Sling advice needed please - second baby, due July

[lucasnorth]

I'm looking for a sling for a summer newborn.

Needs to be cool, and comfortable to wear for a long time hands-free (I think my toddler is going to need lots of attention!).

I've looked on-line and am tempted by a Wilkinet or a ring sling (Didysling), but worried both would be too hot?

Thanks for any advice

A stretchy wrap is ideal for a newborn - like a moby or a Gypsy Mama Wrapsody stretch.

The coolest slings IME are gauze wraps though - they're not as "poppable" (easy to get baby in and out without retying) as stretchy wraps, but they are great for summer. Calin Bleu make great ones, and the Gypsy Mama Wrapsody gauze ones are good too.

I've never tried a wilkinet and I don't get on with ring slings, but the Didymos fabric is quite a bit thicker than either a stretchy or gauze wrap. Much more supportive, but for a newborn that's not so important.

Having said that though, in a typical British summer you're unlikely to get much too hot with any type of sling. HTH

I got a Peanut Shell sling for £20 at TK Maxx last week, which does the job. They had another type there too at same price, but the make escapes me for the moment.

You can get ring slings and wraps in lightweight fabrics - my ultimate favourite is the Gypsy Mama Bali Baby Breeze.

You could also look at a mei tai. Cwtshi mei tais have extra loops for making a newborn super secure. I had a Wilkinet but the problem with it is that you have to tie the baby into the sling before tying on, and it's a bit of a nuisance. Also, my DH found it very difficult to wear (it does rely slightly on a feminine curved front to get a secure tie)

If you are hoping to breastfeed in a carrier then it depends a little on what shape you are what will suit you best. I know more people who can feed in a ring sling than in any other thing because you can adjust it in use. Perfectly possible to feed in a wrap or a mei tai too.

Have a look on YouTube for babywearing videos (just put newborn plus the name of your carrier type in search box) as that will help a lot with deciding what you want. Also, if you can get to a local Sling Meet you can try lots of things on in the flesh - check www.slingmeet.co.uk

Thank you all.

I think I'll go for a gauze wrap for very hot days/long walks AND a pouch/ring sling (decisions!) for around the house/quick trip to the shop. I would just get the wrap, but I'm not very co-ordinated and a bit worried I'll struggle to get it tied.

I suspect I'll be spending most of about a year wearing a sling, so don't think getting two would be too extravagant. 23 week anomoly scan is in a couple of weeks so will splash out once that's out of the way

Thanks again. Will try a sling meet nearer the due date and learn how to tie the wrap.

I would echo soft wrap, like kari me and ring sling for when a bit older and you want to stick em on your hip. Wrecks your shoulder though, so if you have a large baby, get an ergobaby - hands down the best for your back. But for first weeks i'd go with wrap, as although ergo has a newborn insert, prob quite warm.

Have you come across the 2nd hand sites? UKbabywearingSWAP is a mailgroup and Natural Mamas is also pretty active and UK based. The Baby Wearer is an incredibly informative site that has an extremely fast moving For Sale or Trade board - much of it in US$, which aren't such a bargain now, but some pop up in £.

Unless you know exactly what you're going to get on with (possibly by trying it at a slingmeet ) 2nd hand is well worthwhile: If it doesn't agree with you you can pass it on, just for the cost of the postage. Even with ring slings there are so many variations - do you like silk, cotton, wool? what type of weave? padded edges? gathered or pleated shoulder? The choices go on and on...

DD was an April baby, and I carried her through the summer in a hugabub - that said it was 2007 and I'm not sure "summer" is an appropriate word... Personally I didn't get on with the Ergo at all, but I've now got a Didymos wrap and two Mei Tais (a Ball Baby Overall and a Napsack) that see me through most situations.

Happy shopping - just be aware that slings are addictive...

Hello
Wondered if I could barge in and add a query. First time mum, due this month, would like a sling/wrap that both I and DH (height difference 10"!) could use to carry the baby mainly for hands free around the house. Which one would you recommend?

Ive got a stretchy piece of material from www.karrime.com. It's a dream to use- so comfy and comes in lots of funky colours.

Mirry71 - A lot of people find a pouch and/or a ring sling work really well around the house for little babies. If both you and your DH want to share the same sling, a RS would give you more adjustability.

Personally I never got to grips with RSs. I started out with a hugabub (stretchy wrap) - bought it when DD was about a month old, took me another couple of months before she was happy in it. Out and about it was great, but it wasn't the most "popable" of slings. That said, DD wasn't the smallest of babies either...

I'd suggest you look for a RS, a stretchy wrap or a baby-sized mei-tai - or as many as you can afford . Again, I'd suggest looking into 2nd hand sites so you can try them out and more or less get your money back if they don't work out.

If you do find that you're not getting on with something, it would be worth asking for detailed help on the NaturalMamas forum - there are some very experienced baby wearers there that can get into the finer points of why things might not be working and what you could try to improve them.

Good luck

DD2 was a mid June baby, it was scorchio, but I carried her in my Huggababy all summer and neither of us over heated. So despite it being a sturdy fabric with padded rails heat wasn't an issue. I do also have a very light weight gauzey ring sling (the fabric is cotton from tanzania) and I don't find it any cooler than the huggababy.

However, both are wonderful and as the pictures show, have been brilliant from birth to 4 years (ish). DD2 practically lived in the sling from birth and it allowed me to play with DD1, cook, do laundry and so on. I find ring slings to be the ultimate in simplicity and versatility, they adjust to fit you and your baby (as s/he grows) with the pull on the tail and with a little practice you can put them on and slot baby in in seconds. You can carry baby in a variety of holds, from laying down in a hammock/cradle to upright and facing forward in a kind of supported piggy-back. There are no clips to fasten, no knots to tie, not complicated wraps to learn, it goes over your head, one arm goes through and baby goes in and you tighten it. Just like that. And they are great for nursing in, I have fed both my girls on the move with out flashing any flesh or having to stop and sit down.

Hope you find this helpful.

Message withdrawn

I had a wilkinet for DD1 and am using it for DD2 now . I like it a lot and you just need to make sure that you ( and baby)are not overdressed to avoid overheating !

I got a huggababy ring sling for using with DD2 around the house but have never quite got the hang of it .

I got a calin bleu gauze wrap last week and am loving it ! I even had DD2 on my back the afternoon and was able to run around in the garden with DD1 ! Tree hugger mums has them on special offer at the moment .

I used the gypsymama stretch wrap for dd2 who was born last august. It was the comfiest sling I've ever used and she practically lived in it for the first three months.

We had a moby wrap which we used for first four or five months when dd was born, it was great once on, but took a while to put on, was very heavy material (wouldn't recommend for a hot summer) and was heavy and bulky to carry around when not using it.
I tried various hammock slings (where dd lay on her back in a sort of hammock position across the front of my body) but she absolutely hated them, however expertly they were fitted in the shop. Not all babies like being carried this way, and it isn't comfortable for everyone, so maybe don't splash out tooo much until you have tried one out with your baby.
Will be watching this thread with interest with dd2 arriving in a month, I would like to try again with slings!

Thanks again all.
I think I'm going to have to go to a sling meet and try them...