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By Choosing a sling or baby carrier is a lot like choosing shoes: it’s about a good fit and personal preference! Ensuring your sling is fitted safely and comfortably is paramount: How well your sling is adjusted and fitted is just as important as which baby carrier you buy.
Looking for a sling for your newborn? The choice of baby carriers for newborns can be a bit bewildering. There’s a vast array of baby carrier brands that advertise their products as ‘perfect’ for newborns, so where on earth do you start?
Our team of babywearing consultants has worked with many thousands of families – and between us, we’ve carried our own babies for more than 100 years – so we really are the experts!
To make sure you are safe and comfy, we now offer a FREE video fitting service with every purchase! You can also follow us on Instagram and YouTube for regular tutorials and demonstration. But to get you started, here are our top recommendations for newborns.
BEST STRETCHY WRAPS FOR NEWBORNS
Stretchy Wraps
Comfy, easy, one-size-fits-all stretchy baby wraps are perfect for your newborn from day one. Freerider, Boba, Izmi, Coracor, Ergobaby, Hana Baby and more.
‘Stretchies’ are long pieces of soft, stretchy jersey fabric. They are absolutely ideal for newborns. Some people find them a little intimidating but they really don’t need to be. Once you have been shown how to use them they are actually very quick and easy.
Stretch wraps can be pre-tied around your body and left on for as long as you wish, popping baby in and out as needed. They are super soft, perfectly mouldable, and once tied well are wonderfully supportive for both baby and wearer’s bodies.
Stretchy wraps vary a lot in price, quality, fabric, elasticity, width (and to a lesser extent length), thickness, stretch and strength. Those that only stretch width- or length-ways tend to last until baby is around 12 months, like the Moby wrap, however, they can be trickier to use.
We love ‘2-way’ stretchy wraps like the Izmi Baby Wrap, Coracor, Boba Wrap and the Hana Baby Organic for newborns. These are most commonly used until babies are 3-6 months old, but they are spectacularly easy to handle and very forgiving for those new to slings. the stretch both lengthways and width, so feel like a nice snug hug for you and your baby!
For stunning, on-trend design then you won’t get better than these two: Coracor baby wraps are designed in Sweden and made of top-quality, luxurious organic cotton. Freerider Slings are ultra-thin yet offer more firm support (the stretch in one direction only) and are made from sustainably made, silky-soft Tencel fabric
The Close Caboo family of carriers are semi-structured with rings, through which you tighten the fabric, like the carrier. They have a minimal degree of stretch and come in 2 pieces. These are a popular choice for those who are put off by the idea of tying!
It’s usually best to AVOID buying carriers like the Baby K’Tan and Konny, which you’ll often see pop up on Amazon and in online searches. These look appealingly easy, ‘pre-tied’ wrap-style carriers. BUT, unlike the Close Caboo, they are sized (XS, S, M , L…) and non-adjustable. This means it can be very tricky to get a totally secure fit that allows you feel truly hands free. It’s a bit like buying a Small, Medium or Large pair of jeans: you might get lucky, but the chances are the fit won’t be quite right.
BEST BABY CARRIER WITH CLICK-AND-GO BUCKLES
Soft-structured baby carriers with buckles are a popular choice for many new parents. Quick, easy, with many lasting 1-2 years.
Until recently, many required an additional padded insert or booster cushion to make them suitable as a newborn baby carrier. But over the last couple of years, these truly newborn-friendly buckled carriers have arrived on the scene from Izmi Baby, Ergobaby, Tula Baby, Isara, Lenny Lamb and others. Their body panels can be adjusted width and – usually- lengthways to offer a more snug and supportive fit for newborns, without the need for an insert. They can be tightened around your baby, rather than around additional padding; supporting baby’s whole physiology, rather than just lifting them higher up inside the carrier; and in turn are far less hot and bulky.
The plastic buckles and firm padding of more bulky baby carriers mean they are not always the best option for wearing around the house, or for recovering postnatal bodies that don’t want anything ‘digging in’, especially around the breast and tummy. It can also make it harder to go to the toilet when a thickly padded waistband is hindering access to the top of your trousers: not something you tend to think about until your baby has been asleep in the sling for 2 hours and you’ve drunk 3 glasses of water!
Remember, slings are safety tested by weight, but even babies of the same weight will fit differently in a carrier depending on their height/length and developmental stage, and on the size and shape of your body. To ensure the best, safest possible fit, we offer a free video fitting service with every purchase from Wear My Baby.
Here’s our pick of the best, easy-on baby carriers for your newborn:
BEST BABY CARRIER FOR THOSE KEEN ON LEARING A NEW SKILL!
Woven wraps
Shop our collection of beautiful, soft woven wraps to carry your baby or toddler.
Woven wraps are perfect for newborns. Like their stretchy counterparts, a woven wrap offers softness, total mouldability and wonderful support for you and your newborn baby. They are highly versatile, with dozens of carrying positions to try. Unlike a stretchy, this baby carrier will last to the preschool years and beyond. Most wraps require some breaking in, like a pair of jeans.
It can take some practice to learn how to tie woven wraps well and quickly. But the slightly steeper learning curve (than, say, a buckled carrier or stretchy) is well worth the effort.
A woven wrap cannot be completely pre-tied like a stretchy wrap. A good ‘wrap job’ relies on creating and keeping tension in the fabric before it is tied and knotted into place around your baby. Once you’ve got the hang of this you’ll discover a whole world of babywearing possibilities.
Front Wrap Cross Carry (FWCC) and Kangaroo Carry are great ways of tying a wrap for a newborn. Woven wraps come in varying lengths (size 2 to size 8 – a bit like shoes, again) to accommodate different tying methods on the front, back or hip. Most people find a size 6 wrap ideal, to begin with. Very petite wearers may prefer a 5, and taller or broader wearers a size 7.
RING SLINGS FOR NEWBORNS
Ring Slings
Perfect for quick-up-downs, these ultra light, one-shoulder carriers suit newborns and toddlers. Featuring Didymos, Little Frog, Lenny Lamb, MiniMonkey and more.
Ring slings are long pieces of fabric with two rings sewn into one end, making a sash-shaped sling that is worn over one shoulder. They are highly adjustable to fit newborns to toddlers.
Like woven wraps, you need to tighten the fabric around your baby, but they tend to be quicker to put on and take off. They are a particularly nice baby carrier for breastfeeding, simply by loosening the rings slightly and moving your baby into position.
As your baby’s weight is distributed asymmetrically over your body, ring slings tend to be worn for shorter periods of time compared to other carriers. We love rings slings for quick trips, breastfeeding in, wearing at home and – as they are very pretty – special occasions like weddings.
Breastfeeding in baby carriers
Many parents are interested in a sling ‘that you can breastfeed in.’ It’s worth noting that almost any sling could be used as a breastfeeding or bottle feeding aid. It’s best to choose a carrier that suits you first; then work out how to feed in it. Read more here.
Need advice? Get in touch!
You can book a video consultation here. Live chat with us below, call 0345 222 9004, DM us on Instagram or info@wearmybaby.co.uk.
Always follow the TICKS guidelines for safe babywearing.
Updated December 2021.
