The Hip Seat
At about 4 to 6 months baby can sit up and will naturally straddle your hip when
carried. Using the sling will help spread the weight and save strain on your back
and arms. This position may be used for toddlers even up to 2 and 3 years old
and is the position you are likely to use the most.
The Hip Seat – Feet First:
Wearing the sling, lift baby high
up onto shoulder and hold their
feet ready to feed into the sling.
With baby sitting on your thigh,
put the closed sling over both
yours and baby's head.
Seat baby in the sling and pull
the top rail up their back.
Lift baby so you can sit them on
the bottom rail, aim to get the
rail to the back of their knees.
Move the sling down their body
and start aiming to get them
seated in the middle or widest
bit of the sling body.
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Reach behind and tighten the
top rail to support their back.
Tip: get hold of the webbing then
jump up a little when you pull.
Pull the top rail up their back
and make sure baby has a leg
on each side of your hip.
Now stand straight with baby
firmly on your hip and the
weight spread on both sides.
3.
4.
2.
1.
The Hip Seat – Overhead:
4.
3.
2.
1.
Helpful Websites
www.slingbabies.co.nz
www.thebabywearer.com
www.attachmentparenting.org
www.babycarrierindustryalliance.org
The Sheffield Sling and Carrier
Consultancy advise choosing a
baby carrier to:
"Promote the flexed, abducted spread-squat position
that seems to encourage better hip joint positioning
and deeper development of the socket. A sling that
supports baby’s thighs from beneath (knee to knee)
is more likely to keep hips in this optimal position,
and reduce strain on still-developing joints. Most
professionally trained babywearing consultants will
advocate the thighs being supported right into the
knee pits into an M shape, with knees held higher
than the bottom (nearer to an imaginary horizontal line
out from the belly button). This puts the femoral head
into an ideal central position in the socket."
With slings go for a soft one that is well designed to
both promote healthy hip M-position and encourage
the natural C-spine shape that young children have.
The secondary curves begin to develop later on in life
– the cervical curve when they gain head control and
can lift against gravity, and the lumbar curve at the
crawling/walking stage. Until then, spines should not
be artificially kept straight (ie babies should avoid too
much time in rigid car seats, stiff
inflexible carriers, or lying supine
on their backs)."
TIP: Remember to take your sling in the car, so you can lift
baby out of their car-seat and use the sling at your destination.
