---

Carrying your baby ‘facing the world’/ ‘facing out’/ ‘facing away’/ ‘front facing’ is something I get asked a lot about, so here’s a little blog to talk about pros and cons, safety, suitable carriers and things to consider.

Babies become naturally more nosey around 3-4 months when their vision improves. It’s a normal developmental step and many parents wonder about whether they ‘should’ carry their babies facing out when they become curious. Many parents do it and it’s ok to carry your baby in this position as long as you respect safety guidelines and you can offer the best positioning you can, but it’s not something I actively encourage. We will always support you if want to try it out or if you find your baby only seems happy when carried facing the world. There are also many other ways to offer your baby more visibility and space such as alternative positioning or a different sling. Talk to us!

There is a lot of debate over facing out and myths. Facing out doesn’t ‘damage’ your baby’s hips or overstimulate them massively as long as you follow the recommendations below. Don’t feel pressured to do it because you’ve seen other parents doing it. It’s not something you ‘have to do’ once your baby hits a certain age or milestone. It’s totally up to you (and to your baby!) and for you to make an informed choice, you are the parent!

A few things to consider:

1. You will need a suitable buckle carrier that offers the facing out option. Other types of slings don’t always offer optimum support for the baby when used facing out. Not all buckle carriers can be used in that position (so please do check with us and don’t always believe what some brands or influencers will say or show!) so it is something to think about before buying a buckle carrier. The carrier needs to have been carefully designed so it can be narrowed around baby’s thighs at an angle so you can support your baby from knee-to-knee with the bum sitting lower than the knees. This is to allow baby to sit in a deep seat but also to help support your baby’s weight more easily and avoiding putting pressure on the knees or inner thigh. Not every carrier can be narrowed the base at the panel in this manner. Using a cinching strap doesn’t offer amazing positioning facing out and can be put pressure on the thighs (e.g., Artipoppe). Lack of adequate narrowing could overspread the hips (hello spread-eagle!!) and pinch the thighs. There are a few carriers on the market that offer adequate positioning facing out. Here are the ones we have in the library:

It’s always worth trying a few carriers on to see what works best for you and your baby, how the weight is supported, the fit and the comfort it brings you.

2. You will need to wait for your baby to have full head control. This happens usually around 5-6 months old. The reasons are for that are: first you need to make sure your baby is tall enough so that the top of the front panel isn’t covering their airways, which creates a risk of suffocation. (NB: the demo doll here is still on the small side but it’s the only one I have!). Second, your baby will need to be able to hold their head so that they don’t end up having to rest their head on your chest and overextending their neck muscles backwards or arching their back to fit around your chest. Carrying facing out doesn’t offer the same optimum support as carrying baby facing you in a carrier or when you carry your baby in your arms facing the world. You can’t offer head support in that position, hence why it is imperative that they can support their own heads fully. Note: Your baby will likely show signs that they want to look around by waving their arms or moving their heads around and may sometimes show signs of frustration before they hit 5-6 months. This is very common around the 3-4 months stage when they are not quite able to fully support their own heads, but see ‘alternatives’ below to help offer baby more visibility or space or my blog about helping curious babies. I even made a video!

3. Time limit. There are 2 types of time limits recommendations when it comes to carrying facing out.

First, it is recommended you carry them in this position for 30 mins max at a time. This is for several reasons: Overstimulation: small babies can become overwhelmed by the world; it’s a lot of stimulation and a lot to take in for a tiny human. When facing you, they pick up on your responses when exploring the world with you (you describing what you see, pointing, reacting to stimuli, smiling at them, reassuring them and making eye contact etc…) but can’t do so when they can’t see you. If they start crying or become distressed, turn them back facing you or hip carry them.

Weight: When carried in this position, even with a well-structured carrier, their whole body weight is shifted forward and your centre of gravity also shifts, making them feel heavier. This can pull on your shoulders, so carrying for short amounts of time will help manage this and avoid putting a strain on your body. You can try crossing the straps on your carrier if it allows for that (straps must be detachable) to help carry the weight more easily. If you have any new or pre-existing back/pelvic floor issues, we generally don’t recommend carrying baby facing out as this exasperate things, though it’s entirely your choice, you know your body 🙂

Spine: Carrying your baby with their back to your front isn’t the most comfy or optimum position for both of you and it puts a bit of pressure on their spine, so little at a time!

