ergo, connecta, etc really worth it? advice needed..

[mamaesi]

I have a baby bjorn from first child. It was fine in beginning but really started to hurt my back. Now I have number two on the way and I am trying to use the double buggy for as little time as possible. I would like to carry the new baby...

but these carriers seem so expensive...are they really worth it? could i sell my baby bjorn? for how much and where?

also I know how to just tie some fabric like my african aunties taught me, but I dont see how this works when they get a bit heavier..i feel like something with structure is better when older?

please tell me your thoughts

I have a connecta. I previously had a mamas and papas sling which is v similar to the baby bjorn. I love the connects, so much better than my old sling.

I think my dd is much more comfy in it. She's held against me so we share body heat in the winter. It's much easier to put on. Because she's right against me she doesn't feel heavy.

Sorry I don't know about woven wraps, tying wraps yourself etc.

Our Connecta was worth every penny, we bought it when DD was 8 weeks old. and have used it every day since. She is now 13m. It is still in perfect nick and still comfortable to use even though we are now carting around a hefty toddler.

If you're interested in just fabric, you could try a longer, German style woven wrap. Because they're longer you can tie them so that they go over one or both shoulders, which might be more supportive as your LO gets bigger and heavier. UK babywearing swap and Natural Mamas FSOT are good places to get second hand wraps too.

I like this website: www.wrapyourbaby.com/ for showing different carries with a long wrap (you can get shorter than she uses). You're still probably looking at at least £40, even second hand, and you can get new ones from about £50 (depending on the brand - you can spend up to £100+ on some types). And you can carry from newborn up to too heavy to carry with the same wrap. I was carrying my DD in it when she was 2.5 years old and about the same in stone.

I love, LOVE my Ergo, although I didn't really get to grips with it until ds had good head control. However, after seeing lots of newborns in it with the insert I realise it's because I wasn't using it correctly .

It's definitely worth every penny I spent because ds will not sleep in the pram so on days out we just pop him in that for naps. The sleep hood is great and you can carry them comfortably for hours.

Just a thought, but why not keep the BB as well? Ds loves a little walk round with his daddy in it as he can face forwards. It's not great for little hips though so we do limit it's use.

A gentle warning about buying an Ergo, especially from Ebay - they are faked on an industrial scale. And a faked Ergo can be dangerous - their website when I was looking said someone got in touch because a buckle broke when the parent was crossing a road, and the child fell out. It's fine if the person selling has a receipt from a reputable shop, but it isn't worth the saving if you can't be sure the item is safe. Buying second hand isn't of itself any guarantee, because someone may have bought a fake themselves (and may not have any idea that they did so).

One indication: look on Ebay for Ergos that come with an instructional DVD, because genuine ones don't.

There are several links on this: here, here and here .

Anything reasonably expensive and sold in big quantities is liable to be faked. Ergos aren't the only slings to be, either. I just know they are because I was looking for one myself, and I always google "fake X" before buying anything second hand on Ebay. And this isn't just a case where you could get ripped off - your child could get injured.

I love my Connecta - bought one for DC1 and didn't get on with it, but tried one again for DC2 and it's the most-used sling. Fab for newborn froggy and fab for legs out. DS is quite a big baby (heavy!) and I nearly decided it was getting uncomfortable enough to switch to one of our more heavy-duty carriers, such as Rose and Rebellion, but we bought a Connecta lumbar support and it's comfortable all over again.

Having said that, I didn't get on well with using the accessory strap to cinch the base (mostly I think because every baby is different and it didn't work out that well for my particular DC2).

So as a sling to use from birth, I generally recommend that people try a Pikkolo, just because that's what worked for us. With one of our babies, it worked well fastened apron, and with the other, it just happened that the his bum fit better in the shape of pocket obtained by turning it non-apron and using the lumbar support belt. We had a 1st generation. Last time I checked, all the vendors had the 2nd generation on sale. 3rd generation is now out but not yet available in the UK (it's a Canadian brand).

It won't last you as long as a Connecta, but they do tend to re-sell if priced suitably, and I, personally, think people will get more use out of them with babies between the froggy and opened-right-out legs stage :)

Also, I didn't notice that anyone had linked to Sling Guide - well worth a look :)