Which sling

I was planning on buying a chicco keyfit 30 for new baby due in January but read on reviews that it won't hook on to shopping carts, then I read that isn't safe to do anyways. I tried a sling with my other 2 kids and they were either cumbersome or hated them (my daughter cried everytime I put her in the sling rider carrier)! I have a small frame only 4' 11 -can anyone suggest a sling that isn't too crazy expensive, easy to use and comfortable to wear even for a few hours?

I would head over to www.thebabywearer.com . Its very informative and free, you can get alot of recommendations from the forums. I use a sling even now at 2.

Ditto thebabywearer.com for asking q's but also www.whos-green.info has a section that is basics so you can search what you want this time around.

What did you have last time? And what are you comfortable with?

For ease of use you can't beat a pouch sling - like a Hot sling (though there's lots of brands out there now that are like that). It won't last as long as some other kinds of slings, but it is very easy to use. And you can always sell it when you're done to fund the purchase of the next sling.

A wrap is the most flexible b/c it has the most different ways to wear it. But it has a bit of a learning curve. Moby is the popular name there, but again, lots of other brands exist or there are patterns/suggestion online for making your own which wouldn't be very expensive at all. Ring slings have some flexibility and like wraps can be used longer. There's tons of different brands to buy from out there and lots of patterns for making your own.

Slingriders and all other slings like them have been recalled b/c of the risk of suffocation. Babies are put in an awkward position with those bag like slings, so it's actually a good thing that your child didn't like it. She was likely uncomfortable.

And there's other carriers, too, that I don't know a whole lot about, but some don't work well for newborns. thebabywearer is an awesome site!

Original poster, where are you located? Check on thebabywearer to see if there's a group near you. My group meets monthly and has a library of carriers so you can try before you buy. There are many things out there that are safer and more comfortable than the Slingrider!

Unfortunately, while the Slingrider has been recalled, there are a lot of dufflebag slings still on the market. I'd stay well away from anything that reminds you of the Slingrider. Something like a Hotsling is completely different.

One of the leaders in my group is very petite like you, and mostly wraps. Neither the Beco nor Ergo worked well for her, but the Nana's Jetpak is working nicely.

I'm 4' 10" and I love my ringsling. I ordered it from Sleeping Baby Productions. We use a convertible carseat, so I sling my 3 month old wherever I go. He loves it!

We had a Chicco Keyfit as well. I rarely was out and about with DS2 in it, though. We used a Moby wrap when he was itty bitty and then moved on to Hotslings. Sadly, Hotslings is going out of business, so I bet you can find one super cheap if you look around.

I have a ring sling that I got from Maya wrap...got the used one for 1/2 off since I didn't care about what color I got. I it and so does my 6 week old. We use a convertible carseat so it is used all the time when we are out and about. She actually prefers to be in the sling than carried.

I wear my 2 month old all the time. I use both a ring sling as well a wrap depending on where I am headed out. The ring sling is easy to get the baby out of when she falls asleep where as the wrap is nice for shopping trips and such. It is a bit of a learning curve for both of these but its very versatile.

The babywearer website from the previous people will also have patterns in case you want to make your own slings.