January 2023 Moms
zamoraspin
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Product Spotlight: Baby Carriers
zamoraspin
member
This week’s spotlight is on Baby Carriers. Ring sling? Soft Structured Carrier? Classic Baby Bjorn? Modal/stretchy wrap?
What do you like/dislike and why? What would you recommend?
Best for newborn? Infant? Toddlers?
Recommendations for best for breast feeding while carrying, back carry, front carry, tandem carry, etc.
Share your wisdom and your “I wish I had known”
Re: Product Spotlight: Baby Carriers
I also had a Moby wrap which is comfy, but was trickier for me to tie.
What do you like/dislike and why? What would you recommend? Loved Tula Free to Grow, it's comfortable and I could buckle it myself and get baby in. This was good starting at 3 months, before then I liked the Ring Sling. I have and tried the wrap but tying that was laughable, my method seemed unsafe so I never used it, but others swear by it.
Best for newborn? Ring Sling
Infant? Tula
Toddlers? Tula and hiking carrier (if you get a hiking carrier definitely try them out at REI or the like)
Then as they grow I still like Ergobaby for inward facing carry (if you want them to sleep). And we also have a Lillebaby which I liked better for outward facing carry.
For toddlers, I liked hip carry with (you guessed it) the Ergobaby. We also had a nice hiking one from REI but I thought it was way too clumsy and heavy to use for actual hiking. So instead I used....back carry with the Ergobaby. 😆
I love baby carriers and used mine every single day, and I'm sure I will with this LO too. I will also say that I like having multiple (one was a hand-me-down) for different stages. I also got a hand-me-down Tula but I was intimidated by the tying, so I prefer the structured ones. But I do know people who love wrap style too.
As my son got older and started to want to face outwards more I switched to the ergobaby 360. It was great for shopping and I loved that I could pretty easily switch which way he was facing if he started to want to nap facing inwards.
I never really mastered the ring sling. I wanted so bad to love it but no matter how much I adjusted the fit it always ended up migrating to put all of the weight directly on my neck the second I started actually moving in it. I think part of my problem was the fact the I have narrow shoulders but really large breasts which meant that where it wanted to naturally sit on my body didn’t fit with where it was supposed to sit. I have friends who absolutely loved the ring sling though, so I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad option all around.
What do you like/dislike and why? What would you recommend? I had an ErgoBaby 360, a ring sling, and a wrap thingy. Tbh I didn’t feel I got baby secure enough in the sling and wrap. DS was 10 pounds at birth and was always large so it’s possible it was a mismatch with a large floppy infant. I did really like the Ergo and used it a lot until he was maybe 14 months. Tbh he was then so heavy it was a challenge to wear him. I think the Ergo feels secure to wear and a lot of people continue to wear their toddlers in it (DS is not yet 3 and already 47 pounds so that’s a big no thank you to wearing him).
Recommendations for best for breast feeding while carrying, back carry, front carry, tandem carry, etc. I was able to BF in the Ergo with some finagling, usually while sitting.
konny baby slings are super easy and light as well
naked panda tough ruck for hiking/walks/double carry
@jennifer_louise me! Love my ring sling, but hated the wraps
What do you like/dislike and why? What would you recommend? Okay I LOVE babywearing and was a babywearing consultant for just over a year! I own 16+ carriers so you could say I’m a little obsessed lol but it was life or death with my barnacle baby and we have four drastically different seasons where I live! Definitely a baby beluga t stretchy wrap for the newborn phase and if you’re up to it learning how to use a woven wrap can be a game changer! If you’re more into east bucked ergo embrace newborn is nice but I’m a die hard tula fan the tula explore is great for when baby wants to outward face and the standard tula is my fav for back Carry’s!
Best for newborn? Infant? Toddlers? Stretchy wraps/ woven wraps, tula explore. standard Tula
Recommendations for best for breast feeding while carrying, back carry, front carry, tandem carry, etc. I could breastfeed in all my carriers/ wraps 😬
Share your wisdom and your “I wish I had known
I wish I had known Litte Zen One has a facebook group with a “try before you buy” program! It’s really amazing. You just pay to ship the carrier to its next host but you can try such a variety and find what you like before you make the full purchase!
I also wish I spent more time learning how to baby ware properly BEFORE I hd my baby. Like seriously practice with a doll or stuffed teddy! Look up “wrap you in love” on YouTube for great tutorials! Baby eating saved my sanity. I’m super versatile in stretchy wraps, woven wraps, half buckles, ring slings, onbhiminos, and full buckle carriers if anyone has any questions!
@jennifer_louise I found myself as a perosn again through the fog of postpartum once I learnt how to wrap GOOD. Like so good I had zero pain during or after wearing and pretty much wore my barnacle babe all day long! I did back Carry’s for lots of naps which freed up my bards to prep dinner or clean or go for a walk outside! Seriously game changing for me!
It took me a bit to get the hang of wovens but I joined a fb group Geeky Wrappers and they have a massive reference to different carries with video links and are great to answer any questions that you have on what could be better with what you are doing.