58 out of 58 people found this review helpful.
NOJO Baby Sling: I Really Wish this Had Worked!
Date of Review: Mar 9, 2000
I think that a baby sling is one of those items that you are never ambivalent about. You either love this and cannot live without it, or hate it passionately and regret the time and energy you spent on it. I unfortunately fall into the latter camp.
I got my slings ? two of them ? from my sisters. Sister Jenny had used hers for three children, and loved it. She raved about this, and I was excited to get it from her. ?Save it when you?re done?, she implored, ?just in case we decide to try again?? (she has three boys). ?You want a sling?? snorted sister Cindy, ?You can have mine. I couldn?t ever figure the darn thing out.? Cindy actually used a few more colorful adjectives in her description, but as she is no longer around to defend herself I will leave it at that. Needless to say I was curious ? the sling looked SO simple, how could you do it wrong? Why did Cindy hate it so much, and Jenny love it so?
Well, I found out. The NoJo baby sling is a long strip of soft cotton fabric of fairly sturdy construction. It is wider in the middle, and tapered at the ends. The two ends come together and go through a sliptie with a round buckle, like you might tie a cotton belt. The strap is adjustable for height, although I must admit I was never sure what the ?right? adjustment was supposed to be.
The general idea is that baby snuggles into your sling, and you can carry baby hands-free (or at least with your hands only gently resting on baby). This lets you keep baby near you, especially if he or she is fussy, and yet still be mobile and have your hands free most of the time. For anyone who has balanced a baby while trying to look in the phone book ? or work on the computer ? or cook a meal, etc. you know how appealing this idea is.
Unfortunately, at least in my case, it was one of those ?Great in theory, doesn?t work in reality? things. To be fair, I did try this several times with my son, but he hated it. Always willing to give things a second shot (is that called amnesia?) I gamely whipped this out for my daughter also, but to no avail. When I put my baby in there, they would slide down to the very bottom and get all squooshed up. As I rescued crying baby from his forced confinement, I would reposition him into a more open, sitting up position. Nope, baby slid right down to the bottom. I whipped out the instructions to the sling (Cindy?s came with instructions, Jenny?s had them printed on the strap of the sling) to see what I was doing wrong. Shortened the sling ? same problem. Lengthened the sling ? same problem. Tried various positions for baby, but he always ended up in a little heap at the bottom of the sling, unhappy and letting me know his distaste for this position.
Cindy came over to visit, and I asked her what I was doing wrong. ?I have no idea,? she said, snorting in disgust. ?I told you those things didn?t work. Why do you have TWO of them?? Well, good question.
I did get this to work at one point, when I placed my son in the sling, all stretched out, and then basically carried him against me. I was able to carry him for several feet at a time with only one hand. It kindof worked, but I was holding him completely with my hand and arm and the moment I let go, he slid to the bottom of the sling and started wailing. After about three weeks, with regular trials of new methods and settings, I put the sling in the ?next baby? box along with the newborn sized pajamas. Unfortunately, the second baby did not like this any better than the first.
I would like to offer a few suggestions for you, if you want to try a sling:
1) Get an expert to help you. I am not talking about the store clerk, I am talking about an experienced mom who used one of these RECENTLY and can help you position your actual baby in your actual sling. I never needed help when I had company, so it never occurred to me to ask for help when my friends visited. I only thought to ask Cindy, which was humorous since she was as clueless as I was as to how to make this work. You need someone who has used a sling recently to help you ? have them actually help you position your baby in the sling, and show you some tips & tricks.
2) I was told in the last few months that slings are actually much better for older babies (like more than 3 months) than for newborns. Since I went back to work by two months both times, the time I desperately needed help was during the first few weeks. Nonetheless, if this is true (and I heard it from other moms, so its hearsay, but I thought I?d share!) it may explain the issues. Try putting a baby in there who has a little more control, so he can sit up & look out, and you may have more success than I did.
3) These are supposed to be fabulous for breastfeeding. I had thought this would be a neat way to discreetly breastfeed in public, with baby all snuggled into his sling. Since I couldn?t figure out the basics of the sling, this never happened, but if you CAN get the sling to work for you, it is a nice discrete way to have baby all snuggled in next to you and easily breastfeed under cover.
My synopsis is this: it?s a great idea, if you can get it to work for you. If not, it?s a waste of money and energy. I had great success with frontpacks for newborns, which accomplished the same thing, although they are a little tricky to get baby in and out of. If I had to do it again, I would definitely try to use the sling for my child after he was a few months old (even 6-8 weeks has much more control than those first few newborn weeks). I would also solicit advice and hands-on assistance from any one of the hundred women who told me they loved their slings, and couldn?t live without them. Since we are not having any more children, I thought I?d pass my advice and experience on and see if it could help another mom avoid my mistakes. Best wishes!
