Prams or slings from birth

[Orissiah]

Hello all,

I am thinking of investing in the Bugaboo Bee for my due-in-June baby as I live in London and use public transport and need something light and versatile.

But in all honesty, can this purchase wait? Will I be carrying her in a baby sling 100% of the time whilst out and about for her first 3 months?

Thanks,
Orissia

slings are great and most prams are a nightmare on public transport no matter how small and light they claim to be. Especially in london. I tried a quinny zapp briefly in london and even that was a faff on the tube whereas slings mean you just walk on and off buses and tube without a second thought. Just buy a decent sling, my favourite are wrap style ones like kari me for little babies then ellaroo wrap for slightly heavier babies then you can realistically expect to be able to sling till they are about 3ish.

ds never went in his pram until he was about 5 mo. When using public transport in London we still carry him in a sling, and he's 13 mo now.

I would say definitely sling in the beginning, then you can try out prams with your ds!

or rather dd

you can certainly do most of the early months with a sling. the only thing i found was that if i wanted to go for a really long walk (boy the days can drag when you are on maternity leave and all your mates are at work...) the sling can be tiring and you and the baby get very hot, so the baby sleeps solidly which is great but if you want to feed it it can be tricky!

There are a few companies that do sling hire so you can see what suits best. People have violently different opinions on the best slings.

My DD was exactly 6 months yesterday and today I took her out in a buggy for the very first time! I've been using a padded ring sling from Freedom Slings - and its fantastic. TBH I'm only using the buggy now because I have to go back to work soon and I'd like her to get used to it because it will be easier for the other people looking after her. I bought a new (albeit second hand) buggy for DD ironically because it had a carrycot section for a newborn to lie flat - I haven't used it at all!

Opposite opinion here: I liked slings but my daughter slept solidly whenever she was in it and personally (shoot me now!) I was a fan of getting her into a bit of a routine. Asleep all day in a sling used to being right next to warm mummy with those nice milky smelling breasts does not make for calm and peaceful nights alone in one's moses basket. But maybe I'm wicked! When she was brand new she felt a bit small in it. I adored my pram (cameleon). She felt protected and safe in it. Very quickly she got so that she was very heavy in a sling so it only really worked for us 2-4 months. If there's no room on the bus, wait for another! It doesn't have to be a nightmare.

I would buy both as you will need both at different times for different occassions ! My ds loved his pram til about 3 mo, then hated it, screamed constantly ect, so bought a fantastic mei tai sling, which you can wear front back or side, and he loved it. I found it great for getting on buses ect, as I don't drive...but then at about 6 mo he decided he hated the sling and started screaming and arching out away from me, and suddenly loved being in his buggy again ! I've just started using the sling again lately, for short trips, and occasions when a buggy would be annoying. He loves it again now, aged nearly 9 mo. And it still feels as comfortable as it did when he was 3 mo. So I'm well glad I got it, but you do need both, if your baby is as fussy as mine has been !

orissah - this is such a timely thread, thank you very much for starting it.

i am due in two weeks and DH and I went looking at prams/travel systems for the first time tonight. we are also in london, i dont drive, use public transport loads and live on the second floor of a block of flats with v dodgy lifts. a pram sounds like a ball and chain to me TBH.

DH less convinced - his arguments are as such:

a) i will be permanently attached to baby, so if i want to have a coffee//sit down// socialise, i will always have to be carrying her. won't just be able to leave her to snooze in a pram,

b) if i'm out for more than a pop to the shop, i will also need to carry changing bag and all other baby paraphenalia and will be v weighed down.

what do you pro-slingers think?? TBH, if it makes DH happy, i'd get a pram anyway, and just use it when i want. BUT - it does seem like getting something suitable from birth means we may not get the best buggy for the three years after that. also, we really dont have enough (ANY) room in our flat for non-essential items.

sorry, not meant to be a hijak. just some more thoughts to throw into the loop

I found at first dh could wear ds in sling but i couldn't, because he would rout and start crying for milk as soon as he touched my skin! This settled down after 4 weeks, and i love our wrap sling (kari-me) now, but at first i would have struggled to use it all the time because he would have been crying all the time when I was wearing it. Don't know if this is a problem anyone else has experiebced? But definatly get a sling even if you go for a pushchair too.

London public transport -- sling. Really. So often buses won't even stop for you if you have a buggy, and they are a real faff on the Tube.

In your position I'd go for a sling and no pram. If it really isn't working out for you then you can always get a pram later, but otherwise you can wait and get a cheap lightweight buggy later when your DC is old enough not to need all the "pram"-type functionality (or you might love slings so much you never even do that).

We bought a pram/buggy, by the way, and DS hated it -- would scream the whole time. So we ended up using the sling all the time anyway (which I hadn't really intended to do) and thereby discovered how much easier I found public transport than my buggy-using friends. It was just annoying that we'd spent the money on the pram that hardly got used...

Trouble with having only a sling is you can't ever put the baby down when out and about. And though I bought a sling, my DS hated it and screamed whenever I tried to put him in it. Babies do have their own ideas from the minute they arrive.

