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?

Because my baby weighed 11lbs+ when born .Did try a sling briefly as he liked to be with me all the time, but he hated it with a passion, and found that just having to carry him or have him on knee was perfect excuse for no housework. He was really far too heavy.

I don't think there's any financial snobbery against slings - not when you can pick up a pram for well under £100. Ditto the space issue - prams and pushcahirs fold!

Like MoonUnit , slings/wraps and whatever seem two-a-penny where I live - and it was the same 10 years ago when I had ds.

In the unlikely event that I was to have dc2, I'd possibly seek out the advice of some letil weavers and try a sling/wrap - which I imagine would only get used for country walks and so on. When I was pregnant last (sadly ended in MC) I did see lots of pretty wraps/slings on t'internet that piqued my rampant consumerism desire for lovely handcrafted things

But I would absolutely have a pram too, without a shadow of a doubt.

I love the idea of carriers. Have had mixed results using them.

Baby Bjorn was fab until DD was about 10 kilos.

I also have a Baba sling but I could never figure out how to use it for a baby without DD getting all twisted in it. Would love to use it more for next baby. It was fine with big toddler (hip carrying) but by then she was very heavy so I never used it too much. Great for on planes - in fact saved me when I arrived back from NZ (just me & DD) to be told no buggy at gate at Heathrow - and we were at far flung gate with HUGE walk ahead - T3 - really crap.

But how do you manage to go out for the day with baby in sling and carry all the other necessaries - purse, phone, keys, bottle of water, nappies, change of clothes etc? Even the bare minimum is a lot to carry for a day & god forbid you'd want to do any shopping.

Buggy might be bit more of a faff on the steps, but you can go all day & it carries everything for you.

I like them.

My baby doesn't anymore! He prefers the pram/buggy.

having to carry him or have him on knee was perfect excuse for no housework

An excellent reason for avoiding sling use, imo.

I don't think I ever did the housework carrying the baby in a sling; I only use the sling for going out.

It was a godsend recently when we took part in a 'barefoot walk' through a woodland in Belgium - much of it was unsuitable for ds - stones, logs, mud, water until to my knees - and it was so convenient carrying him in a sling. It was a very enjoyable walk, the children loved it.

I carry & use a babysling. It suits me and it's noce for dd. Went round the supermarket today with a trolley. Shopping like this with a pushchair is a hassle.

nice!!

nickytwotimes: "I like them. My baby doesn't anymore! He prefers the pram/buggy."

Yes, I sometimes get the impression that the decision is actually made by the babies as much as mums...

A couple of other responses/explanations from a carrier-user perspective.

zombishambles: "I actually think the lack of a car means you need a buggy for storing stuff while out and about etc"

FindingMyMojo: But how do you manage to go out for the day with baby in sling and carry all the other necessaries - purse, phone, keys, bottle of water, nappies, change of clothes etc?

I don't drive either and still don't feel the need for a pram/buggy. However, I have the impression that I carry a lot less "stuff" than the average woman or average mother. Without DD my cards, keys and phone just fit in my pockets - no handbag or purse. With DD, her changing gear and spare clothes fit in a tiny daysack which is smaller than most people's handbags. We don't need anything else.

Others may have different needs (baby may need medications, bottles for FF, favourite toys for distraction, special foods etc..) and need to carry much more.

The amount of stuff you need to get you and baby through the day is obviously a major factor in making a carrier practical.

For me a buggy (or a car) would be total overkill and more of a burden than an aid.

We do have a front carrier and a hi-spec back carrier which is great for long walks. I also use the front carrier for things like going to ikea where the buggy can get in the way.

But for pootling around town, trips to local shops, school run etc i use the buggy because I can load stuff onto it, and so i can do things like try on clothes, or sit and have a nice coffee and read the paper while dd naps. I love our techno xt - light and easy to fold but she can lie flat and be properly comfortable. However fab babywearing is meant to be, sleeping upright is not as good for a baby as lying flat surely? Plus it does knacker your back if it's all day long.

MarineIguana: "sleeping upright is not as good for a baby as lying flat surely?"

I've never seen anything to indicate that one is better than the other to be honest. Babies look pretty comfy in both positions to me! DD has always slept very well in our carriers.

Carrying a baby doesn't have to be uncomfortable even if it's for most of the day. With our best carriers (Ergo, thicker woven wraps and Moby or Close carrier when DD was tiny) I've never had a sore back even after 10 mile country hikes.

Sleeping upright is great if you have a baby with reflex.

I read once about a society in which the mother slept sitting upright for the first year, so that the baby could (I forget where it was, though. I wonder if it was the Xan).

dd4 sleeps better slightly propped up, or upright in a carrier. she has a lot of pain with possible silent reflux. and is mucosy as well due to allergies and asthma, so upright suits her better.

When ds was a baby we lived on the second floor of a block of flats with no lift and we also had to cross over a train station to get to the local shops (so a large set of stairs up and down) so I used various carriers a lot. Dh used them loads too. DS was also very light so the uncomfortable thing wasn't too much of a problem.

Dh and I regularly carried ds for short (and sometimes longer day trips) until ds was nearly 3 years old, though after about 2 years old it was much much more occasional.
We used the sling a lot at home too, probably more than when we were out.

However I did find lugging shopping back along with ds very tiring and not at all relaxing.

