I know this is a controversial one, but having used a variety of slings over the past few months, our LO is now very comfortable in a forward facing sling…you know the one!
For the first months we did use a Mei Tai and and an Ergo Baby which were great and I suspect we’ll go back to the Ergo baby when she’s older but for now when we’re going for walks around the fields where we live, we’re using the Baby Bjorn (we’ve already had her hips scanned at her last check up when we lived in Belgium and there are no problems with her development) but I’m now getting really bad back ache with the BB and wanted to know if anyone could recommend an alternative, she’s five months old. If we put her in a sling that faces our body she really objects so I’m looking for other options as she loves looking around.
We really are in the countryside so we’re not meeting hoards of people so any recommendations that you have would be very much appreciated.
Many thanks in advance x PS I’m not ready to put her on my back yet x
You can face outwards in a wrap if you really feel you must. It is possible to get a baby in a front wrap cross with their legs crossed in front of them. It’s not ideal for their backs, but is fine for their hips.
My four month old is a sling-refuser. She hates facing inwards, and in fact prefers minimal points of body contact (she likes to have only her bottom touching my hip, and my hand under her stomach, no more contact than that). I carry her like that until my arms hurt too much, then either hand her to another adult, or put her in the sling to protest for a little while. If we are on a long walk, I sometimes put her cross-legged facing out for a while to give my arms a break. She isn’t my first sling-refuser, so I know that if I persist in putting her in when she is calm and taking her out when she gets cross, she will get used to it - she already is getting used to it and now stays in MUCH longer than she used to. From birth she (and my third born, now three) would only go in a wrap when asleep.
My first love our Moby and was most contented when facing out. If you kids likes something and responds well to it, I say go for it. We need to listen to their needs while being aware of the research rather than the other way around.
My dd1 and dd2 both got to the stage where they would only face me in the sling if they were tired, and I never mastered a back carry with either of them. I used a moby wrap and faced them out, as they really loved it, and I agree with akaekb, we need to listen to their needs as well. I used my moby right up until dd1 was over a year (but she was tiny) and until dd2 was 9 months, when she got too heavy to carry, but I’m guessing a woven wrap would give you more support and versatility since your LO is already five months. Can you not do a forward facing front carry in a mei tai (I could be completely wrong saying that, I’m sure someone else would know)?
yes you can, the only thing with a mei tai is that sometimes the panel is too high for the child to see over. Although if you cross their legs so they are sat in the mei tai rather than legs out, then they would sit a little higher, or you could roll the panel down a bit over the waist ties.
You can do front carry in a ring sling too, again crossing the legs in front of the child. Have to say tho front facing carries made my back ache more than facing inwards.
What about carrying her on the hip? This way she can look around as much as she pleases. You can do hip carrying in many types of slings; wraps, ring slings, manducas, etc. I’m trying to get my 2-month old get used to more upright positions in a wrap rather than the cradle in the ring sling, but without much success at the moment; he really loves sleeping in the cradle position, and he’s still sleeping a lot during the day. Have fun wearing your baby!
It can be difficult to achieve a good ergonomic position for baby when doing Forward facing out (FFO) carries
Another sling/carrier option to the above already mentioned is the Beco Gemini
Although chances are that doing FFO with any sling is going to be uncomfortable for you, just because of the stress it puts on your body http://www.slingguide.co.uk/frontcarries.php
Personally I much prefer high back carries or hip carries (both you can do with a MT), as they’re both more comfy for you and baby, bubs is able to get a great view of the world and it’s easy for them to switch off/go to sleep when they’re tired.
Have you tried a high front carry?
Do you have any slingmeets or slinglibraries near by?
Alternatively there’s a few sling vendors that hire out slings too http://www.ukslinglibraries.co.uk/
We had a wilkinet for a bit which is OK outward facing and inward and on your back, so could be a good option? It has instructions to make the baby sit correctly and not dangle too! Hope you find a solution.
FWIW I have a Connecta which is a meitei with straps basically and although inward facing DD could see lots and once about 6 months or so went on my back and still does lots. V Good IME.
why don’t you try the ergo on the side, that was Dh favourite way to carry ours, it wasn’t my idea of comfy but the kids loved it, try it.
maybe change your body position when carrying on the front dh showed me how to roll my hips out and it makes a big difference, you feel a bit like you are walking like a duck but after a while it comes naturally, i don’t think you need any more slings, you could start a shop and what about your superdooper pushchair?
Thank you very much ladies and Heggle you are right I can do front facing in a Mei Tai…just had a look at the information pack. Didn’t think I could because of the reinforced top so Joxy thank you for the tip about folding the LO’s legs. You can also use it on your hip…again I didn’t know.
Newmami, thank you for the links, having recently returned to living in the UK, I didn’t know a lot about sling libraries so I’ll go through the links that you sent me.
Ronnie- thank you for the wilkinet recommendation, I’ll take a look at that as well.
Sis - Will probably skype you for a lesson on Ergobaby on the hip, you know what I’m like with my left and rights
...and finally thank you for your support with the forward facing, wasn’t sure of the response I’d get, but I should have known you’d all be lovely xx
Or a stretchy wrap - you can put them in facing forward. Ds loved that. Probably need to youtube for wrapping vid, but if you have a stretchy wrap already then that woould work.
Tanya
I can also recommend the Beco Gemini, I’ve just bought one which I still only use in a front carry with baby facing me - but I will go on to use a hip carry and then a back carry with it.
and what about your superdooper pushchair?