Thanks for all the responses. I think I am going to buy both - I love the fact that I can be hands-free with the sling and it's very convenient on public transport but I would like the option of the pram because I have more flexibility on putting her down while I have a coffee and lunch. Plus I can store her things underneath rather than being weighed down.

I'm thinking of getting the Bugaboo Bee because I've seen it out and about on the Tube and buses and it looks so tiny, so compact - perfect for London. Does anyone here have one and fine it a Godsend or not?

Think the whole sling and baby being against your skin thing depends upon you and your baby really. I found it great and completely hassle free but some babies do find it a bit frustrating to be so near the boob but not able to get to it. Especially if you use the kind of carry position that puts them sideways across your body. Its also worth knowing that a lot of the mainstream brands of sling i.e. mothercare, Tomy etc.. are not that great beyond the first few months. They don't distribute the weight that well when they get heavier. So don't be perturbed if you the sling that suits you with a newborn seems really uncomfortable with a 6 month old or older. At least its cheaper buying a new sling than a new pram.

I think I have about 4 (maybe more) slings of various types which get regular use and a pram which sits in the cupboard under the stairs. But that's just my life.

buy a from birth buggy (ie techno, diablo apex etc) and a sling- then you have the best of all situations- you won't feel guilty if you don't use the buggy to start with because it will come into its own when bubs gets bigger!

We use both. When we got to London we use the sling -hugabub -it's great for public transport, escalators and you can go to the toilet without taking lo out. (If you're on your own pushchairs in public loos can be a bit of a nightmare) A bit harder in cafes as you have nowhere to put them if you want five mins (newborn anyway) I still very much use my old pram from ds 1 as it has a carrycot and he can lie flat. This is good for when we go to the gym as he can sleep whilst dh and I take turn in playing tennis, swimming etc. We also play tennis on sat morns and whilst ds 1 is in creche ds 2 is wheeled to the side of the court for his sleep!

I think it's more of a question as to what you do in your life as to what you buy for your lo.

This is going to sound awful, but with my ds I was so pole-axed by the lack of privacy and whole invasion thing of having a child, that I really welcomed the times he was in the buggy. I kind of needed the bit of distance that it gave me and found that pushing him along gave me time to think. When dd came along two years later, I hardly ever put in her the buggy, just the sling, as by that time I was completely used to the idea of not being alone ever.
If money/space an issue, I'd just go for a Mclaren techno as you can easily take it on planes, back of the car etc. Sometimes you're asked to fold your buggy on the bus, and with an umbrella folding one, you can just about do it with one hand.
Pol

i dont use public transport very often but still have a sling to keep in the car, it means if you just want to nip in somewhere you dont have to get the pushchair out. id go for both, i ve seen the bug bee and it looks good. not sure how well a chunky toddler would fit in it though, could you borrow someones to try in it (toddler i mean, i did this when buying my new pushchair using dd2 as a tester . the bee goes both ways as well which most light weight push chairs dont

all depends, your prefernces i really fancied being a slingNbubba but didnt like it- tho others love it. ask about, get many opinions

i didnt like that when i went out cafe etc queueing up and carrying hot food etc with baby, or not having choice of a pram to use, sitting down nowhere to put baby except lap(when too young for highchair)

humphing shopping and baby in a sling

im in london too, public transport, bought a bugaboo

I absolutely LOVE slings - and have a good collection - so definately invest in a sling for your baby!

I also think the Bugaboo Bee looks gorgeous and might be handy when the weather is very hot - sometimes it's just too HOT to wear your baby in the sling - and it's important not to let a tiny baby overheat.

I love the look of this sling for a new baby:
www.babyarmadillo.com/shop/mam-eco-wrap-set-s-m.html
www.babyarmadillo.com/shop/mam-eco-wrap-set-l-xl.html

PS you could always invest in a kozy carrier or a babyhawk with a pocket - and put the spare nappies for your baby in the pocket along with some travel wipes (you might get away without a change-bag then!)

www.kozycarrier.com
www.babyhawk.com

However, I still think somekind of lightweight buggy is handy too - if only for pushing the shopping in, and to put the baby down if you're trying on clothes in shops!

I really like the maclaren volo - pity it doesn't lie-back for a newborn.

I also live in London and use public transport a lot and got both a sling and a buggy. In the end, I had the tricotti and baby bjorn slings (mainly because I didn't know what else was out there) and DD has loved both. I;m now trying to sort out a sling which will work now she is 7mo without putting too much strain on my back and which DH can also use.

However, what I really hadn't expected was the amount of walking I would be doing. I think I generally walk for at least an hour every day and usually a bit longer or a couple of times and I don't think I could manage carrying DD, shopping, changing bag, etc around for that long so I got the Maclaren XLR (same as techno basically but with car seat). It is pretty good, reclines flat and easy to store in the car or carry up to my second floor flat and DD loves it! I also borrowed a Bugaboo from my SIL to try and found that much harder to get up and down the stairs. Do you have any friends with pushchairs which you could try before you buy one?