Second, usually by the time they are 12 months old or hit the 10kgs mark, babies become too heavy or big to be carried this way so will find that facing out is only for a few months. Again, this is all up to you but carriers manufacturers generally recommend stopping carrying facing at that point. This is also because the weight will put more pressure on the carrier’s structure and stitching and could potentially cause damage to it (in rare cases, break). You can continue to carry your baby facing you for as long as you want, back carry from 6 months onwards (if you carrier offers a back carrying position, the Ergo Embrace doesn’t) or hip carry if your carrier can cross straps from about 4 months old (the Tula Explore can’t be used in a hip carry). This is also why you won’t find a toddler carrier that offers the facing out position.

4. Safety and positioning are very important when facing out (as well with any other carrying positions). Here’s a handy demo reel

• Make sure baby’s airways are clear and visible at all times. The panel should never cover the face. If your baby falls asleep, immediately turn them back facing you as their airways won’t be well supported and their faces could become pressed on the top of the panel/headrest, with chin and chest touching. This is a suffocation risk. Sleeping in this position can also put some strain on their neck muscles (ever fallen asleep on a train sitting down chin to chest? not comfy!).
• Carry facing out when your baby is alert, not ready for a nap and in a happy mood.
• Avoid giving snacks to avoid the risk of choking as it’s tricky to continuously monitor baby in this position (same with back carrying).
• Try to achieve a good deep seated position so baby’s body weight is well supported, their hips are not spread apart nor the thighs pinched.
• Keep arms under the shoulder straps for safety so baby doesn’t lean forward too much. This will also make the weight easier to carry.
• Avoid this position if the weather is really bad as this would expose baby to elements.
• If your baby starts crying, bring them back facing out or in a hip carry so they can see you and be reassured. Overstimulation can happen.
• Monitor your baby! Sling mirrors are super handy! There are little mirrors that are attached to a clip with retractable string in it which you clip on your top/carrier making it easy to monitor your baby (without having to fish your phone out and put it in camera mode all the time!). Also super handy for back carrying and monitoring baby. See pic below.

5. Addiction. Yeah, you read this right! Some babies get totally addicted to facing out (fair enough)! They can sometimes refuse to face the parent again because they love looking around and can become reluctant to be carried if their visibility is reduced. You can try a hip carry to alternate. It’s something to consider before introducing facing out.

7. Positioning. It’s always a bit tricky to support optimum positioning when carrying facing out, meaning it’s tricky to keep baby’s knees higher than their bum in this position and have them seat in a deep seat. They can feel heavier if they legs are more straight compared to being carried facing you. This is also why we recommend carrying in this position for short amounts of time. Carrying facing out also isn’t great on your baby’s spine as their spine can’t be supported in its natural curvature when their back is to us, so again, just short periods of time.

6. Alternatives. The idea of carrying facing out is to offer your baby more visibility. If you don’t want to carry in this position (and there are absolutely NO obligations to do so!) or if you don’t have a carrier that offers this positioning, you can try a hip carry with your carrier if you are able to cross straps (check out my video) or look at some other sling options like a ringsling, an adjustable and supportive pouch/hip carrier, a woven wrap, a meh dai, a Scootababy/Lenny Hip carrier and more!

Best is to get in touch to book a consultation at the Bethnal Green sling library or come to one of our many other sessions! You can try a few tricks like letting your baby have one arm out of the sling to let them have more freedom of movement and visibility, or even a seated-sideways position (here’s a universal video but I also highly recommend you seek out professional help to ensure the positioning is correct), or use some distraction. This video about curious babes goes over lots of options and you can also read my blog about helping curious babies

That’s it, folks! I hope you’re now armed with information to make an educated choice! If you would like to try out some carriers or need any support, just drop me a message!

Love, Mel.

---

Help support the sling library! If you have enjoyed this article and would like to support the sling library, you can ‘Buy me Coffee’ All donations go towards supporting parents and keeping the sling library going. Thank you so very much!