Also there was NO WAY I was going to drink a coffee with ds strapped to me. I am way too clumsy (though eating cake would be fine) and as I am bit of a coffee addict this meant I couldn't stop for a break on the very rare occasions that ds fell asleep in a carrier.

This meant I used to regularly take both the hip carrier/sling and the buggy.

Un addition I am unfortunatetly one of those people who always seem to have too much with them. So I generally ended up with Ds, A big bag and all the shopping! so that was why I sometimes took a pushchair.

Even before children, I never understood how can you only have a phone and keys with you when you went out. What about money, tissues, reading glasses, umbrella, diary? Add to that nappies, change of clothes for ds, wipes, extra blanket if it got very cold, spare bottle and ready formula carton in the early months (never used as I breast fed but I likes the secuity of having as I hated bfeeding when out so couldn't bring myself to leave it at home).

With all that I'm surprised I didn't need a suitcase let alone a rucksack!

On the whole I like the carrier though as ds was generally happier in them (though not always) and people in shops etc definitley interacted with him more than when he was in a pushchair. Babies and toddlers in buggies get less human interaction because they are below the eyeline of most people.

My Dcs were so humungous that they were too heavy for a carrier after a few weeks.

OK I accept that I'm on the extreme end of the scale here having only slings and no buggy, but there are a load of myths flying around here!

With a healthy child and a healthy mother, there is very rarely such a thing as too heavy, and when it occurs the child is usually old enough to walk the majority of/all the time. It's natural progression, as the child gets bigger, they are carried less frequently and for shorter periods. Whenever they want to be on their feet they can be, and you shove the sling in your bag, and vice versa. My 4 year old is down to one or two carries per week. It does not knacker your back/hips/insides if you are otherwise healthy. I have found the exact opposite - that it strengthens. There should never be pain or strain - and if there is, and you want to use your sling/carry, you should seek help, leading to my next point:

Speaking as someone who runs three sling meets. Baby carrying is something of an art form, espcially wrapping which can be incredibly simple, or like baby origami Carrying a 4 week old is different to carrying a 4 month old to carrying a 4 year old. It evolves. Most slings and carriers will evolve with your needs but you may need help in getting the most from them, being safe with your carrying, learning new ways to use them. The average sling meet attendee is there for information - pregnant and looking to try before they buy, new to slings completely and looking to find something new, used to the sling they have but wanting something different, or wanting instruction on how to use the sling they have, either from scratch or in a different way, for example on the back.

I'll most often see someone to show them good supportive carries with a young baby, who will come back a few months to learn back carries with a bigger baby, who will come back a few months on to learn short up-down carries for their new walker.

There are a few people who come regularly (obviously this includes me) for whom the meet is not about slings any more but a chance to see friends and eat cake. As a group there is more knowledge (and more slings to try) to offer to those who come occasionally. It is not a cult, nor lentil weavery, and the people who come are from all walks of life, and of all appearances, with all parenting methods imaginable. Just like any other group.

I do not have a car, and with regards to the shopping, I've never had trouble bringing it home pushchair-free. With regards to the local shopping point, there is no way I could have taken a pushchair in and out of our tiny, maze like local shops in a big steep hill. In the butchers and the grocers most people leave buggies outside on the main road (often with babies in) while they nip in to get their things.

My home is so small that if I brought a sleeping baby home in a pushchair I would not be able to bring them in to the house! And nowhere to store even a folded pushchair.

Most people will use a combination of the two, which is great. But please don't dismiss slings and/or the sling meets out of hand - they are not a mad hippy invention/convention but something designed to help and be very useful

Normality, sorry but there is NO WAY I could have carried my DS in a sling at 4yo! I could barely lift him at that age, he had to do lots of walking!

Thanks NormalityBites. I was hoping that a real-life slingmeeter would come along and dispel some of the myths flying around yesterday.

We've had a really interesting variety of views and lifestyles on this thread so far. Keep them coming...

My only experience of baby carrier was with DD1. We bought a Baby Bjorn and used it occasionally for her first few months, but it was such a faff to get on and off and by six months old it was really uncomfortable to carry her any distance (she was only an average sized baby too).

We sold it on Ebay and I didn't even look at them for DD2.

I find going to the toilet when out and about with a baby in a sling easy - you just leave them where they are. With a pram it is stressful, you have to pee with the door open, and that is really difficult for me! Also DD was guaranteed to kick off everytime.

Re. carrying lots of stuff - I tend to use either a buggy or a framed carrier for that. But am tempted to buy one of those trollies

Because there's quite enough crap to carry around with a baby / young toddler without having to carry them AS WELL.

PixelHerder: not everyone needs to carry that much stuff. For those of us who travel light, carriers are a really practical option.

Normaility I'm going to be needing a sling meet in West London early May 2011 please!!! No idea they existed but I'd love some hands on pratical sling wearing advice once this baby comes.

Carriers encourage you to carry light! My ergo sling has a pocket and I use that for a spare nappy, packet of tissues, and money, keys etc fit in it too.

I usually have a rucksack as well, with a bottle of water. I wear a raincoat if it's raining so don't need an umbrella. DOn't need a blanket as the baby is always warm enough in the sling, and I have the baby under my coat at the front if it's raining so I can use my raincoat to shield the baby.