Can you do without a buggy?

[JuliaJulia]

Sorry, I'm posting this again as I got the subject wrong last time...

Hi

I'm pregnant with my first, so I still have a utopian outlook on everything! I read an article recently about a family who went without a buggy/pram combo and just used a baby sling until the little one was able to walk around themselves. I've got to say the idea appeals as we have a tiny house with very little storage. So has anybody done this? And what are people's thoughts on how practical it is? Things that concern me are:

1. How much other stuff will we end up carrying that would normally go in the bottom of the buggy? And how much stuff do you really need/use versus what people will carry around with them because it's easy to stick it in the pram?

1. How do you cope with bad weather?

1. Is it OK for a newborn to be carried around extensively in a baby sling rather than a lie-flat pram?

Other important bits of information are that my husband will be the primary carer after I go back to work after 6 weeks (so perhaps weight/sore backs aren't so much of an issue). I plan to breastfeed, but not exclusively so we will need to carry some feeding equipment. We don't have a car but plan to get one before the birth so will need an iso-fix car seat anyway. We live in central London, so public transport will be a big part of our travel needs.

Julia.

Start by carrying a sack of potatoes around with you everywhere you go. The spuds weigh 3 kg to start with, and up to 6kg within a few months. Up to 14kg if you plan to never own a buggy at all. You can put the sack down for 25 short spells in the day time : randomised between 10 and 60 minutes at a time -- but very rarely for more than 5 minutes when you're outdoors away from home. When you leave the house you also need to carry a large rucksack with between 2 and 4kg of stuff in it, too, which represents: Drink for you and/or formula for baby, 2-4nappies, nappy disposal bags, wipes or cotton wool, changing mat (though you can do without a changing mat), spare baby outfit (including hat and socs), and cloths for burped up milk. And anything else you like to carry, like handbag, purse, phone, keys, etc.

If that feels fine, I'm sure you'll manage .

Seriously, I had terrible backache for months after because of the labour (and I had a supposedly fast labour with no complications, too).

A baby sling is OK when baby is tiny, but after a couple of months it gets problematic.
You are also going to need, bottles, nappies nand loads more stuff, of which has for me become very distant.
Even when your kids are old enough to walk they still a pushchair due to tired tiny legs.
mind you having said that, DDs Dad grew up in morocco and was in baby sling until the next one came along and then He had to walk, His Mum had five kids and none of them used a pushchair.

I use a baby bjorn babysling & I find it suits me well. I get about without a pushchair. I do have a pushchair for 2yr old but find that it's used for wheeling along coats & bags. I've used a pushchair as first choice - the baby sling is what I always take with me.

When I first had a pushchair it really struck me how difficult it is for wheelchair users - kerbs, pavements, public transport, shops....

Sling are great (if u get a decent one) but they do have their limitations in my opinion.
I like to have a buggy so I can chuck my shopping in fir once!I wouldn't want to have to carry round all the crap stuff you need for babies on my shoulder too.(nappies,wipes,dummy,spare clothes etc).
But like everything it's personal opinion.As you haven't got room and you're in central London then you could use a sling at first then get a buggy if you think you need one.most lightweight buggy's are from 3 months.

Meant - I've not used the pushchair as 1st choice

I use a rucksack for everything for dd

I never got a pram, just using a sling until 3-4 months, then got a fold-up stroller. I mostly sling still, or DS walks, but we do use the stroller sometimes, and it's useful for other people looking after DS too. I do know people who have been entirely buggy-free though, it is possible!
TO answer your questions -

1. you minimise what you cart around, and get a sling-friendly bag, either a tie-on like an onbag, or go for a wheeled trolley if you are doing food shopping etc, maybe if you don't have a car (we didn't).
2. umbrella
3. absolutely

www.slingguide.co.uk was put together by mums who use slings themselves, it has a ton of useful advice for you and your DP.

I didn't use a buggy.

I carried ds in a sling for the first eight months, facing me to start with then forward-facing. then I switched to one of those framed back carriers. When ds was little I carried a rucksack for other things and the back carrier had a bag underneath to put shopping etc into.

Once he was old enough to walk he was allowed to walk short distances ie to the end of the road etc and then went in the carrier. By the time he was two he was out of the carrier altogether.

Ime the baby's weight gain isn't such an issue if you're carrying them daily because your body adjusts to the weight as opposed to parents who carry baby one day then not for a week etc.

If you get back pain, which is quite likely because of the action of pregnancy hormones on your ligaments, you will find it very had to use a sling all the time. Also buggies are useful for naps.

I would be as idealistic as you like during pregnancy but be ready to end up doing everything totally different when the baby arrives!

i still carry my 20month old dd. i do use a biggy at times as i have 3 other dd's who like something to chuck all their bags on

when out and about with just dd4, i carry her stuff in an onbag which means i can adjust how the carry the bag as well as dd4. i have done ful ldays in london with dd4 and the bag.

There are loads of options for slings, from buckle carriers/soft structured carriers, mei tais and my favourite wraps.

some of dd4 time in slings

also this website is good for advice natural mamas

I'm sure it is perfectly possible but to my mind it comes under the heading of 'why make life easy for yourself when you can make it so much harder'!!

Buggies make life easier, dont get me wrong, i loved using a sling with mine but not all of the time.

Ragged's post says it all really, they weigh a tonne after the first few weeks!

What ragged said, but don't forget to also add some groceries to your load.

Julia your OP made me laugh, it is exactly what we intended!

