and I was chatting to some mates on the subject of slings and carriers and the general view is that men that do wear them look "Pussy whipped" is how it was explained. For my sins I tend to see that point of view more so than any others. I mentioned it today at work and most of the females tend to think grow up - but the men tended to agree, but none of them have children either.

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Original poster
Flashman · 29/05/2008 22:31

my word in my experience most males will tell their other half EXACTLY what they want to hear for the quiet life.

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Original poster
Flashman · 29/05/2008 22:32

and Pan - it is nice to meet you

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CoolYourJets · 29/05/2008 22:32

I suspect that the sling is the least of your worries.

Before baby - focusing on all things child related technical and practical.

After baby - focus on a) baby and b) sleep.

Original poster
Flashman · 29/05/2008 22:35

After baby is born - I am just planning on waiting a couple of years to get involved till it is interesting!!!

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solo · 29/05/2008 22:36

Hello CYJ! you following me?!LOL!

CoolYourJets · 29/05/2008 22:36

Betcha don't.

PhDlifeNeedsaNewLife · 29/05/2008 22:36

oh I get it, you are a troll! duh! shan't waste any more time here then

CoolYourJets · 29/05/2008 22:37
Original poster
Flashman · 29/05/2008 22:49

It is not a troll - if I was trolling I would have done a much better job. I was serious apart from the last comment and that was said totally tongue in check!!

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MrsTittleMouse · 29/05/2008 22:54

Trust me, you will have women hanging all over you if you take a baby out on your own, especially in a sling. My DH used to volunteer to take DD out to Sainsburys on their own for the chatting up and ego boost.

Pan · 29/05/2008 22:55

hi Flashman.

Been induging in a bit of alter ego just then. Might swagger round in a bit with a workman's tool belt on.........

serious - dd is now 8, and I had a visceral reaction to blokes with slings. Lived in a very trendy part of Manchester at the time and I was surrounded by them. Dd's mother understood, disliked them on blokes as intensely as I did. It's a matter of taste, n'est-ce pas?

solo · 29/05/2008 22:57

LOL@CYJ Hooks and eyes, hooks and eyes!

Original poster
Flashman · 29/05/2008 23:02

i just wonder when slings really took off - I don't really recall seeing many of them when I was a kid or even up till I was 25 ish - only the last ten years - and I really wonder what prompted the increase. I think it is Dave Beckhams fault!

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solo · 29/05/2008 23:26

They are just practical, small and easily managed. They leave both hands free to write, carry shopping use the loo...the list is endless. My sling is a Wilkinet and is a dusky pink colour. It was given to me second hand so not a colour of choice. If ever Dp and I were out shopping, he'd always ask, sling or pram? I'd ask him if he wanted to carry her in the sling and he always did, this a man who is old enough to be your father and most definitely not happy to be a daddy again! I have some great pictures of him carrying her in the sling through Bluewater, where everyone ooh'd and ahhh'd regardless of their sex.

PInkyminkyohnooo · 29/05/2008 23:27

My DH first used the sling without any of my knowledge- he did it purely off his own bat.

Original poster
Flashman · 29/05/2008 23:31

I def think the answer is that my friends and I are all just little boys and need to grow up

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Pan · 29/05/2008 23:34

These evil witches have worn you down, haven't they? Invasion of the Bodysnatchers case..

Well it was nice knowing you Flashman, all too briefly.
Welcolme Flashwoman.

solo · 29/05/2008 23:45

I've been trying to find the CD with the pictures of Dp with Dd in the sling, but I can't at the mo...

mymblemummy · 30/05/2008 00:44

Well, my husband doesn't think his masculinity is any way impaired by carrying a cute baby in a carrier.

Nor does he give a flying f--- about what some knuckle-dragging moron might think.

He likes being able to walk at a decent pace, instead of tittupping along behind a pushchair.

And he likes having a smiling, cheerful, cuddly baby, instead of one wailing in a pram.

He has just woken up enough to say he would like to see you use the description "pussy whipped" to the Mr T lookalike he saw using a sling today.

Original poster
Flashman · 30/05/2008 07:29

Hmm do any males actually post here or are all comments relayed by their better half's I wonder. And the point is not if anyone would actually say to your face but rather what they think - for example I might see someone who is very fat, I might think "my word they look fat", I would not go up to them and say "Do you realise you look fat!!"

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beansprout · 30/05/2008 07:54

Flashman - you seem to have an odd view of relationships if you think that men only ever say what they think their wives want to hear. Dh uses a sling because, er, he wants to. Sorry if that doesn't fit in with the view of you and your mates but it's dh's view whether I have asked him or not!

Original poster
Flashman · 30/05/2008 08:12

Beansprout - you are right- the group of males that I know are all defective and apart from this group, all males only ever say what they mean, there is no just giving an answer because that is what is wanted to be heard.

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beansprout · 30/05/2008 08:24

I think you are telling us a lot about how you view fatherhood....

pofaced · 30/05/2008 08:35

Your bully's nickname does not surprise me: "pussy whipped"? FFS grow up: you're about to become a parent and carrying the baby is part of the job description...

My 6'4" DH carried dd1 all the time so he had 2 free hands to carry the shopping/ break his fall hill walking etc..

Anyone else find it odd that carrying a baby is seen as "threatening masculinity"?

beansprout · 30/05/2008 08:44

Gene Hunt?