Newborn to 3+ years?! If it sounds too good to be true, you'd be right, as this is often isn't the case!*
All babies are sized differently, especially if they are newborn - different torso shapes, leg lengths, the amount the hips have opened (some baby's legs are very tucked up) and things like muscle tone and/or prematurity will factor in too.
While you can fit a carrier outside of weight guidance I'd only explore this in a consultancy setting because of extra safety precautions that come into play.
With the above in mind, you can see how a carrier specifying min weight from 3kg (as an example) might fit two babies very differently, your shape will affect how the carrier sits on you aswell. Which is a part of why sling preference can really vary person to person.
It works the same with the upper age limit. Just because something says you can doesn't mean you should. As an example a lift could say it can load 20 people, but with what payoffs?! It'd be a very tight squeeze! Ten people or less would be far more comfortable.
You can tell if a carrier is too small for your baby if you struggle to get the main panel around baby on widest settings, or at minimum the carrier length doesn't reach into the armpits (increasing fall risk). The carrier will likely feel very heavy too.
Know that carriers aren't weight tested with real children! A weighted ball is rolled in the carrier a number of times to access gaps and fall risks.
*Slings that are all fabric in which you can tie and create a seat for baby - Ring Slings, Woven Wraps, Mouldable Meh dais, & long scarf (not pre-tied) Stretchy Wraps are going to be most adaptable for you and bubba. These come with more of a learning curve however which some people don't find practical, and are therefore not a viable solution for all, but if you are curious once mastered these can all make such lovely carrying options, and the skill easily worth it's investment. To get to grips with any one of these styles wellI'd really recommend booking a specialist appointment.
Buckle carriers - those with very adjustable waistbands - velcro, synching or popper increments are more likely going to be best for a newborn, but you will still need to be considerate of over-extending legs, some wont fit baby til more like 8 weeks in age, sometimes longer. Some of my favourite brands for fitting quite small baby's are Izmi, Dracomom Hatchling, Mumaruga Zensling, Neko Tiny, or Neko Switch. There are similarities between these styles but as always I'd recommend hiring before buying if your nearest library has any of these in stock.
When fitting you essentially don't want fabric coming beyond or bunching into baby's kneepits, baby should be able to have full swinging motion from the knee joint. The panel should only extend go the nape of baby's neck - we want all of babies face in view, if extra head support is needed there are ways we can do this without bringing the panel up further, which could place baby's chin on their chest, thus compromising baby's airways.
If you are not sure your carrier is supporting your baby (multiples) correctly please do seek advice from a professional and/or get a fitcheck. With premature baby's there are more safety considerations when fitting so getting support is even more important.
Some quick checks you can do.
Airways (fully in view) with fabric away from mouth, panel supporting to nape of neck with a smaller baby lacking head support.
Body Positioning baby's knees up higher than their bum to help with head support and bum placed back into the carrier panel, creating a gentle J shape on baby's spine, supporting baby's natural curvature. Baby held up high, and tightly against your body.
Comfort - Good knee to knee support for baby(which will help baby's airways, and a correctly tightened carrier, which will help to hold baby's good positioning well). Baby placed above boob's, below windpipe for best vision but equally a safe spot for those airways.
I hope you found the above information useful when considering what will or won't work for your baby.
Emma
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