Baby wearing parents: Which carrier/wrap?

[DopeyDame]

Just another vote for the ergo - we used it on our first trip to WDW (DS was 16 months at the time) and it was a lifesaver! He had very little interest in the stroller, but was perfectly content in the ergo. Like a PP said, though, a lot of it comes down to personal preference and shape. Try to go somewhere where you can actually try on the wraps and slings (and make sure to put some weight in them when you put them on.) If you have a Buy Buy Baby near you, they have a whole bunch of the baby carriers available to try on.

 

[Miss Peach]

Send Jillian at PAXbaby an email. She is the baby carrier expert!!!

 

[pixiegoose]

We (well, I) used a SleepyWrap when dd was itty bitty and use an Ergo now (started when she was about 4 months old). I chose SleepyWrap over Moby because you don't have to guess how much slack to leave when tying- you tie the SleepyWrap as tight as you can and it stretches to fit baby.

 

[Stubbzilla]

The Baby Wearer forums have used carriers and tons of info.

I have gone through many types of carriers. The Ergo Performance is my favorite SSC. I also fit the Boba G2 well. The Boba G3 is supposed to fit newborns up to toddlers. I haven't like other carriers, but you might. There are a lot of quality options out there.

I used pouch slings, a Baby K'tan, a stretchy wrap, and now I am using woven wraps. I prefer the K'tan to a stretchy wrap, and they are both only really comfortable until the baby gets to 15 pounds or so, so neither is all that practical to me. NEVER back carry in a stretchy wrap like a Moby or Sleepy Wrap. It is very dangerous and the baby can fall out.

 

[Belle72]

I used a hotsling until 6 or 7 months--ergo from 6 months on. Hotsling was very portable and easy to use while babies were little. I went to a baby wearing class and tried a few on to see what worked for me! good luck!

 

[SweetMissy]

Here's a visual of the difference between crotch danglers like Baby Bjorn and Snugli:

It shows the importance of using a carrier that places a baby in a seated position, not hanging by their crotch. There are plenty of carriers that place baby in the correct position, including but not limited to Ergo, Boba, Beco, Olives & Applesauce and Babyhawk, as well as wraps and ring slings when used correctly. Baby Bjorn and Infantino front packs are of the first type in this image that is not recommended.

For Disney I would recommend a soft structured carrier like Ergo, Boba, Beco, Babyhawk, etc. It'll give you and the baby the most support.

It's funny because a friend of mine on facebook just posted this picture, lol. How interesting...I didn't know this. Thanks for the info!

 

[chimilady]

Ok, I've heard a little bit how the baby bjorn isn't safe. What exactly is the difference between that and the ergo? They both seem to look like the same.

It's the hips. When in a bjorn, the hips are not held in the sockets properly. It could lead to mis-alignment, so if the hips aren't even, then the spine is off, which means the neck is off, which could lead (and in my case did) to Torticollis, which means we had to plunk down 2K for one of those fancy helmets for my DD and have other parents look at us, shoot dirty looks and make assumptions that my DD cracked her skull open. Granted it could be caught easily with a good doctor, but I was lacking a good doctor. Needless to say, I switched practices after that.

 

[SweetMissy]

It's the hips. When in a bjorn, the hips are not held in the sockets properly. It could lead to mis-alignment, so if the hips aren't even, then the spine is off, which means the neck is off, which could lead (and in my case did) to Torticollis, which means we had to plunk down 2K for one of those fancy helmets for my DD and have other parents look at us, shoot dirty looks and make assumptions that my DD cracked her skull open. Granted it could be caught easily with a good doctor, but I was lacking a good doctor. Needless to say, I switched practices after that.

That really stinks. I'm sorry! Is she ok now? I really think something needs to be done about this if these carriers are not safe. Is there some sort of warning that comes with the carrier?

 

[LaurenLC]

We have a Beco Gemini and we love, love, love it! It's been worth every penny!

 

[chinchiller]

Here's a website with a really good comparison chart of the major carrier brands:

http://www.theportablebaby.com/carrierfeatures.html

 

[adventure_woman]

My favorite information for finding out all the different carriers is this:

http://betterbabywearing.blogspot.com/2010/03/babyweaing-overload.html

Also - if you go on babycenter on the babywearing group they have all the information you'd ever want!

When DD was little, I LOVED my stretchy wrap (like a Moby). But, it is really only good until she was about 4 mths (about 16lbs?). They just get too heavy and start to sag because well...the material is stretchy! If you don't want to spend the money, you can also make a stretchy wrap (the website above tells you what kind of fabric to get and you can just watch the video on Youtube of how to tie it. It is actually really easy and ohhhhh so comfortable!)

(please ignore me - I think she was only 5 days old in this picture!)

I now have a buckle carrier (mine is a Minnie Mouse Robyn's Nest Birdie Buckle). I got it on the Babywearer.com website. They have a lot of great carriers there a little cheaper than you would buy them new. This is what I wore my DD in at WDW and on DCL. At WDW she was 19 mths and I wore her all the time - especially sleeping for hours on end. While hot in August, it was better to have her sleep than deal with a cranky baby!

I also have a Mei Tei, which is great. Those are nice because if you just want to get one carrier (which won't happen - you'll get more than one ), you don't have to keep adjusting the straps everytime the other person wants to wear baby. I would just recommend getting x-long straps. I have a Wrapstar - love it. This was my favorite before I got 'Minnie'.