Same carrier, different babies

Due to my kids’ age right now, this is only possible with some carriers and not all of them.

For the purpose of this post I will only be comparing the versatility of both a woven wrap and a ring sling.

RING SLING

I LOVE ring slings. Like seriously they’re a must. Now with Joaquín (a.k.a.the baby) I’ve been using it every single day for LONG periods of time. He’s up most of the time and I recently discovered that he won’t go to sleep unless he’s worn.

As babies get older (read: heavier) it might not be the best choice of carrier depending on what you plan to do, for how long, how heavy is your baby and how comfortable do you feel wearing him/her. Now, don’t get me wrong, weight should not be a determining factor in choosing your carrier but do I want to go grocery shopping with a 32 pound toddler worn on only ONE shoulder? No. And probably neither do you. When babies get heavier and you plan on wearing them for long periods of time it is better to distribute their weight equitably on both your shoulders. Then why am I saying that this is a great carrier? Because it is sooo easy to put a big baby up/down. I love ring slings, I said that already didn’t I? They fold and fit anywhere and are a total must-have for every parent.

WOVEN WRAP

Ok, so you already know this is the most versatile baby carrier there is. I don’t need to remind you of that, but just in case here are a few reasons why:

You choose the size you prefer. It can be a base size, a shortie, a long wrap (maybe for tandem wearing or for really fancy finishes).
You can wear any baby/person/animal (if you may).
You could even wear both babies at once using only one woven wrap.
You can do front carries, back carries, and hip carries (same with the ring sling).
You can wear one kid, then easily wear the other (this is also true for the ring sling).

You probably have a preferred set of carries/finishes for wearing a newborn vs. a toddler. Lucas (my toddler) didn’t want anything with being worn in a woven wrap, let alone with back carries. But he’s been compliant (jealous much?). So I’ll give you a short list of the carries I prefer with each kid (based on age). This is totally my personal opinion and anyone can obviously wear their kid(s) in whichever way they prefer.

www.holisticbirthpartner.com

FWCC = Front Wrap Cross Carry
FCC = Front Cross Carry
DH = Double Hammock
TUB = Ties Under Bottom
TSC = Traditional Sling Carry (formerly known as Rebozo Hip Carry)

Note: For the toddler on a FWCC, I open the passes which offer more support and only put him in a ruck if it’s for a short period of time.

Here are some pics for comparison:

Kangaro carry with a NB

Rucksack carry with a toddler

RSC with a NB

FWCC TUB

Wraps shown are Soul Slings Gradient in Moonstone (gray) in my base size and Soul Slings Gradient in Serene (pink and purple) in a base minus 3. Sorry for the dark picture but living in Puerto Rico means that sometimes you don’t have electricity. There was a major black out again this week and babywearing saved us. If you want to know more about the Gradient collection, you can read all about it here.

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Thanks for reading. Do you have any favorite newborn carries? Toddler carries? Feel free to share in the comments.