Mini Monkey sling?

[suse]

Sorry if this is coming in a bit late - but I would suggest trying it first if you can (even you don't have a bub yet to try it with).

One thing with any buckle sling is that they have quite limited adjustment capabilities because they have a closed tail, this particularly impacts on petite wearers as they rarely can be tightened enough. When the sling is too loose, the baby is not sitting as close to the wearer as they should, and this causes drag, usually on the shoulders. It also means that they will sit too low in the sling, again causing discomfort for the wearer. However, in a cradle carry (where baby is lying down), this can have very serious implications if the pouch of the sling is too deep - positional asphyxia can result if baby has a curved spine with their chin against their chest, and/or very deep inside the pouch of a heavily padded sling with inadequate airflow. (ETA: although this is unlikely with an awareness of correct positioning and of your baby's breathing)

Correct positioning and monitoring of your baby is something you should do in any carrier, but is rarely an issue with ring slings or pouches as they do not have a deep enough pouch and in the case of ring slings, can be adjusted to easily accommodate correct positioning. But as the buckle slings may not always be adjusted adequately enough, extra care needs to be taken to ensure that the baby is positioned correctly.

Another thing with buckle slings is that unlike a ring sling, the rails (outer edges of the sling) cannot be independently adjusted to the body. Why is this important? When the top rail in particularly cannot be made tight enough to bring your baby's upper body close to you in an upright carry, they are able to lean easily, mostly causing discomfort for the wearer, and also meaning that you have to use one of your supposedly hands-free hands to support them.

One other thing I would specifically look out for with the mini-monkey is adequate support - the back strap is very very narrow, which will mean that all of the baby's weight is on your shoulder. A ring sling's fabric can be spread evenly across one's back, distributing the weight evenly.