So, I have a new baby niece, and a sil who is ready to get the hell out of the house after being cooped up recovering from surgery for the last 2 weeks. She is very short and very skinny and just texted me asking me to bring a sewing kit when I come visit tomorrow so I can cut the extra five miles of excess fabric off her new Moby wrap. Now, I have a sewing pattern I bought a few years ago for baby slings in different sizes, which overall seems cheaper and about as easy as chopping up her probably rather expensive Moby. Plus the pouch style seems like it would lend itself better to discreet breastfeeding (and be a lot faster and easier to put on).
What I hadn’t noticed before offering to just make her a sling is that there’s a note on the pattern envelope saying these aren’t for babies under 4 months. I’m not sure why that is, except as possibly a CYA measure–there’s no stiffened back/neck support, and if you were being careless you could crunch and suffocate a small baby, but that’s true of all the commercial pouch slings I’ve looked at. But I know next to nothing about baby slings or newborn babies, so there’s probably some glaring danger I’m simply not seeing. This pattern also calls for a stretch fabric, which seems like it would be more likely to sag down and scrunch the kiddo up.
What about it, folks? Is there some reason a newborn baby shouldn’t be in a pouch sling? Is it really better to use a stretch fabric like the pattern calls for, or am I right that that’s just borrowing trouble? Or would a ring-sling where the baby sits up instead of being cradled be safer? Should I just cut a few feet off the Moby and be done with it?
When I had my babies, I found the pouch style carriers incredibly difficult to use. In addition, my babies didn’t like them. I had a Baby Bjorn that I loved, and it worked great for me. The Moby thing also looks nice. But, in my own personal experience, getting a baby to be secure AND comfortable (and mom be comfortable!) in a plain fabric sling is more trouble than it’s worth, and I thought more straps, etc. was an improvement. I looked less like an adorable dirt farmer though, so that might be a factor for some of the crunchy granola types. Oh, and my sling was woven fabric, not knit, and I feel like knit would have caused all the issues you mention. But I don’t know for sure; my youngest is 9, so I’m sure pouch technology has improved.
Hope that helped a little. To sum up, I’d probably just chop up the Moby. Or buy a Baby Bjorn.
Thanks to hand-me-downs, I have a Maya wrap, a K’Tan, an Ergo, and a Bjorn. The K’Tan is made of cotton knit and is probably most like the Moby. I liked it better than the Maya because the fabric has some stretch, but I didn’t use either. I never felt like I could get the baby situated in a position that seemed safe in the sling-type carriers. Everyone I know prefers the Ergo. I didn’t start to use it until my baby had head control, but before that the infant insert seems to be useful.
But you didn’t ask about the Ergo. I guess my answer is that I would personally feel uncomfortable putting a newborn in a homemade carrier.
If there is a chapter of this organization near your sister-in-law, she might want to check them out. I heard they have lots of different types of carriers you can try out for free.
When the Small Boy was still the Tiny Boy I had a “peanut shell” pouch and, yes, it was basically just a bit of slightly stretchy material sewn into a cylinder. I used it a lot. It fucked with my back pretty good, but it was easy to put on, and the Tiny Boy actually liked it and would go to sleep in it, unlike pretty much all the other styles around.
The thing about a pouch is you have to make sure the baby is correctly positioned in it. This may vary depending on your size and your baby’s size, but the great thing is to make sure that their head is not folded over onto their chest, because that is uncomfortable for them and makes it hard to breathe. The way they put it in their instructions is “baby’s bottom on the seam” but I found that less than helpful since you can put the seam anywhere you want including behind your back and under your armpit! I aimed for “bottom at the lowest point, and head as far up as I could get it without slipping”
The other thing if you’re making your own is to make sure it’s not too loose (harder on mum’s back). Mine, when it had no baby in it, would hang down loosely from my right shoulder to just about the bone of my left hip, which was pretty much right. That also means that if anyone of very different body shape is likely to be carrying the baby often, they may need their own pouch sized for them.
Happy sewing!
ETA: I wouldn’t chop up the Moby until she’s sure it actually works for her and she likes it. I had a hugabub, which is basically the same, and I could never tie it right and my Tiny Folks hated it (see “could never tie it right” probably - they kept slipping off to the left and right). It would be a shame to chop it up and then find that it’s not really a useable option anyway.
