Family Forum / Pregnancy / Breastfeeding / July 2006

<pimp>

Jan's slings. OMG. I got a gf a sling as a baby prezzie for her second one,
and I damned near kept it for myself. She wore it on campus, and AFAIK, the
sling is still going strong and she got sooo many compliments on it.

Sleepingbaby.net

Jess

I've breast fed successfully in a couple of different ring slings - one a
maya wrap ring sling (http://www.mayawrap.com/p_mayawrap.php but I got mine
from ebay) and one a basic ring sling bought off ebay from a work at home
mum. I think most ring slings are basically similar, but you want to make
sure it has a long enough "tail" if you want to use it to cover baby and
breast.
It did take a little while for us to get used to it (not sure if it was more
me or DD) -- I guess about half a dozen tries before I could actually do it
hands free. And if I'm moving round a lot she still does lose the nipple and
I have to relatch.

HTH
Liz

I'm in the same position as you, actually, and didn't know that until now!
DD will be 15 months when this baby comes as well, but I've got closer to 3
months left to go.
I actually used a sling with DD for bfing quite often.  I didn't really
*have* to, as the others are a bit older - were 4.5 and 5.5 when DD was
born, so it was more like, "Alright, I'm going upstairs/to the living
room/wherever to feed your sister, so behave, play with the toys, watch this
movie, whatever."
I found a sling was mighty handy as I have a girl friend with a baby the
exact age as DD, and her and I would often go out during the day just to
avoid being stuck inside alone all day.  A sling while at the mall, for
example, was great as I was able to feed and walk at the same time, and I
was still able to manage a stroller and the two boys at the same time.
There were no pit stops at benches for nursing DD.  It was great because I
was able to keep her in there and she'd nurse and sleep right then and
there, and it was fairly discreet and something people didn't look twice at
or, in some cases, you didn't have the odd person with a rude, snyde remark.
I am actually not sure what kind of sling I have.  It's, I believe, a fairly
basic and common one, though, and I picked it up from a lady who gave it to
me for free.  It has a ring (well, 2 of them) to hold the ends together and
I assume it's an older style, although I have seen the same one at Walmart.
I think it's just "the original baby sling"
I found the sling for feeding was fantastic.  Even if at home and using it,
if the baby falls asleep while nursing, it's so easy to take off and lay the
baby down so you're not carring around a sleeping baby if you don't want or
have to, and now that DD is almost a year, I still use it as a side/hip
carrier, which I like better than the Snugli we have, as I don't have long
legs dangling to my thighs!

Are you still nursing the 13 month old? (You didn't mention so I thought I'd
ask).  have you considered tandeming?  My DD was 3 when my DS was born and
while tandeming such different aged kids was not much fun, I imagine nursing
2 babies would be much easier.  Just a thought...

Also, I love the Over the Shoulder Baby Holder for nursing (look on ebay -
you'll find great ones there).  Others swear by the Maya Wrap though I
couldn't get comfortable with that one...ymmv :)

As the pp's said, yes!  Personally, I've only used a MayaWrap with a
newborn.  They've recently redesigned the shoulder, btw.  The main
issue is that you really can't switch shoulders with it.  Some people
can turn the baby around and do both sides - I couldn't figure out how
to do it.

However, the ultimate place to get info is www.thebabywearer.com.  The
forums are great, and there is one specifically for Breastfeeding and
Babywearing with lots of troubleshooting tips, etc.

Oh, and if I were to have another baby, I'd be trying out a stretchy
wrap...

Irene

Engram,

Since you are not due yet, I will make a few "newborn" remarks.

Don't try to use a "ring" sling on a newborn (OTSBH or NOJO).
They require the baby to hold it's head up by itself, which
does not work for a newborn (IME).

The best kinds of slings are the "single fold over type, where
the baby is in a pouch made by the sling.  I don't know any
brand names, because we got one made by a private individual.
Looking the the web, the New Native slings look good, but that
is just a guess.

Slings have a lot of other good uses than just dealing with an
older sibling, since you generally have a hand free.

Good luck,
Larry

Well, I've managed to BF in a sling now a few times (2x today), but not
without using my hands!

FWIW, though, I have the 'new native' sling and I like it very much. I
have a bunch of sarongs I was just going to use (used to live in Asia
and saw all the women there using them). But I figured I'd splurge on a
sling I didn't have to worry about tying appropriately. I really like
the one I have, so far....I guess it's doable without hands, but it's a
little long - the smaller size would be too small, this works well for
carrying, but to get her in position to BF I need to hold her higher.