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Comment by prionassembly | Hacker News Reader

The article doesn't deliver what the title promises.

I'm going to be a dad in mid 21 and want to carry the child with me a lot. I've seen people use entire plastic products they attach to their upper torso that seem great, as (1) I'm not confident on my knot making skills (and I have a lot to learn already) and (2) maybe that stuff distributes the weight around better?

But: maybe slings built out of whole cloth like the one shown in the picture are better somehow for parental attachment, and the structured kangaroo carrier is halfway a stroller. Maybe that's not even the tradeoff and there are other health and hazard considerations (e.g. sometimes I get hyperfocused enough that I can forgo lunch; should I carry my child on my chest rather than my back so I'm better aware of her status?)

I want to know a lot about this subject and don't even know what questions to ask.

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My tip would be to find a baby carrying enthusiast, ask for help and just try the cloth solutions first if you think you could be into cloth. My children didn't like being carried (I'm a shoulder carrying father now), but the knots at least where super easy. The knots don't hold the weight, the cloth and the shoulders to. The knots mainly finish the excess cloth so there's not much reason to be afraid that your child will fall due to a bad knot per se. The cloth will sag a lot before that.

We are expecting a baby next year, and I'm planning to wear the infant during good chunks of the workday once I'm off parental leave. I hope it'll help give my wife some time to herself and with our toddler. And it'll be nice to cuddle an infant while writing code.

I'm not sure what kind of baby carrier to use, but will give cloth a try at first. I also like carrying my son on my shoulders but given how big he's getting I'm starting to worry about what that fall would be like if something were to happen...

I used the Baby Bjorn harness to tote my son around when he was an infant. He really liked it, and I was able to shop and get things done with him. I liked it.

Baby Bjorn worked for us as well. Had two so that wife and I could have our sizes immediately available. Baby definitely happier, and you can get a lot of chores done :)

Many communities have babywearing education and support groups where you can learn how to wear, get carrier fit checks, and even borrow carriers. If there is one near you, they might be doing remote meeting during COVID. There used to be an international babywearing organization but it disbanded a few years ago. YouTube us also a great babywearing resource.

There a many different styles of carriers so it is worth reading about and, if you can, trying out some different styles. Ring slings and stretchy wraps are great for newborns and are pretty easy to use. Woven wraps like I prefer are great for all ages and very comfortable but there is definitely a learning curve so keep that in mind and don’t get discouraged if it takes a while to get a good fit. There are buckle style carriers that can fit at any age. My personal favorite is the Kinderpack by Kindercarry.

I’d suggest chest since the head will be wobbly and needs support early on. I used the ergo baby carrier which supports the head when you’re chest to chest with the baby. Later you can turn the baby around when the neck muscles are developed. Also, no worries: she’ll let you know what her status is and she won’t forego too many meals :) I’d also recommend multiple carrying contraptions like the solly if you can muscle memorize how to wrap it. You’ll figure out what works best for you and you have a backup if your primary is involved in a diaper accident.

I hated the cloth. It slipped all the time. Maybe it was a user error, but at the end of the day, I was constantly tightening it and adjusting it.

The baby bjorn I adjusted once and it was good for months. It had clips to make it easy to take the baby in and out and for quick release when going through things like airport security.

My only complaint was that it was hard to do the clip in the back because I think it is designed for women who have a lot of experience clipping things behind their backs.

> Maybe it was a user error

Yes, there are a zillion ways to wrap a long piece of cloth (people have been doing this for at least thousands of years), and there must surely be one of them that works for any body shape. The wrap takes a bit of practice and is definitely slightly slower to put on/off than some of the carriers though (maybe an extra 1 minute).

Your baby will be attached alright no matter what device. They all have you having tons on contact. Plus, most of year you two start warm cloth outside.

Yet also, your baby will attach to you even in stroller, don't worry. Wearing baby is super practical definitely, but go with device that is most comfortable to you. The more comfortable, the more you will do it.

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