Sling/baby carrier help please!!

[TheHermitCrab]

Hello all.

First baby due in Jan and don't really have anyone to talk to or recommend anything and I'm probably going to sound like a complete dummy here!! but...

Help me with slings and baby carriers!!

I've got a travel system. (Well in fact, I have two prams, both gifted) but they are both quite large and cumbersome. I don't drive so any time I need to travel will be walking with the pram, or public transport.

So I'm looking into using a sling/carrier for trips into town, walking around with OH. So that I can actually access shops..etc without fiddling with a pram and getting in people's way.

As I don't drive it would be a case of using a sling to walk to the bus stop (5 mins walk) then walking around town/shops and then the same on the way home. May also use it to travel into the city (which is a hour's bus journey).

Is this appropriate for a sling? can you have a baby in them all day or just a couple of hours? I honestly don't know what people use them for! but I like the idea of being "hands free" and not having to fold/transport and struggle with access with a pram for every journey.

I currently have some 50% off vouchers for "very.co.uk" And wondered if any of these look any good to people (especially starting from newborn):

www.very.co.uk/e/q/baby-carrier.end?_requestid=31863

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

(If someone thinks I'm better posting this in another thread please let me know)

i love my close caboo and i use it every day, but i probably wouldnt use it for the whole days out you describe, just because then youd end up carrying a lot of weight around - baby and changing bag and shopping etc. But its great for going for walks, getting stuff done around the house, having time to eat and brush my teethâ?¦ especially with a clingy baby. Ds does fall asleep pretty much the minute he goes in though, which is sometimes good and sometimes not.

it's a sling thing do postal hires. and many sling consultants will travel so worth asking around on Facebook etc.

DS 7 months is in the Ergo. We didn't even have a pram until he was 10 weeks old. He's barely ever in the pram even now. He started off in a Kanga wrap, and at about 4 months went into the Ergo. We're in the process of switching to an 'on the back' position now, which he loves. We had the newborn insert for the Ergo, but only used it once as it didn't feel snuggly enough for a tiny baby. The soft wrap felt more natural and comfortable for the newborn stage.
He was very upset the other night (teething) and in desperation DH put him in the Kanga (we haven't used it for months). DS immediately settled down for a doze, so it obviously retains very peaceful associations for him!

I'm still using our ergo at 14 months - it's still the best money I've spent on anything baby-based. It was expensive, but I take him to nursery in it everyday - a ten min walk to bus stop, and a half hour bus ride.

That said, I would have a close caboo for any future newborns. You can pick then up second hand for about £35.

Close caboo - another vote here for that one. So so easy to use. I actually got 10 months out of mine, as I had a light baby and when she was in it was mostly asleep, so less wriggling carried on for another month while i got funds together for a Beco Soleil, they are lovely too but you'd need the newborn insert to wear it from the beginning. Switched to a Mei tai with wrap straps at about 15 months, wish I'd had one from the start (something like a hoptye or a didytai is ideal for younger babies)

I really would recommend joining a slingmeet group, even if only one of the facebook ones local to you, to get advice and try some out. Pidgin's post above is spot on with advice too Happy babywearing!

Sorry It's taken me a while to reply! Thank you everyone so much for your suggestions.

Looking at Ebay and my budget it's going to be boba wrap or close caboo depending on the deals available at the time. :)

Try the facebook groups like Slings And Things FSOT and Affordable Baby Slings For Sale Or Swap too :)

Good idea Purple. Less likely to pick up a fake on those groups, I use them myself also. ebay and amazon can sometimes not be genuine

The advantage of the boba wrap over the caboo would be that you can learn to wrap from the beginning, which would stand you in good stead if you decide to move on to a woven wrap when your baby outgrows a stretchy.