NB: Sling
Matt's parents bought us a pram. Then an ex-pupil of mine gave us a complete travel system. And my sister's boyfriend's sister gave us a pushchair.
But we really prefer slings.
River showed us very early on that she liked being carried. There was a spell of a few weeks when she would cry/scream if put down for a nap but she'd quite happily sleep in the sling. One of our friends lent us their BabyBjorn, which was okay for a little while. It wasn't long before we both began to get really sore shoulders when we used it, though. And then I found out that it's one of the worst slings as it puts pressure on the baby's spine and sets the baby's hips at the wrong angle.
So Matt bought me a Mei Tai sling for my birthday, and for a few more months it was great. No more shoulder pain, River was held in the correct position, and we could go walking up hills together again. Then she out-grew it, and our shoulders and backs began hurting again.
So I hired an Ergo and a Manduca from the local sling library. Didn't like the Ergo. Loved the Manduca. We pooled our Christmas and birthday Amazon vouchers and bought one. It's wonderful. No pain at all. River is totally comfortable in it. We've both used it very happily. Hill walks and riverside walks and clifftop walks and wandering around shops -- all wonderful. She can even sleep in it while we're walking.
If she's getting grumpy and bored in the house then the sling is an easy way of cheering her up. Sometimes she suggests it herself ("Little walk! Sling! Come on! Let's go!"). The really nice thing about it is that, because she's up high, she can see everything that we can. And we can chat about all the interesting things we can see and hear around us.
We were visiting friends the other week and their 2-and-a-half-year-old really didn't want to walk anywhere. It was either listen to her cry and have tantrums, or carry her. They chose to let her cry, as they felt she was too old to be carried and that she had to learn that she couldn't always have what she wanted.* Personally, I would've carried her. Some battles just don't need to be fought. I'm going to hate it when River no longer wants to be carried. It already makes me a bit sad when she asks to get down and walk for short spells when we're out and about.
Basically, slings are great. If we have another baby I'm going to carry them in a sling as much as possible, so they can sleep curled up with me and I will still be able to do things with River.
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* Lots of toddlers go through a phase of wanting to be carried all the time. It's not laziness (although they'll obviously get tired before the grown-ups do on a walk) -- more likely it's insecurity and anxiety about the bigness of the world compared with their own smallness.
But we really prefer slings.
River showed us very early on that she liked being carried. There was a spell of a few weeks when she would cry/scream if put down for a nap but she'd quite happily sleep in the sling. One of our friends lent us their BabyBjorn, which was okay for a little while. It wasn't long before we both began to get really sore shoulders when we used it, though. And then I found out that it's one of the worst slings as it puts pressure on the baby's spine and sets the baby's hips at the wrong angle.
So Matt bought me a Mei Tai sling for my birthday, and for a few more months it was great. No more shoulder pain, River was held in the correct position, and we could go walking up hills together again. Then she out-grew it, and our shoulders and backs began hurting again.
So I hired an Ergo and a Manduca from the local sling library. Didn't like the Ergo. Loved the Manduca. We pooled our Christmas and birthday Amazon vouchers and bought one. It's wonderful. No pain at all. River is totally comfortable in it. We've both used it very happily. Hill walks and riverside walks and clifftop walks and wandering around shops -- all wonderful. She can even sleep in it while we're walking.
If she's getting grumpy and bored in the house then the sling is an easy way of cheering her up. Sometimes she suggests it herself ("Little walk! Sling! Come on! Let's go!"). The really nice thing about it is that, because she's up high, she can see everything that we can. And we can chat about all the interesting things we can see and hear around us.
We were visiting friends the other week and their 2-and-a-half-year-old really didn't want to walk anywhere. It was either listen to her cry and have tantrums, or carry her. They chose to let her cry, as they felt she was too old to be carried and that she had to learn that she couldn't always have what she wanted.* Personally, I would've carried her. Some battles just don't need to be fought. I'm going to hate it when River no longer wants to be carried. It already makes me a bit sad when she asks to get down and walk for short spells when we're out and about.
Basically, slings are great. If we have another baby I'm going to carry them in a sling as much as possible, so they can sleep curled up with me and I will still be able to do things with River.
---------------------
* Lots of toddlers go through a phase of wanting to be carried all the time. It's not laziness (although they'll obviously get tired before the grown-ups do on a walk) -- more likely it's insecurity and anxiety about the bigness of the world compared with their own smallness.