Sling/wrap or a buckled carrier

[Rubberyduck]

Any suggestions? For Dc1 we had the baby born original which was very easy to put on by yourself. But someone has suggested the hip position is no longer considered favourable. I really don't have £££'s to spend but want something comfortable, I will have to chase a 2year old too, and it has to be easy enough to put on alone.

I like the look of the wrap ones but I don't want to literally be in knots!!

I loved my wrap carrier but it was a faff and my chunky DS felt too heavy for it to be comfortable the time he was 5 months old.

I'm now using an Integra which I bought after trying a few different brands of sling (via my local sling library). integrababy.co.uk

I love it. Comfy, practical and pretty! I recently carried DS on a 6 hour walk (with some breaks for him to stretch/feed) and had no complaints.

I was convinced a soft carrier was the way to go (Close caboo) but we really didn't get on with it.

The day I got the Ergobaby adapt was a brilliant day and restored my faith in baby carrying.

I've sold the caboo and if I have another baby I'll use the Adapt from the outset. It's just so easy!

Do you have a local sling library? I found ours useful if a bit bonkers. But I was shown how to use various stretchy wraps safely and able to try a couple for very little money.

As it turned out, my bambino just wasn’t much into being carried. She used to wriggle & fight as if to get out, she was a baby most comfortable laying flat. She still is. She hates being cuddled to sleep, she likes her own space entirely!

We did enjoy the Ergo 360 when she had decent head control facing outwards.. really handy for town or local walks & she loved being up and seeing everything!

The stretchy wraps are great for the first few months to when they're all floppy and want to be right up close to you. We got one from Amazon for about £15 - it's just a long piece of Jersey fabric so doesnt need to be n expensive branded version.

Once they were a bit bigger and too heavy for the stretchy then a buckled carrier was
great.

If you have sling library nearby I would recommend checking it out. They can help you with fitting and lend out different carriers to try. Our local one also offers a free stretchy wrap hire for 6 weeks for newborns.

I love my stretchy and still use it for 16 month old DD2 (it goes up to average 3 year old but I don't intend to carry her that long). They are really easy once you get used to it and far less complicated than they look. Also stretchy can be pre-wrapped unlike the other wraps.
With DS I tried a carrier with buckles and it killed my back after less than an hour even when he was still pretty small. I find the spread of the weight with a wrap means I can carry for hours with no problems (which is perfect as I decided not to get a pram this time round which saves me loads and means I'm hands free to keep hold of the big 2)

Go to a sling library and hire a stretchy wrap for the first 3-4 months, then go back and try all their carriers until you find one that suits your body shape and you find comfortable.

I actually use a wrap (non-stretchy) and buckled carrier with my one year old.

I had a caboo for the first few months which is great as it is pre tied so a lot less faff than a regular stretchy wrap.
I use a connecta now (think they are now called Integra) which is good as it isn’t too structured and folds up to go in the changing bag or wherever. It took me a while to get used to putting it on, there’s a knack to making sure that you get the straps crossed at the right point on your back otherwise it can be really uncomfortable on your shoulders.