Best sling for newborn baby due in May

[Squizzo]

Hi,

I'm just wondering if people can recommend a sling for a newborn baby so that when mine is born I can attach the baby to me while I do household chores or need to pop out quickly? They all seem pretty expensive so I'm keen not to pick the wrong one. My sister is going to lend me a baby bjorn but I understand they are best for when the baby is bigger.

I have had one friend recommend the Moby sling but I was thinking it might be too hot for summer? I am also only 5ft3 and as it's one long piece of material I'm worried it might be a huge faff to put on by myself and it could drag on the floor. I have also got a couple of weddings to go to once the baby is born and it will only be about 6 weeks old and I'd like to be able to wear the sling over a dress and possibly use it to feed discreetly too.

Thanks

I never tried a moby but might try one for #2. However I had a Close Carrier for my son and it was great, I wish I had got it when he was NB (I think I got it when he was about 2 months). It is a fabric ring sling so stretchy but easy to put on and adjust by yourself - no wrapping yourself in yards of fabric. he loved it and I used it until he was too heavy for it.

www.babycalm.co.uk/product/Close%20Caboo-Baby-Carrier%20Easy-On-Wrap-Sling

Hiya I'm fairly new to baby wearing. I used a chicco one from mothercare with my first. But since then I've found there are so many available!
I've bought a stretchy wrap with panel from snuggiwraps online, and also a Mei tai.
Looking forward to trying in may.

PS we also have an Ergo (which I used with the newborn insert when he was ickle) which we still use now (he is 18 months) - also excellent. Much more comfortable than the Babybjorn and distributes weight well. It is bigger and more cumbersome than the Close Carrier but good for longer walks and also good for men and women.

My plan is to buy a Joy and Joe one www.joyandjoebaby.com/ as they're only £16, but seem well reviewed, pass all safety regulations, etc. They're a stretchy wrap sling. The idea is that will get me through first few weeks/ months and give me time to try out more permanent solutions (I'm looking at soft-structured carriers like the Boba 3g, Manduca, etc) at the local sling library before making a more expensive investment.

Can't directly recommend though, as I'm not due for another month.

www.snugiwraps.co.uk/

They are very reasonable from here

And connecta are good too!

I thought I'd be a real sling person and concluded I'm not! I've tried various ones babybjorn (top of the range) synergy was good if you need to get them in and out fast but is a killer on the neck. I wore it once to the shops and ended up crying in the supermarket it was so painful.

A friend who is a physio gave me a Wilkienet which was the best but a bit fiddly.

Also have a Karri-me - which was quite good but I found there was a lot of fabric - I'm a very slim build with smallish shoulders and maybe it was my ineptitude but the baby kept slipping down (both DC quite petit but serious kickers).

Actually I think if you have broader shoulders slings are generally easier. I gather there are sling clubs here in north London where you can test out several before you buy.

Karri-me you can feed in but it is a bit of faff and hard to get your coat on top of it. (a big piece of cloth)

Also wilkienet only £1 on ebay.

We are going for the close caboo one as well. Second baby due in June. We had a structured sling thing, I can't remember where from, with ds and it was useless.

He was too long and thin and getting him in it was tricky, we didn't really use it in the end.

The benefit of a wrap type sling is it will fit any baby and you can make the shoulder and back straps wider for greater comfort. I agree the money wrap would be quite warm as its a few layers of fabric.

Has anyone tried the Britwear 2 way carrier?
I'm just asking as I'm after a baby sling too and saw this at a reasonable price.

Squizzo I suggest you google for a local sling meet or sling library, as then you can try out various types and see which you get on with best.

I used a stretchy wrap which is very similar to a Moby - it takes a bit of practice to get used to tying it, but you can get very quick at it, and you can leave it tied on you and pop baby in and out as necessary. There's one made of bamboo fabric called Hana which might be better for warmer weather - I found my stretchy was too thick when it was hot. Stretchies are fab for little babies.

Mei Tais are also good - you still tie the straps, but there is not much fabric too them (just a fabric panel) so I preferred that when we were on holiday somewhere warmer. There are various soft structured carriers (SSCs) which are similar to Mei Tais but have buckles rather than having to tie straps - personally I like the adjustability of tying, but I know others prefer the convenience of buckles. Manduca, Ergo (beware of fakes), Rose and Rebellion and Boba all good makes to look for.

The sling of choice for weddings seems to be a ring sling - you can choose a dressy fabric and they are very easy to pop on and off, and it is quite easy to feed in. They take a bit of practice though, but once you've got the hang, they are easy to use. A Mei Tai would probably be my second choice in that situation, then an SSC (personally I think some SSCs look a bit too bulky to be wearing over a wedding outfit).

If you do have a local sling library, you could even hire the type of sling you want to use and not have to buy one yourself!

Hope that is helpful.

The baby bjorn ones are brilliant. You can use them from 8lb (or it might be 8.5lb, something like that!) which your baby should be at quite quickly, if not at birth. I've tried a few and the baby Bjorns are the easiest to get on, no faffing around at all and the baby feels really secure.

Baby Bjorns are real love/hate. I loath them. Horrid on your back (never mind all the things that are sometimes said about the baby's spine to angst over).

I liked wrap slings, you can use different types of fabric for the weather. But you do have to be prepared to learn to knot them. I liked our Close with DD1 when I was less confident, but it does leave long tails of fabric because of the design.

I know use a Manduca, which I can still comfortably carry DD2 in at getting on for two.

We used a borrowed baby bjorn with our first baby and found it caused back pain so had to stop.

I then tried a one-sided shoulder sling, similar to the ring slings and that have me such a stiff neck I had to abort again.

This time round I intend to buy a wrapsody sling, they're similar style to moby but two types are very lightweight - the breeze and the stretchy Bali are the best apparently. It makes sense when you YouTube people using that sort of sling, that it is symmetrical and so will not strain the back half as much. I also like the idea you can breastfeed in it too!