Had enough of double buggy already! Reccomend me a comfortable sling!!

[TamTam29]

I have 22 month old & hefty 4 week old who was 10pound at birth & now 11!

used baby bjorn with DS1 untill he was about 3 months (another big baby although a modest 81/2 pounds) then he was just too heavy for me to manage more than half hour.

Then progressed to wearing DS1 on my hip in a ring sling, but only for short periods - hanging out washing, popping from car to shop, around the house when he was cranky, htat sort of thing! Have tried to carry DS2 in ring sling but not comfortable & wouldnt feel comfortable taking him out the house in it.

This time, i want something more heavy duty, that I can use for a couple of hours to go round shopping centre or take ds1 to park. He is also bit gripey & likes to be upright after a feed & sometimes DS1 is not very nice towards his brother so occasionally needs to be kept out of his way. Would be a bonus if i could bf in sling too.

Was looking at moby wrap, but with DS2 size, didnt know if he would outgrow this too soon. Want something that i can use for about 6 months, daily for the first few then as and when as he gets older. So would i be better with woven wrap?

so what do you ladies reccomend?

"didnt know if he would outgrow this too soon". - didnt mean outgrow sling literally, just that would he be too heavy & fabric too stretchy to carry him comfortably!

Either a woven wrap or a MeiTai like a BabyHawk. Advantage of the babyhawk is that you could also sling your toddler on your back if you needed as they last a long time

MeiTai, or ergo I think.

Or if you liked the wrap, get a woven wrap which offers more support for bigger/older babies/toddlers.

I wonder if the ring sling isn't quite tight enough? I can still carry my 3.5 year old in my ring sling (only on my back) She is a runt, but even so

Have you tried googling for videos of different carry-styles?

I love my Didymos - it's a wrap but not a stretchy one, and there are loads of different ways you can tie it. It's a bit of a faff to get on to start with, but once you get the hang of it it's fine, and as someone else said you can do a back carry, hip carry, front carry - and it spreads the weight evenly across your back.

I also use a peanut shell sling for quick trips - dropping ds off at nursery, popping out to the shops etc. Dd never enjoyed being down in a cradle carry in that one - she's a nosey sod and likes to be upright so she can gawp at people!

If you get rid of your double buggy, can I have it?

If you can, it's a really good idea to go along to a Sling Meet so that you can try out carriers; if there's a Sling Meet in your area you can ask whether anyone going might have a carrier you are interested in, see www.slingmeet.co.uk/forums/.

I started out with stretchy wrap but they sag as baby gets bigger, so you would either want a woven wrap (watch the heat though, you can get quite hot with the layers - check out lightweight ones such as Calin Bleu Cool Gauze) or carrier that uses both shoulders such as a mei tai. I used a babyhawk but if you have a toddler you might just want to get a toddlerhawk and roll the bottem up one turn if you're using it for the baby. I'm currently using a Scootababy for my 22mo and think it's fab - it's a hip carrier though, so not sure it works for younger baby.

You don't have to buy new, there's thriving 2nd hand trade - particularly at the mo when it's sunny! - on UKbabywearing swap (yahoo group) and also on www.naturalmamas.co.uk/forum/index.php. Hope you find something that works for you - I'm expecting our 2nd and am SO glad I've got slings so that we can sling-and-buggy it! Oh, and for the winter you can either use big coat to go round you/baby/sling, or you can get covers for slings such as this, again you can get these 2nd hand.

I have a Kari-me, I love it. It's about 50 feet long so the ends do get a bit damp when you're trying to get it on and off in the rain, but once it's on it's great! It distributes the weight really well, unlike the Baby Bjorn which I found just all went down into my shoulders.

A vote for the Manduca from me...www.bigmamaslings.co.uk/zen-cart/manduca-baby-carrier-p-584.html
I've used it every day for DS since he was 5 months old (tho it's suitable from birth), he is now 14 months. I even used it on hols for my DD who is 3, but as tall as 4-5 year-old. It can be worn on the front, back and on the hip.

Any sort of Mei Tai here. Will last a long time, and get something with a sleep hood to get it to last till they're even longer.

that's to last even longer, or till they're even older.

Also lots of places do sling hire so you can try something out!

Thanks for the replies ladies.

I havent managed to find a sling meet near me yet (Kingston) but have decided on a woven wrap as I only intend to carry DS2 and am hoping that DS1 will no longer need a buggy by the time DS2 is too heavy for me to mangae in the sling.

Thought i had decided on a calin bleu but then didnt like the colours available so now im looking around again.