Slings are brilliant but...

[Paris2019]

... do you really "get loads done" when wearing baby in it?!

Don't get me wrong, my sling was an excellent purchase and baby naps soundly in it, but I hear people say they get tonnes of housework etc done while wearing it, whereas any jerky movements would wake my LO up! So no bending down or reaching up etc. I end up pacing the living room, doing some light tidying and reaching for the biscuits!! It's great to be hands free but that's about it!

Am I doing it wrong lol?!

I read on here quite a lot to put baby in the sling and get on with house work but I never worked out how to wash up, cook or clean a bathroom with the baby in the way! Also any bending down risked waking them.
I did manage to make a cup of tea and drink it to the side quite well and the same with eating.

I once made pancakes with DD in the sling! Even tossed them.

Yes, I did manage, I think babies sleep through a lot!

I never did . DD sleeps brilliantly in it (even now at 14 months), but only if I'm walking or jigging up and down. I'd be a right liability with PP's pancakes.

Same OP! In fact for me it only worked to get DD to sleep in it if I was outside

I used to get quite a bit done with my dd's in the sling.
The only one I found difficult was laundry as when I knelt down to fold, her legs would get a bit squashed.
I like having my hands free so it was really helpful for me 😊

I did with number 3 but he was well used to be thrown around with one arm TBH!

I did master sitting down to have a rest and loosening the wrap a bit so I could have hands free TV time while they slept. But you’re not going to be scrubbing the bathroom floor. A bit of bought tidying or DInner prep is probably the height of it.

yeah, bending down was difficult. Things j managed were prepping meals but I didn’t like actually cooking with DC in the sling, folding laundry onto the bed, dusting from window sill upwards, cleaning inside of windows, (I’m lying about the last two, I never dust or clean windows, but I reckon you could).

Also managed to push DC1 in a swing but couldn’t do much else in the park.

I imagine like everything it depends a lot on the baby. I was a bit nervous of mine with my first but with my second I've honestly been able to get loads done. Housework (one hand supporting baby's head when bending over like to empty dishwasher), toddler activity classes with DC1 (for a brief period before they shut) and even stable chores. I don't feel comfortable cooking though generally as think it might be unsafe chopping or stirring hot food etc

I'd never get much done otherwise as DC2 won't be put down still except for limited periods on playmat, and has all naps in sling!

Dusting shelves, cleaning windows, cleaning counters, putting laundry away, cleaning sinks, vacuuming. That's basically all I did.

I agree any sudden or strenuous movement or bending would disturb my DS.

Not really. The sling helps me get stuff done when baby is awake, but asleep he just wakes up if I try and do anything productive.

It’s most useful at being able to take baby supermarket shopping and use full trolley especially before they are able to sit in trolley seat

School run and baby naps. I could do a few things like play board games at the kitchen table with my older girl.

I manage to get few house chores done with baby in a sling, not everything. I found the key is to squat as opposed to bend over 😬 I better have a bubble butt by the end of all this carrying!

Things I can do with a baby in a sling:

• hoover: he loves the noise and it usually puts him right to sleep
• mop floors
• dust
• general tidy up: putting things where they belong etc
• folding laundry: I usually stack a few pillows on a bed and fold stuff on top of those pillows before putting away. That way I don't have to squat/bend down to it.
• wiping kitchen counters/windowsills

Things like cooking, cleaning the bathroom, loading washing machine/dryer I do with a baby in a bouncer, at a reasonably safe distance where applicable but where he can still see me.

If your baby is old enough so you can back carrier you can get stuff done.

However you have to watch out for little hands randomly grabbing things.

I used to wear mine to do things like hanging washing out, I had a cloth one, not stretchy, so had no problems bending down in it. Also doing dishes, hoovering and mopping.

To be honest DD slept in it almost instantly every time and I could have done the hokey cokey without waking her!

I found it fabulously useful for shopping. No wrestling pushchairs into and out of shops/up entrance steps/round awkward aisles.

I did once try to eat a burger using it when DD was about 8 months, and as I was eating one side of the burger she was trying to chew the other, so I wouldn't recommend that, but otherwise it was brilliant!