slings and rockers

[tholeon]

Hello

am due second baby in Jan and will also have a high maintenance toddler to look after. Am wondering about investing in a sling and/or a rocker in the hope of having hands free time without a screaming baby.. I seem to remember a lot of lying around feeding and cuddling DS and not doing much else and obv this won't be possible with him to look after as well. Am a bit panicked about the thought of it all tbh as am not much good on no sleep and he is on the go from about 5.30 a.m. to 7 p.m. most days and is used to a lot of one to one attention... Would be very grateful for any thoughts and product recommendations. Happy to pay for things that work! Am not at all co-ordinated btw so would need a sling to be of the easy to use variety..

My manduca baby carrier is simple and good.

A Kari-me might be better if a moby style one is off putting. It has rings to adjust so you don't have as much material.
As for a swing, get yourself on gumtree. I got mine off there for £30 it was in great condition and an absolute god send, especially for those grizzly nights hey have in te first couple of weeks. ( if your in or near Glasgow mines back on gumtree as ds has grown out of it)

I loved our Close baby carrier, but DS did outgrow it at about 3 months - until then he pretty much lived in it as I was running around after a toddler too. He just ate and slept, it was great.

i didn't use slings as much as i planned to and baby just ended up on one arm while i ran round after my toddlers. i had a cheap and easy pouch sling which goes over one shoulder and baby lies in it which was fine for newborn but you couldn't lean over much so a wrap like a moby was more secure but you would have to have it on pretty much all day - sods law when you need it you don't have time to put screaming baby down, wrap it up then put baby in while stopping toddler from creating mayhem!

i didn't have much luck with rockers either but was always tempted with a mamas and papas swing. i had a bigger one and it only settled baby on a handful of occassions. ds1 would spend hours in a hammock like this.

Tying a stretchy sling like a Moby really isn't that difficult, and like ladyintheradiator said, you can put it on and then leave it on all day popping baby in and out. My baby loved hers and would sleep in it for hours. I still use a sling now she's 9 months old - although I've moved on to a woven wrap.

The Kari-me isn't the one with rings, I think you might be thinking of a Close sling clarabella, which have just been renamed Cariboo or something like that. Kari-me is the same as a Moby, big piece of stretchy fabric.

thanks all. Will have a think! So hard to know in advance what will work and what won't but I guess will just have to work things out as I go along a bit.

Try and get to a sling meet in your area if you can, tholeon. There you should be able to check out different types and give them a try before you go ahead and get one.

Personally, I would go for a Moby or Kari-Me to start with - they really aren't hard to get to grips with and as other posters have said, just stick it on in the morning and pop the baby in and out of it as you need to. I moved on to a Calin Bleu woven wrap when DD was older and now I back carry her in a Connecta (she's nearly 22 months).

I met a first-time slinger a while back who had the same situation as you - newborn and a toddler - and she's now a total convert, absolutely loves the sling, as does her LO. She uses a Kari-Me.

I have a number of slings for different purposes. I think a stretchy wrap style like the Moby, Sleepy Wrap would be mist versatile, you can always move onto a woven.

You pre tie a stretchy, so you could do it in the morning and just POP the baby in and out...not too faffy.