Hotslings Designer Pouch Style Baby Carrier, Black Ecru, Size 4

So far, so good
I just started using this sling for a few days, but so far, so good! I had friends highly recommend this particular sling. Let me first say as a complaint that their instructions online stink!! Unless I missed it, I couldn't find any instructions that showed step-by-step how to fold the sling the right way and put it on your shoulder correctly and get it all set up before sliding the baby in! The video showed how to put the baby in but nothing before that. The written instructions with pictures that show how to fold the sling, etc. were not user-friendly. I felt like I needed a rocket science degree to get it right, based on the limited instructions they gave on that piece!

On a positive note, after a couple of tries, I was able to get the baby situated in the sling correctly. The first few tries were a bit of a debacle and baby was NOT happy about the whole process of getting her into the sling and then settled in the correct position inside. And for other mother's who are also "top heavy" like I am, it's not quite as easy to just slide the baby into the sling as it shows on the video when you have two "mountains" to have to work around. But once we played with it a bit and I got the sling situated correctly on my shoulder so it wasn't cutting into my shoulder it worked nicely and baby seemed very happy to hang out there. I think part of it was me getting used to the fact that being curled up like that was pleasant and "womb like" for the baby. It seemed to me like she'd be squished and uncomfortable but she really likes it.

The wonderful thing about the sling is it allows you to go about your daily business (to some degree) and have some use of both hands! At the same time, baby is nice and close to you. I'm a new mom and it took me about a month before I started using this and I'd feel a little guilty putting her in her swing or a bouncer when I had to get things done (or let's be honest, sometimes you have to go to the bathroom!). But beware...it's not like you're as mobile as you'd be without a baby strapped to your chest! It's still more challenging to do things because the baby limits one of your arm's movement (the one that has the sling over the shoulder) and you still have the baby's weight and general presence to account for. Bending over or squatting is still challenging and you have to make sure you aren't knocking the baby into things. But I can at least go to the restroom and work at my computer with no problems!

It's easy to use not not hands free
It was pretty easy to figure out how to use. But my baby doesn't love it. And it is not a hands free carrier. If you want a easy way to carry your baby and possibly comfort your baby, this will work. But if you want to get stuff done around the house, this isn't the carrier for you. The position of the baby makes it pretty difficult to move your arms around too much.

Beware the size!
I like this product a lot but I only gave 4 stars because of the size. I had to return the size 3 I purchased (it was too tight) for a size 4 (for a newborn).
My son loves it, he falls asleep in it every time.

NOT comfortable at all - for baby or me.
We really do not like this sling, which is a shame b/c I was really excited about it b/c it looks so easy to use. The biggest drawback of this sling is that it's not adjustable - even if you get it sized correctly for your body, you have to take into account that babies are all different sizes too. Based on his age and the Hotsling's documentation, my baby should be comfortable in a forward or inward facing front carry. The sling is too small to carry him facing forward and too big for him to face me and stay upright. He never could lay down in it either b/c he's much too long - he was 26" long at 3mos old. Save your money and get a sling that adjusts to fit you AND your baby. I have a ring sling from another manufacturer that is much more comfortable for both of us. It was more expensive, but we've gotten a lot more mileage out of it than this Hotsling.

Great product
I used this for the first time today with my 12 day old and loved it! He is a big baby though so I am not sure how long I will get to use it because I am sure he will soon be too heavey despite how big they say baby can be for it. I would totally recommend it over baby bjorn and the other front carriers especially for early on, I used those with my first and couldn't stand them!