Attached to Baby

All,

I've enjoyed this website but to be honest I am in awe with all the choices of the baby carriers available.  I see that there is a wide range of prices, designs, and makes, but I wanted something simple in color (black), easy and secure to learn how to use, and elegant at the same time (k, not very bohemian looking if that says anything).  Question: how secure is it to carry a small newborn in a wrap sidewise along one waist?  My only fear is that a child may slip from underneath, but I am sure that the materials are secure enough to where that won't happen.  If someone could throw out name of good, reliable brands and makes to me I wouold greatly appreciate it.  My first child, I used a Snugli which was disgusting!!  Hated it!!  I could never get him out of it and I thought it was cutting off circulation in his leg.  Of course, I used that once and gave it away.  These look more easy to use so I am interested.  Again, thanks for anybodies input!!

Jen

Welcome Jen!

It can be overwhelming to look at all the different types of carriers when Bjorns/Snuglis are all that are widely available.

Personally I found a pouch to be the easiest carrier to learn with. Others I know are big ring sling fans. It's really just a matter of preference.

My suggestion to you would be to find a local NINO (Nine In Nine Out) Group to meet with. That way you can try out several different types of carriers before you decide on one (or 10! ). If there is not a NINO group in your area I'd say you can't go wrong with a pouch or ring sling to start with. Angela (owner of ATB gives outstanding Customer Service). Good luck to you momma!  

I agree with PP about the sling.  That is the first carrier I had and I think that was a good starting point. I have since gotten a ring sling, wrap and mei tai.  I haven't used the mei tai yet (just got it the other day).  I love my wrap most right now because DD squirms too much in the slings at times.  So, depending on what I am doing, the wrap might be best.  I can't wait to try out my mei tai this weekend.  I personally think that having a regular pouch sling first would make having a ring sling easier.  A ring sling is easy enough to use, but I think having had a pouch sling first and knowing what the fit was supposed to be like made the ring sling easier for me when adjusting it.  But that's just my take on it.  The wrap isn't hard to use, there is just a bigger learning curve because of all the fabric and different tying choices.

As far as brand, I have a Hotslings pouch sling and I like it.  They are pretty highly recommended.  The ring slings I have are a Zolowear (highly recommended) and an Oopa (also highly recommended, gorgeous, but a bit pricey).  The wrap I have is a Didymos (again, highly recommended and a little more expensive than others).  My mei tai carrier is a BabyHawk (again, highly recommended).  All of my recommendations I got from ladies here on the ATB forum and they steered me in great directions.  I love all the carriers that I have!!

That being said, I think you are going to get a good product with anything that you buy here at ATB.  They sell all good quality stuff.  As the PP said, a lot of it is personal preference on style, color, design, material, etc.

Best of luck.  HTH!!!

How about a hotslings pouch or a maya lightly padded in black. The maya padding is on the shoulder only, not on the rail so it's easy to adjust thru the rings. You probably woudn't wear a brand new newborn in a hip carry, but with either a pouch or ringsling you could do a cradle type carry when they are brand new & then as they get bigger, move to a hip carry.

 Maybe it helps to see some pictures of wearing - here are the instructions for hotslings that show age ranges;

http://www.hotslings.com/wearing/

 Here's the maya info, a few pictures &  a pdf to download with instructions so you can see how it works:

http://www.mayawrap.com/p_sps.php

I think the website for Nino is www.nineinnineout.org/  but it's not working for me at the moment

 HTH!