I managed to take DD out in a baby carrier on my front once. She fell into a really deep sleep and felt very hot and went grey in the face (as tiny babies do) and I had to sit on a bench and wake her up, I was so worried. (She was fine...I have huge boobs so that may have been the problem) We had to schlep the car seat into Mothercare (it was a nightmare to carry) and get a buggy. The carrier just didn't work for me.

We got the next-to-cheapest Mothercare pram for newborns and it lasted about 2 years, then we got a Mclaren which took us up to the time DD wouldn't stay in it any more. I got lots of cheapest things (cheapest steriliser too) for money reasons but found, when seeing what richer friends had, the cheaper things are often lighter and easier to manage than the top-of-the-range versions.

It was a pain having to always find lifts in shops, and tubes/stations were a pain, but I found people are surprisingly willing to help you with a buggy, and once you know where the lifts are you find your way around this new planet baby

My DP was also a primary carer and certain things we couldn't have (eg a pink parasol on the pram) because he flatly refused to "look stupid". Sounds trivial but if he's the primary carer it's primarily (geddit?!) about what works best for him.

Very best of luck!!

life is easier with a sling than a buggy.

you can get on buses and trains easily.

you dont have to wait for the lift to go upstairs anywhe4re

you have both hands free for other things (in my case my many many children)

your child gets a good view as well, instead of seeing peoples legs all the time.

Life is much easier with a sling. We used a Hug a Bub sling which fitted both myself and my husband. Whenever I visit London I prefer not to take the buggy, particularly if you use the Tube. If a station doesn't have a lift someone kind has always helped with the stairs or escalator, but it's a nightmare when it's busy.
Why not start with a sling and see how you get on, it will always come in handy even if you end up getting a buggy later?

Life is much easier with a sling for reasons stated above, I did have a buggy for DD1 as I didn't start carrying her proper;y until she was a few months old but we regularly went out without a buggy until I was about 8 months pregnant. I used a messenger bag or a homemade onbag as well.
I had DD2 when she was 19 months and would not have coped without a buggy then, we only had a cheapo argos one and it is still going (at my mums) and I have a cheap mothercare one at home for the school run (I live on the side of a veyr steep hill)

I think you can get by with a sling and a ruck sack but it'll be really heavy. The only crap thing about buggies is you shouldn't loop you shopping overcthe handles and there is never quite enough room underneath for baby bag, handbag and shopping. Looping over handles will unbalance the front wheels and buckle the frame so it doesn't steer as easily, oh and might unbalance it so it falls backwards when baby/ toddler is removed but you can fix that by removing shopping first. Once buggy frame is twisted it is bust and I had to buy a new one!
I fold my buggy for buses and tube, it's a pain to get o and off but people are much more prepared to help me than when it is down with a sleeping toddler in. I don't think I could manage now DS is a toddler though, I can't imagine carrying him asleep with the ruck sack and shoping and trying not to wake him during his nap.

I love slings but I like somewhere to put the baby down if I'm out and about. If you go out for a coffee etc. then it's very difficult with the baby only in a sling. (Mind you it can be a pain with a pushchair. If I'm just walking somewhere I would often sling but if I was going somewhere I was going to stop I'd take the pushchair

I had a sling but found the pushchair really useful if we were going out for long periods of time or to the shops.

The shopping has always been stuffed under the pushchair, I certainly wouldn't like to carry the baby and the shopping all the way home.

People do manage without them but I wouldn't have.

As for the storage thing, we've always kept ours in the boot of the car anyway. The pushchair that is, not the baby

Do you know what age children can "walk around" it may be alot later than you think. My DS is 15 months and can't walk unaided yet and weighs a tonne at 24lbs+, wouldn't want him in a sling for more than 5 mins but I am tiny. Maybe if you never have a buggy they will walk further earlier but you not necessarily at the pace you need them to go at. My DD at 3.5 years old will rarely go in the buggy but will for very long walks, ill or if I am very late.

Get a fold up buggy that lies flat from birth + borrow a sling or get a second hand one.

Babies in a sling can often sleep alot during the day in it and not alot at night - will your DH be doing the nights too?

There's absolutely no way of knowing whether you'll be able to get by without ever using a buggy.
We used one for about 6m from dd being about 18m-2, she was still having 2 hour long naps and was too big for me to carry for that whole time if we were out. once she stopped napping we stopped using the buggy.

One thing which I would be pretty sure on (barring some back injury) is that you could easily do without a buggy until your baby is about 6 months, which means you can just get a stroller type thing, not one of those huge pram things - save a lot of money and space.

I'd just wait and see, no need to buy everything now - you can road test buggys once your baby is here and see what suits both of you!

Thanks for all the advice. There definitely seems to be 2 camps with this subject. It's good to know that there are people out there who have managed it.

Some of the links had great information (thanks loopymumsy, misdee and puddock) and I feel pretty positive about giving it a go now. After all it is a reversible decision, if life without a buggy proves to be the wrong decision for us, we can buy one pretty quickly. I'm hoping we can get to at least 6 months, and then maybe get a lightweight stroller if we think we need one (I just hope they make ones that are adjustable enough for 6'1" DH)

Good tip about the onbags too, I'm definitely going to get one of those.

Does anyone have any recommendations about carriers that are good from newborn and suitable for both sexes?

As most people have said, of course it's perfectly possible. Just be aware that your own baby may no like slings. I bought some slings for my DD and when she was born she hated them all - she hated being "hemmed in" (never even liked cuddles much at that age) and much preferred the freedom of space in the buggy. Funny child!

Incidentally, we bought a Bugaboo Bee and it's been perfect (for us) in Central London. Plus people have ALWAYS helped me up and down Tube steps. We still use it with DD at 2.