Very petite mom, and newborn- best sling/pouch?

[Gnatty]

A friend of mine is due in a few weeks. She is REALLY petite- I'd guess maybe 100 lbs before pregnancy (and it just slid right off last time, this is #2), and around 5'2". She never had a sling or any type of carrier for #1, but seems really interested in one this time.

I plan on making her a mei tai, since I can show her how to use it, but I think a wrap would be overwhelming for her because of the steeper learning curve. (Plus, I don't know how to use a wrap yet, so I couldn't show her...)


Any recommendations/ideas/thoughts?

TIA!

[shelleyd]

I'm the same size as your friend and I love my ring sling. There is a small learning curve with it but it is so much better than a pouch in my opinion. I can adjust it to fit me perfectly depending on my baby's position. I also have a mt and a wrap that I use and really like but I absolutely couldn't live without my ring sling. My ring sling and my breasts are the absolute essentials for a baby, everything else is negotiable!

Mine is a TaylorMade that I bought used on The Babywearer when dd1 was a baby.

[baturay]

She could do almost any carrier in the market really. Most are adjustable, so she'd adjust it for her fit and for her baby. She could do a ring sling, a soft structured carrier like beco or Pikkolo, she could do a mei tai with a short body like a Freehand, she can very much still do a wrap, but she'd get a shorter one. I have a friend that is even smaller than that and she uses a 3.5m wrap just fine.

[ommom]

hi! i'm 5'1" 110 lbs. and the maya ring sling & moby wrap have worked. so far i love the moby best. we're probably going to get an ergo or beco butterfly tho i've heard petite women prefer the beco to the ergo.

[radishes]

I'd definitely get something adjustable for her. I'm 5'4 and 105 pounds with small bones and I couldn't find a pouch in the world that wasn't saggy. In fact, a lot of carriers that had buckles wouldn't tighten enough for me either. I think a mei tai or wrap would be perfect because you have so much flexibility in tightening it.

[ChetMC]

Ring Sling

I'm 5'7, but I have a very small frame and a small upper body. I normally weigh around 112 pounds, and I've always done well with ring slings. I find that the tail can sometimes be very long, but I just got my MIL to cut some off and use the fabric to make a pocket (like the one that comes on the Maya Wrap ring sling).

I have not had luck with carriers that weren't adjustable. The size chart for Hot Slings wasn't reliable for me at all, and when I tried on various sizes at the store none of them really seemed to work well.

I have a Beco Butterfly, which I wore cinched almost as tight as it could go before I got pregnant. It fits me fine. I have a lot of extra strap, but I can wrap it around and tuck it into the spot where the sleeping hood is stored.