Both Astrid and Soren have been big fans of both the sling and the ergo.  Since both were born they have probably spent more time being ‘worn’ than in the pram or stroller.  You can’t beat a sling for a newborn as it keeps them settled and you can get stuff done around the house (and out and about) while they sleep. We went through a couple of different slings for Astrid before we discovered the Bubba Moe.  Soren was in the Bubba Moe from 1 day old and it was great when he was really little around the house to let me actually get off the couch and when we went out I could still push Astrid in the stroller or hold her hand when she was walking. From the day after Soren was born we were back to all our normal activities so he spent a lot of time in the sling!

Even at 7 months old, Soren still loves the sling when we are out and about during his nap time or to hang out in when we are shopping or during Astrid’s activities.

When we have travelled we have used our ergo extensively, it’s fantastic for airports and getting on and off planes hands-free (we need all those hands for the luggage) and great when travelling and you don’t want to lug strollers on public transport. It packs down to pretty much nothing and has a convenient rain hood for when it’s wet.

On our trip to Singapore a couple of months back we took both the ergo and the sling and alternated which one we used depending on what we were doing and how hot it was (hot or super-hot).  Astrid doesn’t go in the sling any more but still fits in the ergo when we back-carry her, so often Anto would have her on his back and I would have Soren on my front.  This caused all sorts of commotion at airports when cute children were peering out of their carriers at 1am grinning! We still used the stroller a fair bit for Astrid but it was convenient to have the sling and ergo for days when the stroller was an inconvenience.  Soren was happy to nap in the sling or ergo and spent most of his day sleeps in one or the other so we could get out of the hotel room and do some sightseeing.

When we are home we use the ergo a fair bit when walking the alpacas as it’s often easier than pushing the big pram when you are walking 2 large animals on your own! Soren is also a huge fan of having his late afternoon nap in the ergo so we have been doing quite a bit of walking in the cool afternoons with him all rugged up. He snuggles down and chews the ergo straps (well worn by Astrid doing the same thing) and I get some extra weight for my walks!

When we did our big Europe trip Astrid was 15-18 months old and was needing to be carried everywhere. We did take our stroller and used it a fair bit around Paris, but for all the trips to other parts of Europe we left the stroller behind in Paris and just used the ergo and a carrier we had borrowed from friends.

I tended to use the ergo for most of our transport legs and days we were doing under 10kms of walking.  On really big walking days Anto would often strap Astrid into the carrier and she could be warm and snug in the carrier during rain, hail and snow (there were plenty of all of those!) and we could pack our days supplies into the storage area. She loved being carried around and loved to give everyone cheesy grins and waves!

She was happy to sleep in both the ergo and the carrier and we walked many hundreds of kilometres over those months with an Astrid strapped to us.  There was a reason we managed to eat all the pastries and chocolate we did and still lose weight!

When I was digging out the photos of Astrid in Europe, it is obvious how much she has grown since that trip!  These days she is too big to front carry so here she is in Singapore being back-carried and loving it.