Slings

www.slinglings.com
Their slings are awesome, simple and come in a variety of sizes. I also have a carrier from www.twomamasdesigns.com and it was great when my son was heavier. I could wear him on the front facing out or on my back like a backpack. Hope this helps!

Hi E.,

Check the web. Good luck. D.

We tried a few different slings too. My husband found this on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/FREEDOM-SLINGS-PADDED-THRIFTY-BABY-CA...
This is my favorite to this day, my son is 1 1/2 yrs old. He loves it too.
Their main website is
http://www.freedomslings.co.uk/
Unfortunately not local, but I tried 4 others and was determined to find the right one.
These slings are tricky to get the hang of, but once you do-it is amazing. You can choose your length and fabric. Also, the padded one (the first link above) is wonderful for a newborn. My son slept and breastfed in it - lived in it practically.
My husband and I each have one.
Congratulations too!!

Hi, E.! Congrats on the expected arrival of your newest family member! What an exciting time!!!

I actually make baby slings for my company, THING-A-MA-SLING, LLC. I make unpadded ring slings that hold children from birth to 35 lbs. They are ALL machine washable & dryable an have oversized, built-in pockets, so you have room to hold your wallet, keys, cell, sippy cup, a toy or two, etc.... You can even put a diaper & some wipes in there so that you don't always have to lug the diaper bag everywhere! :-)

The slings are also designed so that the fabric spreads out nice & wide accross your neck/shoulders & back, to distribute the childs weight over a large area of muscles, thereby reducing strain & increasing comfort.

I make them from a large variety of materials & have a large selection in stock right now. I do, however, specialize in custom orders. I also make "Mini-Thingy" doll slings for children to carry their dolls/stuffed animals in, just like mommy!

Most of my slings are cotton, so they're good all year round. I do have a SMALL selection of Solarveil slings left (the fabric, sadly, was discontinued), which is awesome in summer!

I am offering 10% off right now by entering coupon code "HH08" in checkout & if you live anywhere close to Easton, you can enter coupon code "LOCAL" to pick up your sling & save yourself shipping charges (I do NOT charge a handling fee).

My website is www.ThingaMaSling.com . Please feel free to check it out when you have a chance to. If you have any questions, you can email me or call me at 1-877-SLING-99.

I hope that you enjoy the rest of your pregnancy & have a beautiful birth!
Blessings,
A.

I have a Peanut Shell sling and I LOVe it! It was about $50 and its worth it. It very similar to a Hot Sling in design. My sister made her own ring sling and still uses it on occasion when she watches her friens very little ones. She used it with her twin. A good place to look for a well made sling is Etsy.com. It features all handmade products, with teh bulk of items made by WAHMs. Just look for the style that you deside on :)

There are so many wonderful styles of carriers out there. I had a mammasmilk.com sling with my first 2 along with a mei tai from a work-at-home mom. I am 8 months pg right now and I just bought a sling from slinglings.com, which I love and received a Moby wrap from a friend that I know I will use for years - they are good from preemie to 35 pounds!

Basically, if you know what style you want; sling, mei tai, wrap, etc. you can go on thebabywearer.com and read reviews on all the different manufacturers. There are a lot of great ones out there and once I found some good ones, I chose from the one that had the design/pattern I liked the most.

Hi E.!

There are lots of different carriers out there, and it can get really overwhelming with all the choices out there. I'm not sure what area of the city you live in, but if you can find a way to Point Breeze, you should check out a Pittsburgh Babywearers meeting (www.pittsburghbabywearers.com - I'm the one in the bottom picture on the left hand side). The next meeting is on Saturday (the 11th) at 3pm. There is also a regular daytime meeting later on in the month at the Panera Bread by Magee-Womens Hospital. There are lots of really nice ladies there and lots of carriers to try out and even some that you can borrow. In any event, you can get lots of advice and get ideas on what you might like. Hope that helps.

I've been using a Hotsling pouch sling since our daughter was a few weeks old. She was born in May and it worked well in the summer. She liked it so much I bought one for my husband. She's eight months old and still enjoys being in it. You can find them at hotslings.com, but I think I got mine from babysnazz.com for nearly half off, so you might want to check there.

I like my Hotsling for little babies. Ring slings are a pain with all the adjusting IMO and I'm always afraid I'll do something wrong and it'll come undone with the baby in it. Wraps are frustrating and takes lots of practice. I had another sling called Mamma's Milk and I did not like it at all. I returned it.

E.
I absolutely love me Kiddie cradles sling. I can still use it for my little girl who will be 3 in Feb. It's adjustable (very easy to do) so you don't have to make sure you get the right size and there are lots of different material types even one that you can take in water. the website is www.kiddiecradles.com
hope this helps you.

love the moby wrap. you can use it how ot is most comfortable for you and your growing baby. it's basically a long piece of fabric that you wrap in a few ways to hold your baby and it's only about $30 and comes in a ton of colors. my 12 week old has liked it since the second day he was born.

The hotslings are great they are pouch sling that can also be very easily made as well. There is also a Mei tai. They are great for little ones as well but take some getting used to when you are wearing them on your back. I would stay away from the Baby Bjorn While a lot of people buy these, they really aren't that great for the baby's back when you wear them facing forward(my sil is a chiropractor:)
There are also wraps that work well and are super cheap. You can make a lot of these yourself if you are handy with sewing
V.