How does a sling help with a baby and toddler?

[Acornacorn]

Toddler is 2.5yo. Baby is 6 weeks.
I’ve seen multiple threads where people suggest putting the baby in a sling so that the eldest can be attended to. But I’m confused. You can’t sit and play with baby in a sling, can you?? It’s just for standing/walking. Feel like I’m missing a trick as I’m not finding the sling especially helpful - except for our daily walks -and am finding it hard attending to both kids’ needs. All my toddler wants to do is have me play with him on the floor or do various running games.

You can prepare lunch/breakfast snacks, help washing bits up, getting a drink for said toddler... the list goes on. My sling was invaluable when my second was born. I couldn’t have done anything without it as she wouldn’t be put down at all. Kept us all sane, she slept in there on/off all day between feeds.

there are lots of different kinds of slings. with many of them you certainly can play with a toddler while wearing a baby - maybe your sling isn't well designed for what you need it for?

sympathies though. lockdown with 2 little ones must be tough.

My second born was very placid so when he was really tiny I had him in the sling while playing with his sister all the time. He basically lived in the sling for the first three months until I realised he’d never been in the pram once.
I even got the sling out today to put the grumpy 18 month old in while I put the 2.5 year old’s pyjamas on. They were both a bit surprised but it got the job done.

I’m with you OP I never truly found it particularly helpful with my second except maybe on walks. I found it much easier getting my second to sleep in a bouncer or buggy and then being able to have my body free to play with the older one. But I was probably lucky with a baby that didn’t need to sleep on me so can imagine if you have a baby who won’t sleep anywhere else that they’re very handy

Yes, prepare meals, help toddler dress, read to toddler while baby naps. I didn't really use a sling with my first but with my second it was invaluable. A stretchy wrap sling worked best for me.

I even worked out how to feed the baby while wearing the sling, which was helpful as she spent most of the time feeding!

We went everywhere with Ds2 in a stretchy wrap sling. I used to run around soft play with Ds1, go shopping, to the farm, everywhere. I even used to play the piano in church with him attached. It was brilliant.

Thanks everyone. So I should be able to sit down with the baby in the sling? I’ve two very different types of sling but with both I worry I could be squishing the baby if I try sitting down with her in it. I’ll try again tomorrow.

I know what you mean OP: I find it easier if I’m sitting on the floor with my DD to rock the baby in the bouncer with the other hand. The sling is useful for walks mainly I find and getting stuff done in the house although I’ve never cooked with the baby in it.

With a little baby I could sit in on the floor to play. Now the baby is bigger we sit at the table to play.

It depends how big the baby is and where her legs are. I had a little premature baby in a fabric sling tied kangaroo style so he was high up out of the way. Later we used a marsupi and he had room despite being in the 96th percentile by then. So it probably really depends on the sling and the length of the baby.

I had a big baby. I had a wrap sling and pretty quickly her legs wouldn't tuck comfortably into it so 'I used to leave them out, like in this picture. If I wanted to sit down, I lifted her feet up a bit so they were around my waist.

My DS4 was in a sling from two days old and it made it so much easier to be able to look after my two-year-old DS3. When they're little they can go on your front and they're small enough not to get in the way so long as you have a sling that properly supports the legs in a froggy position. If you have the type where the legs dangle unsupported then it will be much harder to sit on the floor. Once your baby is around six months they can go on your back. Do you have a sling library nearby where you can hire a carrier to see whether it works well for you? I loved my Tula for being quick and easy to put on.

I never got the hang of this either. I don’t have a very long body and combined with short arms and big babies it just wasn’t practical. I’m happy for the people it works for though.

I had DD2 in a moby wrap for 3 months solid. Just carried on with DD1 as normal. DD2 was very happy tucked up in there. And she was quite large but I still managed to sit on the floor.

No advice OP bit thanks for starting this thread - o am due DC2 in a few weeks and was wondering about the whole sling issue too! I tried various slings with DC1 and was never very wedded to babywearing. Prepared to give it another go with DC2 if it actually makes things easier though.

I never understood the sling with a baby when you have a toddler. I got one as my DD was only 15 months when my 2nd was born. I felt like the baby was crushed, it made me hot and it got in the way. I ended up buying a bouncy chair and would put baby in that if i was attending to the toddler...