Thanks for the feedback! I’m not sure that being similar to the Moby is exactly a selling point for sil at this point–she seemed awfully frustrated with the thing, though I’m not sure how much of that is the base complexity of putting it on, and how much is the insane amount of extra length making it that much harder to put on. I think I have some ridiculously long cuts of fabric upstairs, I might take one of them up with me to see if the length makes a difference or if she still hates it before we make any decisions about the Moby.
I was previously unfamiliar with the Bjorn or Ergo (no kids, no friends who are baby wearers), and they seem very secure. They seem like you’d have to take the baby out to nurse, though, at least if you didn’t want to flash the world. Anybody got any experience with that factor? Also, just how high up does the baby ride? SIL’s only 5’, it wouldn’t take much for the baby’s head to start obscuring her line of sight.
I guess we’ll just futz around and see what we come up with. Whether she decides to alter the Moby, have me make something, or buy something else, we’ll at least be getting her out and about. (Or I’ll get the baby out and about while she takes a nap, if they’ve had another rough night.)
If you’re checking out other options, count me in as another one who loved the Ergo. Very easy on the back, flexible, and you can use it for a long time (I was still giving the Small Girls Ergo rides at 2 and 3, where the occasion demanded it)
I have a friend who nurses in the Ergo, and it’s not very noticeable. Then again, she isn’t the type to be concerned with a flash of boob while nursing. Personally, if my baby needs to eat, I’d rather sit down and take a break. The Ergo is so easy to take on and off that I don’t see any reason to nurse while wearing it.
I think it’s adjustable enough to fit just about anyone. There are so many variables that affects fit. More important than her height is the length of her torso. If she is both short and relatively short waisted, carriers might not fit well. I prefer to wear mine high, around my waist, but you can wear it lower, on your hips as well.
The Ergo does the best job of distributing the baby’s weight, which becomes important as they get heavier. The other advantage of the Ergo over the Bjorn is that you can switch the baby to your back in the Ergo, which will save you back strain.
For both of our kids we used a very simple sling and carried them much like the woman in the upper right photo. In fact, that was the only way to get my daughter to sleep many nights. It worked for us.
I had a Slingaroo, a pouch sling and a Bjorn. The Slingaroo is basically a long piece of cloth with a ring on the end of it to adjust the sling. It was my favorite of the three. The Bjorn was easiest on the back, but the Slingaroo was easiest to store and I used it until my son was almost two (when he was 18 months old, we went to India and didn’t want to bring a stroller).
It was really flexible and convenient. My daughter would only settle for someone’s arms, so we didn’t use it as much with her, but for my son it was perfect. Both my kids hated the pouch style sling and actually I was kind of nervous to keep them there because it came too close to covering their faces.
I had looked at those ring-style slings, and it seems like it would be really good for running errands and stuff because it would be fast and easy to put on and you’d have a built-in hooter hider if someone needed to hit the milk bar. If nothing else, it seems like you could stash in a diaper bag and have it as a back-up. There’s a store reasonably nearby that sells the Maya sling, so we might pop over and try one out.
The other style I saw that looked flexible and reasonably easy to contend with is the mei tai carrier. Anybody ever used one of those?
You guys have all been really helpful, and I really appreciate it.
I’ve heard a couple of cases of very young babies suffocating in pouch type slings, and there are some warnings against this style now. The deal is that they cannot support any head weight and so their chin can get easily tucked into their chest cutting off their airway. Horrific to imagine, as you think it would be the safest place in the world to be. If you are wedded to this style, a washcloth tucked under their chin to keep the head up is an option.
I’d instead commend an upright carrier. I made a mai tai style (heaps of tutorials if you Google) which I used from day 1 until my daughter was almost 2 years old (it can be used in the front with a froggie tuck position, then turned around facing out, and later on the back like a backpack.
Post this age we moved to the Ergo which I’d recommend as it carries much of the weight on the hips, which some of the other styles don’t.
These are both good as you can keep the baby’s head propped up on your chest, and it’s wonderfully social when they are awake, I just chatted away to both my girls constantly as they stared at me in amazement.
