Curious - why don't more people use baby carriers?

[togarama]

I'm increasingly curious about this and just wondered if others on MN could shed some light on their choice of buggy Vs carrier (or both).

I don't know many other parents IRL and those I do come into contact with are often so obviously negative about baby carriers that I don't think I would gain anything other than a sore ear from asking them....

We've always used slings, wraps and other carriers with 20 month old DD because they're comfortable (for us and baby), convenient (especially since they leave your hands free) and fit our lifestyle. We walk a lot, like to be spontaneous and don't want to have to think about buggy access / stair problems every time we leave the house. I also travel a lot by train and tube and can't even begin to imagine the hassle of trying to cart a pram or buggy around the public transport system.

However, I'm always very conscious when with other parents (e.g. dropping DD at nursery and being stared at...) that we're very much in a minority and I don't really understand why. Carriers just seem to have so many advantages and appear much more logical for commuting and city living. But buggies are somehow still the choice of the majority.

Why is this?

given sling as gift hated it.wee garrotted baby legs akimbo.too much faff to carry babystuff,sling and shopping

pram all the way for me

my back and hips are agony walkig back up the hill with the buggy. but can carry dd4 ok for a good hour with no issue.

Togarama, I've never bought a pram and my daughter is now 2. I've used stretchy wraps, then gauzes (we lived in Singapore) then a German woven, and an ergo for my husband when he became a stay-at-home-dad (albeit one who works 2 nights) because he never liked wraps.

I now tend to use a special toddler SSC called a Boba, but she walks most of the time, this is just for naps and when I need to rush somewhere. I tend to back carry her for that.

I wince when I see babies facing out in Baby Bjorns, but I've become a baby carrier snob!

Sometimes it has been a drag and I've looked longingly at someone's sleeping baby in a pram while the mothers natter away and eat.

But I've always managed to go to the loo while wearing her. I've managed to have coffee, and if she's asleep and we're back at home, I just sit down with her in it and watch tv or surf. Me and my husband have spent many a dim sum meal with her strapped to us! Thank god for long chopsticks.

I have occasionally thought about a pram (I asked on here a while back) but to be honest she never went in the one I tried her in. Screamed blue murder and said she 'hate being so low down'.

Partly it was having her abroad (where I lived was shophouses and lots of narrow corridors and steps up and down), partly I was advised to keep her hips apart (she had a clicky hip) and partly our days are spent from 10am-4pm in central london at various places so much more convenient. Also, erm, our car was a porsche 911 and it helped not having to schlep a pram if we ever drove. It was also great for breastfeeding. She was a prem and small and I sometimes had her latched on 18 hours out of 24 in the early days so it was a lifesaver. Even managed walking down the street.

One benefit. I am fucking strong. I carry her up a flight of 30 steps to the train most days, it's like a stairmaster.

One thing I didn't/don't like. I might be a bit hippy with parenting but I don't dress like one and I find there are certain shoes and coats (Burberry trench ripped a button off back carrying her) that aren't suitable. I also like wearing heels, so wear those when out with DH and he can strap her.

I planned to use a carrier, but then had bad SPD and was using a wheelchair for last couple months of pregnancy and had to learn walking again afterwards. So got a pushchair and used it as walking frame and got used to that.

Being able to put shopping in it was great, but also putting baby in was literally plonk and go out the door as I'd have nappies etc in it at all times. I tried the Baby Bjorn we had when ds was about 5 months but just couldn't figure out how to get it together and never used it. I'm too cack-handed to want to try one where you have to adjust bits of cloth yourself.

If I produce another baby I'll try a carrier if it's spring, but it was coming to winter with ds and I wanted my warm coat around me and then ease of taking off layers inside, which you can't do with a carrier on.

Also ds just loved the pushchair muff - refused to sleep anywhere else for first few weeks so I slept in the lounge with him in the pushchair!

Togarama, I would recommend the Boba if you're still looking for a longer backed SSC. I do sometimes use the wrap but I find this easier as it's slightly quicker to get her on. Also less fabric involved as I'm out all day in all sorts of weather. I've been caught out wrapped up on a hot day.

That said, the Calin Bleu gauze is wonderful for hot weather. I used that every day for 5 months in Singapore. No overheating (you can take them out and change them) at all. But not really that great for the heavy toddler.

Because I wouldn't want a baby strapped to me when I went to the loo.

And I walk lots so wouldn't have wanted to carry an umbrella with one hand and have only one hand free for shopping.

I prefered the monster 3 wheeler buggy with loads of space underneath. I used a sling sometimes, but just for short outings.

I've got a weak bladder and managed going to the loo countless times out and about, no problem. Ditto coffee (lean to one side)

I lived in SE Asia where it bucketed it down. I'd basically dodge in a shop and wait for it to stop. Here in Britain I used fleeces on her running between places (ie I live in central london so there's always somewhere to run to) as light drizzle just rolls off. Basically they ain't going to die from a bit of drizzle.

Longchamps pliage is an excellent slingwearing bag as the handles don't slip off, it can take a whole chicken and a bag of veg plus the rest, if you need it

I loved the sling but have been banned from using it by the physio due to back problems.

Plus there's the question of where to put shopping as other people have said. I found it difficult to carry a 99th centile baby plus nappy bag etc etc.

sorry, that sounded like I was being smug (I could carry twins and a newborn and three Christmas turkeys with all the trimmings while wearing skates on the North Pole)

I didn't mean it to

I've just heard a lot of objections - ranging from suffocation, giving her a bad back, coffee drinking, rain, weeing, getting too attached, looking ridiculous (I admit I sometimes do, she's really tall now), why are you doing this after a section, etc

Just saying it has been mostly a doddle in my experience, but then I know nothing otherwise.

