Confessions of a klutyz mom: I was never a slinger

The only times I've ever "injured" my son while carrying him have been when he wasn't in a carrier/sling. (I fell down outside while walking in the yard and we bumped our heads together and another time I fell down the last three steps, again, bumping our heads together. We were both fine but there were tears on both Momm and babies' parts!) I find carrying a child on a hip, thus throwing yourself off center, seems as if it would make you far more likely to lose balance or create a more side-heavy situation.

A carrier like a Mei Tai keeps the child's weight centered perfectly with yours. The tighter and higher you wear your child in this kind of carrier (speaking solely front carry), the more evenly the weight is distributed.

And yes, you're dead on: best way to cover up the "I Haven't Lost the Weight Yet But My Baby Is Covering It and OH, ISN'T HE CUTE?!" issue. :) heh.

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I, too, am a complete klutz! I carried my first child frequently in her car seat because at least if I dropped her or fell over an invisible object she would be strapped into an item made for her protection while hurtling 55 MPH down the highway. I was even more freaked out when I had to carry her up or down stairs. With my second I was just as clumsy, but had a toddler underfoot to add to it. Somehow I managed to get enough nerve to try a sling, and other than my incessant (and unwarranted) fear that the entire thing would just come apart and fall off me, dropping my baby to the floor, I actually felt good. He was close to me, and warm, and it was not unlike walking while pregnant, which I'd had 9 months to perfect anyhow!

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Almost more importantly - DADS can carry the baby! I was skeptical until I tried the sling and now whenever we go out I am the one that takes her. I like the attention and it gives us our time to bond as well.

I get funny looks from older folks, and a lot of "that's so great" from women our age. We just tell people:

"I carried her for nine months, now it's his turn!"

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You know what? I have fallen, once, with the baby in the sling. She didn't even wake up. I was all banged up, couldn't walk right for a *week*, dragged the older child down with me - she didn't even wake up, the baby.

If she'd been in my arms, not only would my balance have been more precarious on slippery ice that year, but she would have landed flat on the sidewalk. Or the street.

And I'm not the only one who has had this experience. I know people who have dropped the baby from their arms while walking, and I know people who have fallen with the baby in a carrier, and case by case the ones who were worn were safer.

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Ditto what Uly said. A friend of mine fell earlier this year with her daughter in a stretchy wrap on her front, going down the stairs. My friend broke her wrist and hasn't been able to pick her daughter up with both hands but her daughter was completely fine. If she'd been carrying her daughter in her arms, it could have been much worse.

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Jillian, it's interesting you mention that. Around here, on Staten Island, there are many blocks where just to get to the bottom of your front porch, you have to walk up a flight or two of stairs from the street. Very hilly (and where there aren't hills, people just add extra stairs for the heck of it).

Back in high school, there was a woman fell down one of those staircases while holding her baby, maybe the baby was in a carseat? 20 steps, down to the street, but I guess the baby fell halfway down or so. And ACS got involved, just in case. Luckily, the baby was fine, and ACS was convinced that it was an accident, and everything was fine.

I drop things. I do! It's like my muscles forget that they're holding something, and down it falls. And until very recently, I refused to carry my niece down stairs. Wear her or take the elevator, that was it. I doubt anything could have happened, but I was *convinced* that the one time would be when she squirmed funny and down she'd go.

It's the same as when I slipped on the ice - if I should fall, the kiddo will probably be fine, and, bonus, she can't fall out on her own like she could in arms.

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"MacGyver," people! He's not a "McGuy"! :)

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"And that's O'Neill, with two 'L's."

Sorry, couldn't resist... I saw the MacGuyver correction, and it was the first thing that popped into my head!

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Those things are TERRIBLE. They are a pain to put on and figure out, your clothes bunch up underneath, my son HATES it with a passion, plus, I end up with my arm around him anyway, (because I'm not just going to let him dangle there), so what's the point?!

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I too am a total klutz! I got the baby bijorn & a gronala type long scarfy wrap thing that I am way to short for. I had to wrap it 3x around my waist so I woundnt trip on it. Any way there I was one day with my my jumbo 7 month old baby in the bijorn and gravity had a little fun with me. In my effort not land on her I slammed my knee on the brick pathway. :( Haven't used either one since. I use to love it, maybe I should try the backpack position.

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