Baby's feet in tummy-to-tummy (RS question)

[hyde]

Hi all,

I'm a newcomer to babywearing and am trying to troubleshoot ring sling usage with my six week old. Sometimes she takes to the sling well, other times she seems frustrated by being restrained and/or me not moving around enough for her tastes. I want to make sure the way her feet are positioned isn't contributing to any discomfort, but none of the tutorials seem to address this, and for legs-in of course the pictures don't show it either!

Could you describe how your young baby's feet and butt are positioned in this hold? (My girl's knees are bent up and her feet are bent at the ankle/flat against the bottom of the sling, so "froggied", I think, but her feet always end up under her butt and somehow I thought they should be more to the side, with her butt being the lowest or at least level with feet.) Also, at what age did you/"can" you switch to legs-out?

Thanks!

[MrsKoehn]

BUMP!

Have you tried looking up YouTubes? I have heard some babies are picky what sling, so maybe try another type? I don't know, I'm still waiting for my LO any day so I haven't any experience yet.

[HeatherBl]

My baby didn't like being "frog-legged" in the sling either.  In my sling she can go legs out in the hip position when she has excellent head control.  I started carrying her in a moby with her legs out and she does better with that.  She does best in her Ergo.  However, movement seems to be the secret - too much standing still in any carrier and she's unhappy.  I'm interested in what other people say.
 

[LamisDove]

If you think there might be too much weight on her feet, try pulling her feet out the bottom of the sling. Just make sure that the bottom "rail" of the sling is tucked up under her bum, and that her bum is lower than her knees (pouched). I had trouble with the sling at that age. Think of her as still being in training. :)

[LeeNYC]

I carried Miss Snuggles in a ring sling.  She was 8 or 9 lbs at that age - sometimes I had her head towards the ring; more often I think we had her feet towards the ring.  Her feet were definitely inside, and she liked it fine.  Definitely experiment -  there's not One Right Way to do things.
 

[bouncymummy]

My little guy didn't like the ring sling at that age; he was much happier in his wrap.  Now that he's 5 mths he loves the ring sling and we can use it in tummy to tummy with his feet either in or out, or in the cradle carry position (his favourite!).  I would suggest looking up some videos on youtube, I found the Snuggybaby ones to be most helpful.