Please help me understand this

[BRmama]

Please help me understand this. I've worn my baby a few times now in public and I love it. I have a ring sling and ds loves to sit and watch everything around him. He's four months. Anyway yesterday he was kind of fussy and I needed to get some things done around the house so I went to wear him with my sling. I proceeded to put him in and he almost fell out of my arms and into the floor. I caught him on time and he just thought that it was a silly game and laughed. I obviously was mortified. Needless to say I didn't wear him at all yesterday.

Now I know there are a lot of benefits to babywearing and I love wearing him which is why I'm writing this. I don't want to stop wearing him. Do you think four months is too small for a ring sling? Or should I be using another carrier that I'm unaware of? I consider myself still new at all of this but would love to continue wearing my baby safely. Anyway thanks for reading and please help me understand what I may have done wrong.

[shelleyd]

He's definitely not too young for a ring sling. I've worn my dd in a ring sling since she was less than a week old.

Are you wearing him on your hip so that he's sitting in it with his legs out the bottom? If so, make sure that the fabric under his butt goes all the way to his knees so that he's sitting in a nice deep pocket. Also make sure it is nice and tight under his butt and very high up his back is nice and tight too.

If you're wearing him on your front facing out kangaroo style, I would make sure that it is a nice deep pocket he's in. It should be high up his back and high up on his front. If you are doing the kangaroo style, you may want to try switching him to your hip with his legs out.

Good luck.

[BRmama]

Thanks shelleyd, yeah I wear him kangaroo style and normally that works fine. Now that this incident happenned I'm going to try to switch him to my hip with his legs out and see if he likes it. I'll just have to see some videos on that particular hold because I've never done it before. Thanks again

[CindyCindy]

Remember that the knees should be higher than the bum. It creates a seat for baby that he should not be able to fall out of if it is tight enough.

[Quirky]

I think it totally depends on his position. He always needs to be in the pocket, there should be fabric between your body and his, and the sling needs to be adjusted tightly so that he's firmly held against you.

Almost any good-quality carrier can be used incorrectly.....so as long as you have a good-quality, easy-to-adjust ring sling, it's just a question of learning how to use it properly.

www.zolowear.com has some excellent pictorial and video instructions on using a sling correctly.

That said, you might also be more comfortable as he gets bigger with a two-shoulder carrier such as a wrap, mei tai, or soft structured carrier. I find that babies are more secure in these because more of their bodies are inside the carrier and there's not the same opening at the top of the pocket, so it's easier to be more active without worrying about keeping a hand on baby.

There's nothing inherently unsafe about a ring sling used correctly, but a ring sling is also not quite as hands-free as a two-shoulder carrier IME. Esp. if you're trying to get things done around the house and would like to have both hands free.

[Adasmommy]

I think you'll like a hip carry better than facing out--holds the baby closer to your body which is more comfortable.

The ring sling should be safe, used correctly, so be careful and keep at it!

Just make sure the fabric is holding him tight against you--this should be the case in any carrier.

[mckittre]

Be careful of a baby who straightens his legs if you put him in-facing on your hip. I've tried to follow the "knees higher than bum" advice with my baby, which works for approximately 2 seconds. Then he stretches out and straightens his legs and his knees are back below his bum again. (I usually wear him in a wrap, but wanted to use the sling since it looked like it might be easier to feed him in it).