Slings are different than the carriers I've already covered. The main difference is that the sling is worn over only one shoulder. A ring sling is a long piece of cloth that is threaded through a pair of rings, which you use to adjust the size of the sling. They come in a variety of fabrics, colors, and patterns. You can have them padded or unpadded (I prefer unpadded, as it's much easier to adjust an unpadded sling). They're also pretty customizable, because you can add pretty fabric to the tail, or a pocket, or a zippered pocket.
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Peanut as a tiny girl cuddling in the ring sling. Note that the sling had slipped off my shoulder, so this is not actually being worn quite right. |
Rings slings are another daddy-friendly carrier, and great for beginners since it doesn't require a whole lot of know-how. You can do front and hip carries with a ring sling, and there are a few back carries, but I admit I'm too chicken to try a back carry with a ring sling.
As I mentioned in the above caption, my picture actually shows the sling being worn incorrectly. In the course of our impromptu photo shoot, the sling slipped up off my shoulder and is instead resting against my neck. That's incredibly uncomfortable, for the record. Instead, it should be spread over my shoulder, pretty much where the sleeve of my shirt is. Please, please, do not wear your sling up by your neck. You will NOT enjoy it, and your neck will be super sore.
There are quite a few really great companies that make ring slings:
- Sweet Pea Ring Slings (which is what is pictured above)
- Sleeping Baby Productions (commonly referred to as SBP)
- Sakura Bloom
- UpMama
- Snuggy Baby
- Zolowear
As usual, a warning: the above companies, along with some others, are reputable and their products are extremely high quality. BEWARE of buying slings off etsy/ebay. Many of them are safe; however, many are NOT. The number one safety issue: the rings being used. Sling rings should be unwelded, large, and not shiny. If you are looking to make one yourself (which is totally doable), you will almost certainly need to buy the rings online. Do NOT use craft rings, or even hardware rings. They are not safety tested for this type of use.
These slings are really great for tiny babies. Check out the cute nugget:
I made my ring slings for my 1st 3 babies. I had 2 issues though, which prevented me from using them as much as I'd anticipated. 1) I already have a lot of neck pain, esp in the first months of nursing and carrying a baby in my arms. Which ever side I had the sling over my shoulder on I would get terrible pain in that side of my neck from the weight pulling my shoulder down. 2) Even though I bought my rings from the same website where I got the pattern (ElizabethLee.com, as recommended by my doula and Bradley Instructor) once the babies reached about 20 lbs (which happens between 3 and 4 months old with my babies), the sling tail would slowly slide out of the ring and I would have to cinch it back up every few minutes so it was super annoying (and not too safe) to use. I also never liked how it felt like the baby could fall out the bottom as I was moving around the house doing chores and whatnot. I did, however, love the ease and privacy of nursing in the sling. Just my experience. I'm grateful you're doing these blog posts. I'm a big believer in babywearing and I'm excited to explore options outside the ring sling for this next baby.
ReplyDeleteOh, and with the padding/adjustability issue... when I made my slings I did pad them, because I felt they held baby in more securely that way, however... I did not extend the padding quite as far as the pattern suggested and I made it 1/2 as thick as recommended because I really didn't like the feel of a bulky sling and I didn't feel that much padding was necessary.
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