Ergo Sport Carrier frustration ... Help!!!!

[mommy2princesses0309]

Got an ergo after researching the web and reading posts on the DIS. I am hoping to use it for DD 8 months on our trip next week. I wanted to alternate between the stroller and the carrier. I got the sport because I liked the idea of the hip carry - thought she'd like that position. Well I can't seem to get it on comfortably, for either of us, in any position. I think I got it on the front way.

I've watched the videos on youtube and tried to put it on side carry and she seems so uncomfortable and I feel all tied up, so I've got to be doing something wrong! There's no way I can get her on my back myself so I figured I'd need dh to held her there while I hook the straps to carry her on my back!

If you have an ergo, how did you finally figure out how to get the hang of hooking it and all?! Maybe I just need more practice? I was really hoping to beable to use this for rides and waiting in line, if she gets tired at a show, etc.

TIA!

ETA: I am a pooh-sized Mommy and have the waist extender. Everything else seems to hook up fine. I just feel like I am totally doing something wrong!!!

 

[bumbershoot]

I can't help specifically with this problem, but I would highly recommend checking out http://www.wearyourbaby.com/ for ideas (in video format) on how to get baby on your back!

I couldn't do it when DS was 8 months though...my joints hadn't knit back together (they all 'went' at about 5 months pg) and I just couldn't move my arms that way. However, I also knew that I'd be going on those long walks etc when I had someone with me...a friend or DH for festivals, and once we started going to DLR, I knew hubby would be with me...so I really didn't bother getting DS onto my back by myself anyway. I knew there would always be help. And DH and I would practice at home, so we didn't look like doofuses, thereby making babywearing look ridiculous. So if I were you I'd practice with another adult, assuming you'll be traveling with another adult.

 

[PrinceandPrincess]

I loved my ergo, but I never mastered the side carry. Keep practicing the back carry as that is in my opinion the most comfortable. If you are interested in a side carry look in the the baby wearing website above there is a lot of great info about slings!

Good luck and have fun!

Kim

 

[design_mom]

What specifically do you think is wrong? Do you feel like she's not secure? Do you feel uncomfortable in the carrier?

I never liked the hip carry (with any carrier or sling). I loved the back carry with my Ergo, but it did take some practice for me to feel comfortable getting her all strapped in. With practice, you *can* do it by yourself, and once you get comfortable doing it, you'll use the back carry ALL the time. It helps when both of you are more comfortable getting into it because the child will know what to expect, too.

 

[dis-happy]

At that age I much prefer my plain old, tried and true, original baby sling. Comfy for both of us and much easier to get the baby in and out quickly for lines and rides at WDW. 20 years and 4 kids later it's the best purchase I ever made. It's pretty easy to use as a hip carry for toddlers too. My youngest is 2 and I always keep it handy. I have to Ergo too, but it's more work to get off and on and I do have to have my dh around to help.

 

[strmtroopr96]

We have the original Ergo but I still never tried the hip carry with it. DD was about a year old when we bought it and at first I mainly put her on my front. Once she got taller, I switched her to my back and still carry her that way even now at 3 1/2 yrs old and 39 inches and 34 pounds. It did take me awhile to get the back carry down on my own but now I can get it done quickly most days.

 

[mommy2princesses0309]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I feel like she's uncomfortable but I think that was mostly when I tried to put her in the hip carry. I think I may just carry her in the front, she seemed to like that although I'm not sure of where her arms are supposed to be I'll also get DH help me get her on my back and see how she likes that. Thankfully I'll have him with me so he can help She does pretty well in the stroller but I think we'll use the carrier for rides, etc. And, as cold as it is down there I think she'll like being able to snuggle close to me (so will I )

Thanks!

 

[AKADrea]

the hip carry is my least favorite way to use it! It'll just take practice! Try practicing if front of the bed or couch if it'll make you feel safer.

 

[AKADrea]

OK, here's a really horrible quick video I tried to do of how I put DS on my back.

(please excuse the horrible morning look and chopped off head! LOL!)

 

[hippiemama76]

I prefer wraps, but DH still wears HippieGirl in her Ergo. For any back carry we load up the same way AKADrea does in her video. (Such a cute baby by the way - and was that a fluffy cloth butt??)

I have a bad back, so I don't usually do a hip carry unless I am popping HippieBabe into the sling for a quick run into the store. Any longer than 20 minutes and she has to be front or back for my sake.

 

[mommy2princesses0309]

Thanks so much for the video Andrea!!!! Very helpful and that cute rainbow clad butt was a bonus

 

[AKADrea]

hippiemama76 - why yes it is a fluffy cloth butt!

Lisa - let me know if you want me to show you the hip carry - I really don't like it much, but I can show you how to do it ;-)

I can also show you how to take the baby off of your back too if needed

 

[strmtroopr96]

OK, here's a really horrible quick video I tried to do of how I put DS on my back.

(please excuse the horrible morning look and chopped off head! LOL!)

I love the color of your Ergo!! I am bored with mine...cranberry/critter print...LOL so I bought the backpack in the Hawaiian print just to **** it up a little but have yet to even use it. Yours is really pretty though!

You look much more graceful doing the back carry than I think I do. But my little one is 3 1/2 now so a much longer body. I don't think I bend over as far as you did, so I will have to try that and see if it helps the back of the Ergo go all the way up her back more (if that makes any sense).

Now that DD is bigger, it feels like she isn't as secure in it at times...like the Ergo is bunched up under her butt and not up her back as high as it could be. So I will have to try bending over more. LOL Just hoping I will be bale to get back up after!!

 

[AKADrea]

I love the color of your Ergo!! I am bored with mine...cranberry/critter print...LOL so I bought the backpack in the Hawaiian print just to **** it up a little but have yet to even use it. Yours is really pretty though!

You look much more graceful doing the back carry than I think I do. But my little one is 3 1/2 now so a much longer body. I don't think I bend over as far as you did, so I will have to try that and see if it helps the back of the Ergo go all the way up her back more (if that makes any sense).

Now that DD is bigger, it feels like she isn't as secure in it at times...like the Ergo is bunched up under her butt and not up her back as high as it could be. So I will have to try bending over more. LOL Just hoping I will be bale to get back up after!!

That carrier isn't an ergo It has a higher back than the ergo though, so that makes a difference. I can show you with my 2 yo if you want too! He's about 30 lbs. This past September, I hiked through epcot with my 4.5 yo on my back too because she fell asleep in the stroller and then the monorail was down so we had to bus it to the park and she wasn't having it! HA HA!

That is the one downside to the ergo though, is the lower back...Since DH is home, I can have him film it so it doesn't cut off my head this time!

 

[Lilyzmom]

I really like that carrier. What kind is it? I have a Sutemi. It's comfortable, but I don't like the way it criss crosses. I don't even think they make them anymore.
Heather

 

[mom2maggie]

I have no suggestion because I am in the SAME BOAT! Same carrier - even down to the waist extender! So far my daughter just isn't thrilled with the Ergo, which bums me out! And the hip carry? Forget about it! I couldn't get it figured out - and when I thought I did, I put her in it and she waaaaaaailed. Good luck!

 

[AKADrea]

I really like that carrier. What kind is it? I have a Sutemi. It's comfortable, but I don't like the way it criss crosses. I don't even think they make them anymore.
Heather

it's a bloo kangaroo - sooo, super comfy!!!


http://www.bloo-kangaroo.com/