what's the trick to the sling?

[YiddisheMama]

b'h

i mean, like how do you clean chickens with baby in the sling? or clean the bathroom? etc?

with dd1, we used the baby bjorn, with dd2, i'm using a sling. sometimes we use a backpack (she's 7 months old), but she prefers the sling (of course), but i'm not completely hands free...so how do you get stuff done?

[jessikate]

I wait until she's napping :LOL

Seriously, though, I've just started carrying her in the kangaroo position, and I find that my hands are a lot more free this way. I still don't do a whole lot while she's in the sling, but I can at least fix myself a bowl of yogurt & granola this way.

Can you hold your babe on your back with your sling? That might be what you need to do to have your hands free to make dinner.

If you need help with positions, http://www.mayawrap.com has streaming video available of all sorts of different holds. Helped me a lot!

[Piglet68]

At 7 months your baby is able to sit up and hold their head up fine? Then try the back carry. I have a Maya Wrap sling and we're using this alot these days (sick baby in mommy-velcro mode!). You put them in the hip carry, tuck their head under your armpit while you lean over, scootch baby around to your back (you are tipped over so baby is lying on your flattened back) then cinch them up. There's a video for this on www.mayawrap.com

This is the best carrying position of all for housework. You are totally hands free and baby is out of harms way. Just be careful when you turn around and go through doorways!

edited to add: moving this to Life With a Babe...lots of sling experts there!

[becca29]

A fcouple things I found so far....

Realize what chores you can and can't do in a sling. For example, I can't really cook dinner, but I can get it prepped (chop veggies, open cans, etc.) before I put him down to cook. I can water the garden, but can't weed it. I definetly can't clean the bathroom! So do what you can in the sling, and save the other stuff for when your babe is sleeping or in the mood to be put down. It took awhile, but now DS actually likes hanging out in his stroller when I get to the cooking part. He watches me, and I usually talk or sing to him while I work until DH gets home and takes over.

Just try it out and take your time. Some days DS will easily sleep in his stroller while I do dishes, but other days he doesn't want to go down. While I admit it is MUCH easier and quicker to wash dishes without DS in his sling, I can do it if I take my time and realize that it takes twice as long. I guess the biggest thing is to practice, but to also realize that it's okay to put him down when I need to do something.