I am constantly being stopped and spoken to about my sling.

"Why do you wear it?", "Doesn't it hurt your back?", "Aren't you afraid she'll fall out?" and of course the standard scolding "If you hold her all the time you're going to spoil her".

I love my sling. Its my favorite piece of clothing. I roll it up and slip it into my diaper back and have it with me at all times. Zoey experiences life with me in the sling. She can sit up and look out at the world, if shes upset, she can hug me and hear my heartbeat. She can fall asleep in it and I simply lay her down for a nap. I nurse her in it. It keeps her warm, close to me and safe in my arms, yet I still have my hands free to help my older child or make lunch. What a wonderful invention.

So I will  answer to the questions above. No, it doesn't hurt my back. Like anything else, you learn to move the sling to comfortable positions, you lift with the legs not the back and you take it off if it does start to hurt. No, I'm not afraid she'll fall out. The sling has plenty of fabric to wrap around my daughter. Are you afraid your baby will fall out of your arms?  As for spoiling her - I simply don't believe you can spoil an infant. Babies have needs. Our job as parents are to meet them. But all that information is in the  Attachment Parenting section of this page so thats all I'll say here. And finally, why do I wear a sling? Well.... heres why :

*  My sling  allows Zoey (now 3 months) to sit cross legged facing out to the world, or laying down when she sleeps. Upright carriers can affect leg circulation and also hold babys legs apart in a bowlegged position which isn't good for a developing pelvis.

* My sling recreates for Zoey the feeling of being inside of me. She feels movement, pressure and warmth. She smells my smell and hears my heartbeat. She feels safe.

*  Wearing Zoey makes her less fussy because she can see, feel and hear me.  I'm not sitting her in a chair while I run frantically around the house doing chores or trying to get everything done while she naps. We do things together so i'm not as panicked and she's not lonely. We're both happier. Plus she is learning. About vaccuuming, dusting, folding laundry and even baking (little flour headed baby!).

* In the stroller Zoey can't see much at all. Its bumpy and loud too. Oh, and I hate pulling it out of the trunk and trying to fold it back up again when we're done. I've used my stroller once so far.

* She sleeps well in it. When we're out and Zoey is ready for sleep she'll always fall asleep in her sling. Then instead of waking her to get her into her carseat I can simply slip the sling off me an it acts as a blanket in her carseat.

My 11 year old "wearing" her baby sister.
 

I'm sure theres dozens more reasons to wear your baby. These are just a few of mine.

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