how odd?or is it?

I hope DGD2 isn't reading this thread. I don't want her getting any ideas


Mind you, she's slightly older than that, rushes round the play park after school, walks home then leaps around on the trampoline.
No wonder she's a skinny bean.

my 21 month old DGS is heavy enough in his papoose and I can't even lift the new back carrier we got for 'proper' walking

Those type of slings add weight IMO. They even make newborns feel heavy!

Wrap or tie type ones make babies/kids feel lighter and are much more comfortable

Its called baby wearing.

No way on earth would I carry a 4 year old in a sling - my 21 month old DGS is heavy enough in his papoose and I can't even lift the new back carrier we got for 'proper' walking - my daughter struggles with it but she just about manages. My SIL reckons he put his back out today by carrying said 21 month old up and down stairs a few times ?
I just read a 2017 DM online article about this 'older child in a sling' phenomenon (which I had never seen or heard of) and all I will say is it's done by exactly the sort of women I would expect to do it ?

Its ok. I haven't got a small child anyway.

I wouldn't want the weight of a small child dispersed so I could carry them
No problem. Nobody is making slings compulsary

I wouldn't want the weight of a small child dispersed so I could carry them.
I would use a buggy if they really couldn't manage to walk.

Walking is just as beneficial.

Because a car takes the weight.
??
Thats....Um..the point of the sling too...it disperses the weight. Easier than carrying in arms/on shoulders.

Spread weight & it feels lighter

Better for the environment. And parent's health & pocket to walk with a sling rather than drive the tired child home from school.

Because a car takes the weight.

More fresh air in a sling Vs a car seat

I see that all the time, of course.
So they DON'T all run "all day". And there are plenty who apparently aren't up to walking home.

Why is that okay if they go in car seats after school instead of slings?

It doesn't bother me at all.
To each their own.
Its just a discussion, and I still think its weird.

no, it's not infantilising a 4-5 year old to pick them up - you are twisting what I said. 'Pick them up for a couple of minutes' - fine

Maybe home is just a couple if minutes, and the kid likes a pre/post school cuddle before getting down to play.

What is it about it that BOTHERS you so much..seems such an odd thing to judge "just LOOK at that woman holding her child!". Weird.

I see that all the time, of course.
I haven't ever seen a child in a sling beyond about 18 months of age.

4 year olds need cuddles?
Really? Who'd have thought it!

Where do you all live that all kids run home? EVERYWHERE I've lived there's been battles between people who live in streets surrounding schools and parents who double park across their drives in order to take kids home in car seats!

You never see kids going in car seats, bike seats/trailers or buggy boards MissAdventure? You only ever see them running? Really?

no, it's not infantilising a 4-5 year old to pick them up - you are twisting what I said. 'Pick them up for a couple of minutes' - fine

Carrying them home from school in a sling is though.

I'm sure if that was the case, we would always see children (and not babies) carried around in slings.
I've never seen one. Yet.

4 year olds dont spend all day running around. They go in fits and starts. Huge bursts of energy, flops/slumps, another burst of activity etc. And they still neec lots of contact/cuddles.

A lot of 3 year olds still nap so at 4 there will be "slumps" even if the naps have stopped.

4 year olds do need cuddles and breaks. A sling does both.

And anyway its not always about their needs and sometimes about practicalities: getting from A-B at faster than a snails pace without stopping to pick up every pebble/stick. Families cant always revolve around 1 child so sometimes they dont NEED to go in a car seat/bike seat/buggy board/sling, but have to go in them because the rest of the family have places to be

Because 4 year olds spend all day running around.
They generally don't need to be carried, and certainly not as a matter of course.
Plus, they are rather heavy.

Its not infantalizing a child to pick up a 4/5 year old good grief!

More likely they do have siblings. If you have an only you can go at their pace but with siblings you need to get from AtoB on time when there's multiple activities etc to coordinate for older ones.

If there's a younger one it is hard to hold a 4 year olds hand on busy roads and push a pram so a piggy back for the bigger one is a practical solution while both hands are taken up with the pram/buggy.

Its just a bloomin form of transport to get them from AtoB like buggyboards, scooters, carseats, bike seats/trailers etc.
Can you please explain why slings are singled out as odd/problematic and not any of the above?

I'm just wondering if these school children who need to be carried are only children (nothing wrong with that I should hasten to add).

It's just that if a parent has one or two (or three) younger ones then the 4-5 year old could be the 'big child' in the family and would not be infantilised.