New baby too big for ERGO?

[Leningradka]

My (almost) 6 week old son is 12 lbs 12 oz. I have an ERGO with Heart2Heart newborn insert. On the instructions, it says that it should only be used up to 12 lbs. I do feel like he may be too big for it, but I also feel like he is still too little to be comfortable with his legs spread apart in the ERGO alone. When he is in the insert, his head is above it, and kinda bobbing when we walk. I am pretty short (5 ft), and I felt that wearing my ergo around my waste was too high, so I tried it around my hips, but his little feet seem to be slipping between my belly and the waste strap. I feel that no matter how much you tube I watch, I am doing something wrong. Any suggestions or previous experiences? Thank you in advance

[cat13]

Horray for big newborns! My DS was 10lbs at birth and I felt like he was a little too big for the H2H insert, so I got rid of it.  I preferred to use my ring sling until DS was a little bigger, but DH really wanted to make the ergo work. So we took a rolled up receiving blanket and stuffed it into the bottom of the ergo to make a little seat for DS to sit up on, kinda like the little ball of fabric that comes with the H2H. Other people told me they would swaddle their babe too, but it was way too hot for that so I never tried.

Also, when he was *almost* big enough to have legs out, but not quite, I would have 1 leg froggied and the other leg sticking out. But I have to admit that the ergo just wasn't really a great option for me until DS was a little bigger and could have both legs out comfortably.

[clovergirl]

As the previous poster said, you could try to see if just using the pillow part of the H2H insert works.  Even though your DS is big for his age, it's likely that he won't start fitting well into the body/seat of the Ergo until 4mo or so.  You can play around with trying to make some modifications, but in my experience most soft structured carriers like the Ergo are best suited to babies 4-6mo and up.  Sometimes you can "make it work" with a newborn by using an insert or making other modifications, but many people find they run into an "in-between" stage where the baby is too big for the newborn modifications but not big enough to use the carrier as it stands alone.  Your experience is pretty common, actually.

You may find that a different type of carrier works and fits him better at this point.  A ring sling or a woven wrap would be my recommendation; both types of carriers are just fabric, so it's easy to accommodate different sized babies in them (there's no set seat width or panel height like with the Ergo).  Investing in a different type of carrier would likely be a good idea, especially if you plan to wear the baby a lot.  It's nice to have a couple of different options. :)   
 

[Brambleberry]

A friend with a mai tai carrier put a folded cereal box tucked behind the baby to keep her head from flopping when she fell asleep (the mai tai doesn't have a hood like the ergo).  This is with an older baby, for a different purpose, but something like that in conjunction with the H2H pillow under the bottom might work.

[KateeKat]

The Ergo Heart2Heart insert should be used until around 5months old- it is not a weight min/max- it also has to do with the child's development. Because the Ergo is not designed for young children, a child needs to be able to have proper head and neck control before using the Ergo alone. The child's head should not be bobbing over top of the insert- the insert ought to be high enough on the back of the child's neck and head so that they are not coming out over top of it. If they are tall you can remove the pillow piece and just use the.. taco piece. His legs ought to be frogged in the Ergo if he wants them to be. If you pick him up and he is a frog- let him be a frog, but if you pick him up and his legs dangle then you can let his feet stick out of the carrier, still using the insert. 

As for the fit of the Ergo on you - it is generally supposed to be worn on the top of the hips so that the child's weight is really sitting on your hips. However, with a 10lb child this is not a big deal- the hip belt was designed more with 20lb children in mind. Wherever the weight feels best distributed is best for you :) 

It can be a very awkward carrier with that newborn insert- you are not alone!