Do slings impair breathing?
 

I was reading the car seat thread and I think that slings cause the same lack of oxygen for the same reason. I know my kids have always breathed much more shallow in the sling and it has worried me. What do you think?

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

not that I've noticed :shrug :think

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

hmm. when ds was in the NICU, and his O2 sat was way down, they would super swaddle him and put him in different positions. The nurses would swaddle him so tight, it made me a little nervous, so I can't imagine a sling being much different.
What I do know is that being in an upright position may not provide the best O2 saturation, infants sat O2 much better whne laying down. It took ds a few trys to pass his carseat test before they let me bring him home, but when he was laying down, or being held, he did fine with his levels when he wasn't on a vent.
I wonder if anyone has done any studies? :think

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

DD's breathing i think was slightly impared in the sling cuz her neck fat as a baby. i think i could have adjusted her in the sling so that wasn't the case but i was all new to it. the only reason i think her breathing was impared is cuz she snored sometimes in the sling, but on the bed she didn't.s

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

I guess to me it just seems logical. When I scrunch myself up like that, I can't breath as well. I'm thinking mostly about the cradle position in the sling. My kids are always so squished in there no matter what I do. I rarely will use cradle anymore because of it.

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

i want to add that as i got more used to the sling, i was able to get Dd in a more horizontal position that she didn't snore in :tu

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

My babies hate the cradle position, but I know lots love it. I think about how babies are in the womb, they are sort of scrunched the same way, right? :shrug

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

true but then they're not using their windpipe to breathe :D i guess that's the difference between in and out of womb scrunching

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

Good point! I didn't think of that. :giggle

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

For tiny babies in a cradle position it is possible. If their chin is touching their chest they're not going to be getting as much air. You can easily tuck a receiving blanket or burp cloth in behind them to help position them better. There is actually a mama on TBW who is doing some sort of studies on it. I hope it's ok to post this, it's a thread there with more information... http://www.thebabywearer.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=27841

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

You know, I've never been fond of the cradle carry outside of nursing. I couldn't put my finger on what felt 'off' with my babies but I don't use cradle position except to nurse. Even newborns I put in a cuddle position on my chest and they do just fine.

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

I'm probably the only one here who's had her baby hooked up to heart and breathing monitors while in the sling. :giggle His alarms went off a lot because of the way his chest skin rolled inward from side to side while he was scrunched up, but it was because they couldn't pick up well. I didn't notice any problem from the pulse oximeter that measured his O2 levels. I was pretty careful to keep his head extended back instead of scrunched up though. It's not hard to do if you wear them high up in the sling so their head is outside of the fabric and can tilt back a little rather than being pushed into his chest. I found it ideal if the top rail of the sling was just below ear level and curving down around the back of the neck to give support while still allowing for neck extension.

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

I had to prop her head with a recieving blanket to keep her from getting too scrunched.

But now that I know that I can put her up to my chest in the sling from day one I'll probably do that next time.


And Iarwain, Thanks for that info. You have expert advice. ;)

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

ITA!

I think any position where your baby's chin is tucked can cause problems. I know that for preemies, they may do a "carseat test" before allowing you to leave the hospital(where they put baby in the carseat, all strapped in, and monitor the O2 for an hour). They do this cause small baby's sometimes slump over too much in the infant carseats, and that can be dangerous on the way home...especially if you do not know! :(

IMO, this is really only an issue when using the cradle carry with smaller babies and/or deep pouchy type slings.

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

Niether of my 2 kids ever liked the cradle position sling or not. I always slinged them chest to chest as newborns. This weekend I did try a semi cradle position with dd2 but more up right. She prefered her head being out supported by my arm or hand :shrug

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

yeah my kids hate the cradle position and I always felt nervous with them completely lost in the sling so deep so we always did tummy to tummy with legs scrunched like a frog.

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

Yeah, my baby in my avitar is positioned badly. I knew it when I drew it and I don't like it... it's bad sling posture.

I have always slid my arm down inside the sling and under the baby's neck to help with the head position in the cradle carry. I wish I could show you all but I don't have an infant anymore or I'd take some pics.

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

well i must admit this thread is making me go :jawdrop. my dd looooved the cradle carry in her pouch sling and breathing was never an issue. i just love slings, they're my favourite kind of carrier and i'm kinda sad she's too big for them now.

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

There is a great article on keeping baby safe and breathing properly here:
http://www.thebabywearer.com/article...ositioning.pdf

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

I don't know how I missed this thread - but our NINO group closed and re-organized after a baby died in a sling at one of our meetings. :cry The momma thought he had just gone to sleep in a *borrowed* sling and at the end of the meeting she went to return the sling :bheart
Be VERY careful, mommas.

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

NINO disbanded for entirely different reasons that had to do with money and non-profit status. I am heartbroken that this happened- do you have a link to verify? When?

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

Oh OK - the timing was just coincidental; it was in Summer 2007. I hadn't gone to that meeting (they are 45 min from my house - so had only gone about 2x a yr) but Kelley (of Kozy Carriers) shared the info on our FNL list. I never googled to find a link - I accepted what Kelley said as fact.

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

:cry

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

I heard the story too, from a reputible, though second hand, source.

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

A momma in my postpartum group had her child's heart and breathing stop repeatedly, for unknown reasons, throughout his first year. He was never in a sling. Sometimes it just happens.

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

Really wish I hadn't opened this thread. :cry I keep imagining the scene and it's literally making me cry. I can't even imagine. That poor mama.

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

aw man.... I've only heard of the slings for babycarrying in the past week! I was so excited to get one for when my baby comes.... And now I'm all paranoid..... :nails

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

For what it's worth, my son preferred the cradle position and I always checked him regularly to make sure he wasn't overly scrunched... it was just instinctual for me... :shrug3 I did the same thing when he was co-sleeping with me... and when he was sleeping in his crib...

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

:yes2 :cry I'm afraid to say too much because this is a public forum, but do be VERY careful! We had a death in our family that may have been caused by a sling :cry :cry :cry I did still cradle dd but I was super cautious/paraniod because of what happened to my niece :cry

Re: Do slings impair breathing?
 

I never liked having my kids in any kind of carry where their chins could fall downward. I always carried them in an upright position in the sling