Do slings impair breathing?

[Mother of Sons]

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?

[Wonder Woman]

not that I've noticed

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?

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

[Mother of Sons]

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.

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

[DogwoodMama]

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?

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

[DogwoodMama]

Good point! I didn't think of that.

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

[TestifyToLove]

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.

[Iarwain]

I'm probably the only one here who's had her baby hooked up to heart and breathing monitors while in the sling. 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.

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.

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

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.

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