Best Newborn Baby Carrier 2021

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.

STRETCHY WRAPS FOR NEWBORNS

‘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 prefer 2-way stretchies that stretch in both directions, like the Izmi Baby Wrap and 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.

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, 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!

Do be aware that some inexpensive stretchy wraps available on Amazon and eBay don’t always offer adequate instructions that meet safety standards. Protecting babies airways is vitally important when carrying newborns, which is why it’s great to seek safety advice from us or your nearest babywearing educator.

BEST STRETCHY WRAPS FOR NEWBORNS

It’s usually best to AVOID buying carriers like the Baby K’Tan and Konny, which you’ll often see pop up on Amazon. 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 its very tricky to get a totally secure fit that allows you be 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!

EASY BABY CARRIERS FOR NEWBORNS

Our pick of the best, easy-on baby carriers for your newborn.

Soft structured baby carriers with buckles are a popular choice for many new parents. 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 many baby carriers mean they are not generally 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.

Note on the Ergobaby Omni Breeze and Ergobaby Omni 360 Cool Air Mesh: These are COMPLETELY brilliant, much loved, structured, long lasting, with all the carrying positions – but can be a little wide and bulky on smaller newborns  – so ideal once babies are a few weeks old.

You can shop our full collection of adjustable baby carriers here, featuring more brands including Isara, Lenny Lamb, JPMBB/Love Radius, BabyBjorn, ByKay, Cococho, Boba, MiniMonkey, TwinGo and many more.

WOVEN WRAPS FOR NEWBORNS

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 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.

A note on 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.

Are you an expectant parent? Book in for a Wear My Baby consultation and find out all you need to know. 

Contact us for babywearing advice or to find out more. 

Updated November 2020.

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Hannah Wallace

Owner & Consultant at Wear My Baby

Hannah Wallace founded Wear My Baby in 2014. She is an experienced Babywearing Consultant and has trained with Slingababy, the School of Babywearing and L'ecole A Porter.

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