Slings - Advice needed - so confused.

[Emmiedarling]

I am having my first baby and have the grand idea that I'll be using a sling all the time.

Thought I'd do a bit of research on which is the best to get, bearing in mind I am no good at anything fiddly. Saw a 'Peanut sling' then a 'Celeb sling' then, well, about a million others.

I am more confused than when I started.

I just want something really easy to use, relatively inexpensive and most importantly, comfortable.

Please can you share your wisdom?!

Best sling I found for a newborn was a stretchy wrap, I had a Moby (which I picked up on ebay for about £15). When DD was about 5ish months we switched to a BabyHawk mei tai, she's 9 months now and 18lb and I can still carry her comfortably on my front or back.

Oh I got my mei tai on ebay too again for about £15.

Sorry for the millions of posts, it does take a bit of learning to do the wrap, but I'd mastered it within a few days and once you've learnt it's easy.

yep i would go with a moby too! lovely for a newborn

i also then switched to a mei tai once mine were older. had a cwtshi first, which was lovely, and also a couple of babyhawks, and then a toddlerhawk

oh, and a woven wrap. in fact with my third i used the woven wrap pretty much all the time from birth, but it's a bit more of a learning curve, so would definitely go with a stretchy wrap for your first

Can you get to a sling library? Because the best way to find a sling that suits You is to see it in the flesh.

You might want to look up moby on you tube, see how it's tied and see if that's for you.

Also there's the close caboo carrier which gives the holds of a stretchy wrap (which is what moby is) but without all the tying.

If u do like a stretchy wrap it's worth looking at victoriaslinglady, she's very reasonably priced and I can see no difference in the quality of her material compared to a moby.

I've bought a stretchy wrap ready for DC's arrival in August. It's by Cots 2 Bots but I think they are all similar. Was going to practice with it before baba's arrival but now worried it won't fit round bump! I was also recommended sling libraries, you can find out more here Sling Libraries

Google slingmeet and see if there's one near you where you can trial a few. Nothing worse than shelling out on a sling you just don't get on with. I have 2 for 2 different times.

I have a close carrier for when I just need to nip the shops or quick in and outs. Also dh prefers it because you don't have to learn how to wrap it. If dd is having a very whingy day I have a moby cos she feels more secure in that for longer periods and it's a gaff to wrap up if she's only going to be in for 5-10 mins.

We have one which is like a BabaSling but not as expensive. by Simply Good, think it's called Snugly Sling - it was on cheap in Kiddicare. It is working well for us, no tying knots necessary. However, because it goes over one shoulder, it's a faff if you want to carry a handbag/nappy bag over your shoulder too. A wrap or close carrier would be better for those situations.

I couldn't fault our baby bjorn.. they do one suitable from very little I think ?! umm, I know we had 2 sizes so must have been a tiny and bigger one.
Also, DH was quite happy to walk around with it too, personally I think it was because lots of women thought he looked 'cool and she was cute!'

BabyBjorns not so good as other slings as they dangle baby from crotch rather than holding in a natural frog leg position.

Agree with itsall - we were advised against a Baby Bjorn in the early days due to the pressure it can put on the baby's pelvis/pubic region. We had a tie sling (Kari-Me) which was a right faff to tie but brilliant once DS was in it. And he LOVED it - I used to call it my baby handsfree kit, as it meant I could go into any shop I liked without worrying about manoeuvring the buggy up steps/through doors/round racks etc. I hoovered, ironed, cooked, emptied the dishwasher, cleaned windows, went to cafes, and generally mooched about with him in it.

You really need plenty of support for a small baby's (or even a much bigger baby's) legs and therefore will be supporting their spine.

I had a Moby for DD and it was lovely and comfy, I can't wait to use it with a new baby. But I found she was just too heavy for me by about 11 months (probably around 22/23lbs). I didn't buy another one as I found I didn't need it but I would have bought some kind of SSC.

I think you're best asking for advice here on the slings board. Those ladies know what they're talking about!

Oh and I also agree that you get used to a wrap sling very quickly. It took me a couple of goes to do the standard tie and then you don't forget. It looks a lot more complicated than it is, honest!