I totally agree with Beka! I carry my daugher (2 1/2) and son (12 months) in it still (obviously not at the same time!) And you can really personalize a mai tai, too! If you go to doulademadre.co.uk, you can choose your custom fabric and have a mai tai delivered to your door within 3 days!

carry my son (2nd son, 4th child) in a mei-tai, it's a traditional asian style baby carrier, he weighs around 20lb at present and i carry him pretty much everywhere that most would use a pram for. The mei tai i have is a "freehand" (brand name) and i also have a babyhawk one on order too. When it rains we have an umbrella (which i could never have with a pram!) i carry all our stuff in a rucksack (which is easy as he's front carried at present) and i have 2 hands free for my 3 year old and 4 year old. It cost around £40 and was worth every penny, it took a few attempts to get used to tying it comfortably myself but i wouldn't switch back to a pram for anything, i can also carry my 3 year old in it in a back carry (she's around 32lb?) I am not a big mama by any standards (5'4 and average build) I love the fact i can get on any bus or train with no hassle, i can walk into the nursery building/school to drop my older children off (without having to park a pram outside or wave by at the door instead) it doesn't matter how busy a place is or how many stairs there are as i don't have to wait for elevators or gaps in the crowd, where i walk he goes too!

Ihad a c-section so it delayed me using a sling as the muscles certainly weren't up to it. However, after about 6 - 8 weeks I loved mine and used it a lot, especially if it was cold and I would put my daughter inside my coat. I had the newborn tiny one which lasted about 5-6 months but you can get larger ones...try Baby Bjorn, they're really good! I still used my pram a lot too though as it depends what you're doing and where you are going, walks etc the sling is great but shopping I found a pram more versatile. Victoria