I have 2 types of baby carriers that I keep mulling over.
1) The first is the babyhawk but I am unsure if I want to spend that much money on a carrier. I also don't know about all that tying and fabric. The babyhawk's are beautiful with lots of different fabrics and strap colours to chose from but the cost of approx $100 + shipping has me thinking twice. This is our last baby and I am not sure I would get my money's worth out of it.
I didn't wear my other 2 children (because I only had a basic cheap carrier that didn't feel stable) so I haven't had the experience doing it to know if I'll keep up with it.
2) The second one I'm looking at is the Hotslings... mostly because it is super cheap in comparison and appears to be very simple for both me and my husband to wear. I can buy them at Target or other places so I get the benefit of trying one on to be sure they fit nicely. My questions with this type of carrier (I've also looked at the Peanut Shell slings) is how practical it is for carrying a baby that is past the young infant stage? I would think at the minimum our baby will be 7-8 months old when we travel so I think she would like the front facing or hip depending on her age and development. Can this type of sling comfortably support (and keep a baby happy) from the age of 6 months-18months? I have big boobs and am a size 14 so I'm not sure also about fit or if this type sling is only good for the skinny chicks. Ha! Be honest!
So, I keep on with my research and am trying to pass my time without obsessing too much on when our referral will come. Honestly though, it is February - I can't believe we are still here in the same spot...
Ooops, I said I wasn't going to obsess.
On the research front: I went and talked to a woman at a store that carries a big variety of cloth diapers, including the gdiaper system I was considering. After looking at all the styles and types of cloth plus looking at the prices I think I've decided on the Bumgenius one-size diapers. They are pretty neat because of a special snap system that makes the outer cover expand as your baby grows. For anyone in my area, Small World in Belleville carries this brand. If anyone has used these let me know if you like them or not.
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I've had both carriers and the babyhawk was well worth the price (for me). The hotsling pouches just weren't very comfortable--especially once Will was older. And Will didn't like riding in the pouch sling much at all (but he loved the mei tais). I used the babyhawk (and my other mei tai) constantly until Will was totally walking. The hotsling I only used a handful of times.
The babyhawk isn't hard to tie (unlike some of the other "true" wraps)--when family members visited they only had to see me do it once before they were doing it, too.
I will say that I think either carrier will be uncomfy if you're doing a lot of walking around in the heat. We wore Will in a mei tai and pouch sling in DC one hot June and it was a sweaty proposition no matter which carrier you used.
And depending on how old she is when you get to bring her home, you might save the money and skip the carrier all together. I got a ton of use out of mine and did use it around the year mark, but the vast majority of use was from birth-nine months.
Are there any babywearing groups near you? Or maybe that you can join online? That way you could try out a couple of different carriers and see which one you think you'd be most likely to use. I just know that for me, I'd save the money versus buy a hotsling for the 6+ months because I never loved mine, especially once Will was bigger.
Oops! I also forgot to mention that we used BumGenius diapers, too. I had the 1.0 version, though, and I think the complaints had about them have been fixed. The grippier tabs and insert stopper would have been awesome for us. My colored bumGenius all faded terribly, but I had the first colored ones, so maybe they've fixed that. I did prefer fuzzibuns to the bumGenius, but the fuzzibuns have the "buy each size" issue.
I would get a few joey bunz hemp inserts for the bumGenius (they can be used with any pocket diapter). They are more absorbent than the microfiber, so they're awesome for naps and bedtime. And they're thinner, so you can layer them without it getting crazy. (For bedtime we'd do two hemp inserts with one microfiber.) Definitely check out cloth wipes, too--that saved us a TON of money, and it makes more sense because you just throw the dirty dipes and wipes in the same place (versus having to throw paper wipes in the trash and dirty dipes in the pail).
Thanks for the website with GREAT prices on Hotslings!!
I used a ring sling with my son and plan to again with this baby, but I have heard great things about the pouch slings.
With Gabe we had a hotsling and a baby bjorn. After around the 6 month mark I can't say that I used it very often, if at all!
What I found was the hotsling got really uncomfortable on my shoulder as he got heavier and the baby bjorn was a bit better when he was older, but we still didn't get a lot of use out of it.
Hope this helps!
We use bumgenius with Poppy and love them, although they did take a while to get used to. We were having a lot of leaks at first, but it was because I wasn't putting the right insert in, and we use disposables at night because of leaking. And it took a while to get into the laundering routine (washing and drying at night so that they were ready to go in the am) but now that we've worked out all of the kinks, I absolutely love them!
i didn't wear my girls either becuase i had a cheap carrier as well.
i ordered a hotsling for our newest addition. i have not used it for long period of time, but addie would sit in it happily around the house at 2.5 years old (i was just playing with it). i don't know how she would do out with it, but she seemed to like it.
i do not have big boobs, so i can't help you out there :)
There was a mom on the China Adoption Yahoo Group that invented a carrier called the Hip Hammock. We bought one from her and it worked well for us. I liked it because most of our daughter's weight sat on my hips. She was 14 pounds when we adopted her and we used it comfortably for hours on end while we toured around China. I was able to use it up until our daughter was approx. 30 pounds.
I've got a canadian made ring sling by heart to heart and a modern version of the Snugli...quick and easy to get baby out of when sleeping. You can borrow either or both if the mood strikes you. I have to admit to hardly using them...2 pound is a lot of pounds to be carrying around and he likes changing position while sleeping m=in my arms.
B
I use both a hotsling and an ergo. The hotsling is nice because it comes in different sizes. Even though Aiden was 6 months old, he loved the front newbornish carry. I was between sizes so I went the the bigger hotsling so I haven't used it as a hip carrier yet but plan to.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the ergo. It is more expensive than the babyhawk but I like the support it provides and it goes up to 45 pounds on the back carry. I know that babyhawk can be useds similarly, but I liked the ease of the 2 straps when compared to all of the tying involved in a mei tai.
Good luck!
HI Leslie :)
My 2 cents on the slings.
I have one hotsling, and one like the hotslig from a woman on etsy. I very much preferred this style of carrier for when my little pie was itty bitty. I'm a size 12 with boobs and she was nice and snuggly and put her right to sleep when she was fussy.
I haven't tried the babyhawk, but it's similarly styled to the bjorn, which I also have. The bjorn was not at all useful when J was in her first few months. She fits in it nicely now, now that her head doesn't need to be supported, but I find that I almost never use the bjorn. I guess we just aren't ever going out anywhere that we aren't using the infant carrier/stroller. Maybe more this summer, don't know. I haven't tried my hotsling now that J is a little bigger, but I don't see it being as comfortable as it was when she was bitty.
I have several friends who use the Bum Genius diapers and love them. We went with the Happy Heiny Diapers and they've been great--they, too, are pocket diapers and grow with the baby. As for carriers, we've used (and like) many. Our favorites are the Ergo, Moby & one I made from a pattern--but I'm forgetting the name.
I wore Owen for almost two years. I bought an Ergo. Hands down, the best carrier I ever used. I recommend them to everyone . . . well worth the money. SOOO comfortable for everyone.
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