A little sling help please

[PJsmomma]

Hi--my pastor's wife had a very fussy newborn and I suggested she pop over to my resale store and try out a sling. She did and the baby loves it!! I am quite happy about that. He settled down, is happy and is actually chubby!!! I was so excited to see him today.

Anyway, she said she feels better cause he's not always screaming but her back hurts she says a little--(I haven't used mine for along time--baby is 2 so dont' remember if that's normal or not) It looks like she has it on right and she looked at my instruction book and Dr Sears book about it.
Any tips? It's a Sling Eazee by Parenting concepts--

Also, she says he wont' let her lay him down in it--it worked twice but now he wakes right up til she puts him back in it--she has 4 other little girls so I'm sure she really does need to put him down sometimes. Any tips on that?

She did say that he is more content when he's out of it and will look around and coo at things (he really was very grumpy!!)

Also she wanted to know how long he'll want to be carried constantly--


I look at it as very exciting and how thankful I am for them that he settled down and is gaining weight and what a lucky little boy he is, I just want to help her a little so she really sees how great this is

This may be my first "convert" toward natural parenting and I"m tooting my own horn!!

malissa

[Mirzam]

Make sure she is wearing the sling high and snug enough, if the baby is carried too low it will hurt your back after a short while. Check that she is wearing the baby above above her waist and that the shoulder pad should be on the ball of her shoulder and the fabric of the sling is spread out across her back. This way it will help bear the load. Also make sure she has it adjusted tight enough, especially the top rail. It might be that the sling is too big for her if she can't get the rails adjusted snugly.

Have her try the baby in the kangaroo position facing out with his legs crossed under him tailor fashion or in the tummy to tummy position. Here is the link to the Sling Ezee instructions.

As for how long he will be content to be carried, well that depends on the baby! I carried mine almost constantly until they could creep/crawl and sit up on their own. But I still wore them long after that. I still sling my three year old on occasion and my five year old would love to ride in the sling still if she could!

HTH

Deborah

[mrzmeg]

I found unpadded slings (like the Maya) and wrap-around slings (like the Baby Bundler and Ultimate Baby Wrap) to be *much* more comfortable than padded slings like the Sling Ezee. If she really wants to try to find something better, maybe she could try one of those? I know that some Maya-selling WAHMs have a no questions asked return policy for slings. Mayas are easier to learn than wrap-around slings.
Tristan has never liked laying down in slings. He sleeps in them all the time. I just cinch him up facing me very close to my chest and he falls asleep like that. You can't do that position with most padded slings, though, because they don't get tight enough.
Yay for you for helping that mama out!