Baby's foot turning blue in ring sling

[KSDoulaMama]

I searched posts for this one and didn't come up with anything except a thread someone else started and no one ever responded to.

I carry my 2.5 month old in a ring sling. It is comfortable for me and she really enjoys being carried in it. Although she is pretty young, she is a fairly large girl and also quite strong. I carry her in a hip carry. The bottom rail is snug, but not overly tight and I make sure it goes to her knees, so her whole butt and thighs are supported. She is snuggled in close to my body and she really seems to love it, but someone pointed out to me that her foot turns purple when I do this. I don't want to cut off circulation to her foot... is there a way I can avoid this? Is she just too young for this hold? She really hates being carried in a way that her feet are constrained at all, and this was working really well, so I'd really like to make it work!

Suggestions?

[clovergirl]

Is it just one foot or both? It could be that you don't have a deep enough pocket and that the lower rail is taking the brunt of her weight. Is her bum lower then her knees? If not, try loosening the sling aout 1/3 up from the bottom rail so that there's more room for her bum. That could help.

Hope you figure it out!

[KSDoulaMama]

It is just the foot that is on the opposite side of the sling than the rings, if that makes sense. I think you might have a point. I tried tightening the area under her bum to try and support it more, but it makes sense I'd need a deeper pocket. I'll try that out next time. She is currently asleep on my chest in the Moby...

[cchrissyy]

Yeah, that should definitely not be happening. I wish I could see in person - could you maybe post a photo?

[P.J.]

I have a similar thing going on w/my DS, who's also 2.5 m.o., while carrying him in the Moby used in their sling position. We only just tried that position out for the first time today though so I have to keep at it and check everything mentioned here. We'll see....

[lazzybee]

Originally Posted by clovergirl

Is it just one foot or both? It could be that you don't have a deep enough pocket and that the lower rail is taking the brunt of her weight. Is her bum lower then her knees? If not, try loosening the sling aout 1/3 up from the bottom rail so that there's more room for her bum. That could help.

This is probably it. I stopped using our pouch sling for a while because this always happened--then when I made sure his legs didn't hang, but wrapped up around my torso (hope that makes sense), it worked fine! When a baby has their bottom deep in the sling, the material will kind of pull their legs upward.

Good luck!

[Asiago]

Perhaps try sliding her more over your hip. I find that when I do a hip carry my son is often a bit more toward the front of my body (than he should be) and the sling is too tight over that rear leg.

[KSDoulaMama]

Thanks mamas! Making the pocket deeper and moving her more off to the side helped... I think when she was pulled more to the front, the lower rail had to dig into her leg more, which cut off some of the circulation. I am now checking her foot all the time, but it has not been blue any more!

[Asiago]

That good news! Thanks for the update.

[clovergirl]

Yay! So glad you figured it out. Happy babywearing to you!

[cchrissyy]

that's great!