I ordered a Maya. Looked nice, but I haven’t used it once. I had a big and heavy baby, who was calm and quiet so I didn’t need to calm him by carrying him around.
I like the ergo, but my favorite was the mai tai (the brand I used was babyhawk). Just more comfortable for me. I had trouble with the pouch, too much weight on one shoulder and I couldn’t get it adjusted right.
I haven’t used a Moby, but I did use a Monkey Wrap, you wrap them both pretty similarly so I’m surprised that she finds that there is too much fabric, with the Monkey Wrap you just wrap the excess around your waist, if there is too much hanging just wrap it around again. Maybe the Moby doesn’t allow that, but if it does I would recommend not modifying it. Mobys are expensive and shes could donate or sell it when she’s done with it, a modified Moby won’t be much use to most of the population (she’s skinny with a 2 week old baby? lucky girl).
I used a baby carrier a lot with my little guy, we lived in a townhouse with steep steps up to it for the first 6 months of his life so I only used the stroller when I had someone to help me carry it so I went a bit nuts with the baby carriers. Here are my opinions.
Monkey Wrap (probably Moby too): great for newborns since it holds them close to you and and you can approximate a swaddle when you wrap tightly, bit sticky in the summer though. Murder on the back, especially after they pass 10lbs or so.
Baby Bjorn: cheap and cheerful. I got the one with added lumbar support, I’m not sure how good it was compared to the other baby bjorns but I never had back problems using it. The baby wasn’t a huge fan of it, and I wasn’t happy having him front facing, you can’t really sleep comfortably in that position and crunchier types judge you for having a ‘crotch dangler’
Mei Tai: I got a Baby Hawk which was probably more expensive than other Mei Tais, but I don’t know if the quality is better. It’s great in that you can store it in the diaper bag and take it out if you want to walk them to sleep or ditch the stroller for whatever reason. Putting it on is pretty terrifying at first and I only really mastered the front carry. The baby liked it and I found it was really comfortable especially as he got older.
Beco Gemini: I still use for air travel with my 20 month old. It’s a really great baby carrier. It’s pretty much an advanced Mei Tai in the structure but I think it’s better at transferring the weight to your hips rather than your shoulders. Doing a back carry is still pretty terrifying but doing a facing forward or back carry is easy to master.
I never actually tried a sling, in my opinion having the weight on one shoulder and hip will be harder on your back than distributing it across both shoulders and hips, but as I said I’ve never used one so I probably shouldn’t comment.
We used a Mamma’s Milk pouch sling (two of them, actually - I’m small, so my husband needed a bigger size than I did) for the first four or five months. Widget loved it - it gave her the choice of looking out at the world for as long as she wanted, then smooshing her face into someone when she wanted to retreat. She’d sleep through anything in it, nurse in it, she’d have happily stayed there all day and all night. Once she hit about ten pounds, though, it *killed *my shoulder. My husband was fine with it, so I think it depends on where you have weak spots.
We switched to an Ergo, which was brilliant but feels a bit solid and heavy for a newborn. This time I doubt we’ll be using the pouch sling. Someone’s lent me a Moby-style wrap and I’m gonna get a mei tai. (Speaking of which, I’d love any recommendations or non-recommendations for mei tais…)
Rather than cut the Moby wrap, I’d be inclined to sew tucks or pleats into it. That would preserve the original, while customizing it for the mom and the baby.
Thanks for all the input, folks! We found a roundup of different carrier styles and played around with pinning up some of the excess Moby length, and sil ultimately opted for a pouch now, and a Maya sling when the rings come in, with most likely a mei tai once Stinkbug (she farts a lot) has better head control. Stinkbug has been either asleep or In A Mood ever since we got the pouch done, so although sil loves it, we haven’t tried putting the baby in yet.
The Moby wrap is going back to Target. I don’t know that it’s really too long for her so much as she just found the size and process to be more than she can rightly cope with right now. At a later point, when she’s less physically and psychologically exhausted, something like that might work out but not right now.
Oh, and my sling was woven fabric, not knit, and I feel like knit would have caused all the issues you mention. But I don’t know for sure; my youngest is 9, so I’m sure pouch technology has improved.