Sadly I know people might look at me and assume all sorts of godawful smuggery and 'wearing your extreme love for your pfb on your sleeviness'. But I've only had funny pointing (it's big in SE Asia, but generally it's Malaysian maids doing it) or nice comments asking where I've bought them. Had one today from an African woman who was embarrassed to do the traditional blanket back carry so wanted to know where my new fangled posh looking thing came from.

otchayaniye I have IBS, so the poo child would be in loo all the time .

poor child.

That typo said it all really.

hahahahahah . I've done one of those!

Yes, my husband has it. It's rough. Luckily we're talking about a quick tinkle here and there.

I'm certainly getting a better understanding of why other people may want a buggy or pram. (But still reckon it would be a burden to me personally.)

Another observation from reading everyone's
posts is that the Baby Bjorn has a lot to answer for in terms of giving people a bad impression of the ease and comfort of good baby carriers.

otchayaniye: yes, it's funny how a flight of 30 stairs with a toddler seems like nothing now. Carrying a bag of the same weight up those stairs before my DD was born would have seemed arduous.

Several people have cited speed of getting out of the house as one the pros of buggies. However, I think that if you're prepared with either, it's just as quick to get out of the house with a carrier or a buggy.

I can wrap DD in less than 30 seconds, put on my coat and then just pick up the prepacked mini daysack from next to the front door where we keep it.

I couldn't use one because pg had totally buggered my back. I would have loved to have been able to, especially as dd was only 19 months when I had ds.

I didn't use one because I am VERY clumsy and also have epilepsy, so was terrified that I'd fall over. Actually I'd have been fine - didn't have any seizures at all (and only have sleep epilepsy anyway) but there was no way of knowing that in advance. Given that pregnancy and childbirth and new parent lack of sleep do very strange things to your body, it was too big a risk.

Loved ds's Maclaren buggy - I don't drive so we walked everywhere, usually with half a ton of stuff stuffed under the seat/on the handles. I only forgot and let it tip over once.

DD had a tracheostomy so putting her in a carrier was out of the question:
a) She needed to have her neck clear at all times.
b)I needed to carry a suction machine and various other medical equipment at all times.
c) I needed to be able to have immediate access to her to suction her airway clear.

I realise that this is one of the more extreme reasons to not use a carrier, but for us it just wasn't practical.

Like many here, I loved carrying my first baby, DD, round in a sling, until she was over a year.

Gave it up when next baby, DS, was just a few months old since he weighed more at three months than DD did at nearly a year - not good for my bad back. Ouch. And I have a prolapse from birthing his over-the-scale huge head. Double ouch.

This is another one of those things wot I have learned from Mumsnet (some people believe you're either a 'babywearer' or one of the 'buggy brigade'). Surely most of us are a mixture of both?

I would just add that good wraps and SSCs and mei tais, put on properly really do distribute the weight and feel comfortable and shouldn't hurt your back at all.

So it's worth seeking out a place/shop/mums group where you can try a range on. Also if you buy a decent one you can resell for almost as much. I've seen ergos and patapums go for more than retail on ebay.

I still wouldn't go to a slingmeet though, sounds a bit scary!

no problem with slings just some make it a political statement and are bit earnest about it.i knwe someone called herself a baby wearer and clothbummed baby

I use both!

I usually wear a Moby all day (great for popping DS2 in and out of) and have a pram with a buggy board for DS1.

I've found that DS2 prefers different things at different times and having the pram as well allows me to put him down if I'm having coffee etc. If he's in the sling the pram carries the coats & bags.

If I'm just popping out to the local shops or going on a short shopping trip where I know DS1 will be ok to walk, I usually use the sling.

Are Ergos really £100 these days?

They were £60 at the most in 2007 when I bought mine. That seems a crazy price increase, even given the weak £.

otchayaniye: "I would recommend the Boba if you're still looking for a longer backed SSC."

I bought an Ergo in the end. (Was I searching on here too?) I love the Calin Bleu gauzes for summer too but more last summer when DD was tiny. Have used Ellaroos more this year.

I don't think you sounded smug. Your experience is as valid as anyone else's and lots of people have talked about their positive experience with buggies / prams too. For what it's worth my own experience has been very similar.

I think that a lot of the carrier/buggy choice is about personality too. I would never have considered it a problem that I have to take DD to the loo with me in a sling. This seems more a positive point. Nor has it ever occurred to me that it might be a major problem if it rains a bit. (We always have a hat and DD won't melt.) But I can understand that other people may be less comfortable with these ideas.

I carry dd2 in the sling every day. I primarily got it for the school run so I had 2 hands free for my 2 other children when we were crossing the road. Also, if she is in the sling we can walk all the way if necessary(shortcut through fields)
dd2 does go in the pram perhaps 2 or 3 times per week - usually when dh around.
She prefers the sling.

I have been to sling meet - I liked it. There were newbies like me and other wanting to try new ways of carrying and new wraps. They have a sling library which is fab - I tried out a few before settling on my current one. I suspect I may get a second hand ring sling next though and will go to the sling meet to see if anyone selling one and to try one out.

I always if I went to a slingmeet they might look at my makeup and dresses and lack of a Berghaus fleece and hiking boots and judge me

what the fresh hell is a sling meet,is only a product do you need to meet another owner

do you attend nokia meets