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It all depends on the sling and the position of your baby. I chose a sling that had padded railings and a padded shoulder. I chose a sling after I had my son so I could try different carriers while wearing my baby so I could see what was best for me.

All that to say no, it should not be painful for your back. I wore my son in a sling on many walks with the dogs.

I was comfortable wearing baby in my wrap-sling-hybrid (http://www.bluecelery.com/sling.html) for dog walks up until he was 4 months old, and he's a fairly big boy so he was 16 pounds.

Then I had about 2 weeks of uncomfortable times where I used the stroller more, and then at about 4.5 months old he could sit up well in the Ergo and now I Ergo him any time we will be walking around for more than 5 minutes. Still love my wrap-sling for the way it fits into my diaper bag and I still use it for more casual times, but not for 'walks'.

Unfortunately baby wearing wasn't for me, but I have a very sensitive body because I get migraines so any weight on my shoulders isn't ok. Literally wearing a bra or necklace sometimes can set it off.... so having a baby on there obviously wasn't going to work. I still tried it though and it was a big waste of money.

I was never comfortable with a sling, but we used our moby style wrap all the time!

I never got the hang of slings but use the ergo all the time. Especially in stores even now that she's 1

I didn't feel comfortable with my ring sling and LO hated the Moby, so we've used our Beco from the beginning. I'm still carrying her around at 5 months in it. If I wear her all day around the city my back may hurt a little, but she's 16 lbs so I think that's normal.

@mrsjyw: my sister has a mei tei which is an Asian carrier, not sure how similar they are but she carries her 13 mos old son olin it and he is about 25 lbs!

I wore my son in the moby for 1-2 mile long walks all the time until he was about 2-3 mos and then I switched to the Maya which I totally loved. Since 6 months we've had him in the beco and we have loved each and every one. They are all really comfortable and I could and have walked miles in each.

I would say totally do it!

@jholler25: I didn't have a comfy joey but I had a Maya RS which is similar and I LOVED it. Once it gets uncomfortable to wear the rings at your shoulder, you can wear the rings on your back and it redistributes the weight so it's a lot more comfortable. I couldn't have gotten through our two vacations without it because until he was older he didn't like the beco (an SSC).

We love ring slings here, Sawyer loves to be hip carried, and hates the facing in carry that an Ergo does (plus I think he gets too hot because of all the Ergo padding). I wish I would have had a ring sling from the start.