Has anyone been a successful late-starting baby-wearer?

[Tatties]

Ds is 18mths, and weighs at least 25lbs. I have been um-ming and ah-ing for a while about whether to get a sling or not. We tried one when he was tiny and he didn't like it; but if we go out now half the time I end up carrying him and pushing the buggy at the same time! So I think I would like to try one now - have seen this papatum toddler carrier on big mama slings - don't know if that's the best thing I could try.
The thing is, I am quite wee, and ds is quite big. Do you think I would cope with carrying him for extended periods given that we haven't used a sling before? TIA

get an eRGO- IT'S FAB. i CARRY DD 2 Y 7M in it all the time. she weighs 26lbs ish

Is it this one Pixiefish?

The patapum and Ergo are pretty much similar as far as I kow, btw...! Only the Patapum is cheaper!
As for startign to carry your lil one this late...jsut make sure you build it up...it's jsut like any other exercise really, you have to give your body a chance to get used to the load...iykwim!So, start around the house for say 5 or 10 minutes and go from there!

Excellent! That is just what I wanted to hear

yes Tatties- thats the ergo.

The main differnece with the ergo and patapum is that the ergo has a hood that you can pull up over baby's head when they fall asleep int he sling. This stops their head lolling and them getting whiplash.

I would recommend the ergo

I have just done a search and found this comparison of the two - the Ergo seems to have more features, you can carry on the hip as well as back and front (how do you find carrying your LO in different positions BTW? Or do you tend to just stick to one?) But it is more expensive. Hmmmm.

Tattie I have a Sutemi, which, is similar to the patapum and ergo, only that it's straps are crossed over, giving you funny looking boobs if using the backcarry, lol!
Anyway,I have mainly used it for Backcarry, as for the Hipcarry I find my Ringsling better and have tried it out in frontcarry and was surprised how light they felt...even though ys was 1 year already at the time and ms was 2 1/2years old!
link to good Babywearer website with reiews etc...info on all sorts of slings
link to Sutemi Baby pack sling

Thanks for those links

OMG, look at this! I found a link to it on the Baby Wearer forum, gives a detailed comparison of the Ergo, Patapum and Sutemi for me to pore over!

Thanks Anniemac