Talk to me about Slings please....

[Tillyscoutsmum]

DC2 is due in a few weeks and dd will be 2.7 and I'm considering buying a sling.

I must confess that I'd always thought them to be a bit "lentil weavery" and I don't really intend to go down the whole baby wearing route - but I do think one might be useful for going out and about (trying to avoid a double buggy) and also for the early evening cluster feeding nightmare which will obviously coincide with dd's tea, bath and bedtime.

So, any recommendations please and ideas as to where to get them as cheaply as possible (just in case I don't use it and it is a fad as DH suspects )

Anyone ?

Dunno about cheap sources, but you can always sell it on afterwards if you've looked after it (or not used it much!)

I loved my Moby for a small baby. It's a stretchy wrap, you can just do it up and leave it on and then pop the baby in and out easily. And they come in nice patterns or with different fabric panels, so can actually look quite stylish wearing them.

they are madly useful (I'm no lentil weaver) for the reaons you say. Personally I couldn't get along with the more free fomr ones so I had a baby bjorn (I know that its got its faults but it seemed to work well for me/dd for first sven or eight months). I didn't bf her in it but it is possible . Have now moved onto an ergo and frankly I wished I had that all along .

That said my friend has a moby that she has used on all 3 kids and loves it - but I'm prefer something that I know clicks into place and dh's views on fabric wraps is not very diverse or repeatable.

try ebay adn I think there is a sling wearers forum that does exchanges/second hand stuff.

dd still uses ergo and is nearly 16 months (whether this is the reason she is a talker but can't be arsed to walk is a moot point )

DD and I love our close carrier, easy to get her in and out of, comfy to wear. I have carried DS (2.5) in it but not for long and only when he's tired but was surprised how comfy I was with hi in it.
Also have a koorie sling from brightsparks which is a pouch sling which DD slept so well in when smaller but I can't carry her long on one shoulder now

Cheapest place is second hand on UKBabywearingSwap which is a Yahoo group.

They are sooo useful, and lovely and snuggly. A Moby or a ringsling would be great for you imo

Thanks all.

Poppy - I've got a Baby Bjorn from dd but it didn't get much use because I could never work out how to get the thing on and her in it on my own

Will have a look at a the Yahoo group and see about getting a Moby

Thanks again

I had a babybjorn with ds and dd1 and it was v. uncomfortable so much so I stopped using them by 2m. I also had a Toby and that was too small for my nb dd1, who was v. long. No head support whatsoever!
Anyway, with dd2, who's now 5m, I tried a ring sling, a stretchy wrap (like moby or kari-me, calin bleu do a stretchy one too) and a woven wrap. The woven was no1 in terms of comfort. The stretchies are supposed to be the easiest to get the hang of, but strangely enough I couldn't work them, while I found the woven wrap fairly easy to use. I still carry dd2 in the woven, she's already 20lbs and it's still comfy, I can barely feel she's there!
Definitely get a 2nd hand one. Check out the sling meet site for tips too.

Oh and I forgot to mention the sling guide. It's a new website with loads of info about slings + where to get second hand ones too. It's www.slingguide.co.uk.

Thank you salem

Tils, I started this thread last week, after getting some good feedback about the Close baby carrier here

I really love our ring sling, ds1 was in it from 6 hours up until he was 2. dd is now 7m and very comfy.

dp rated her wrap sling when dd was small, but it's getting a bit too stretchy now I think.

We also have a bjorn which has seen plenty of use, but I'd recommend spending an extra few quid to get one with a proper back-strap (we didn't).

If I had to have just one: ring sling every time!