I have had a ring sling since Gage was born and I absolutely love it. My background as an OT makes me love the huge developmental benefits (carrying tummy-to-tummy counts as tummy time) and as a busy mom, I love the freedom it gives me to have my hands free while loving on my baby. I use my sling just about every day- at Wal-Mart, at restaurants, at church, at home while doing dishes...anywhere! It’s a good way to let your baby have the “mommy’s eye view” of things, feel secure knowing you are close, and keeping germy hands off of your little newborn, especially during cold and flu season. It takes a little practice, but it is well worth it. If your baby doesn’t like it at first, keep trying and try different carries! Really, there’s no wrong way to do it if you have your baby in securely.
Putting on your sling
First, you need to put your sling on, without baby. I wear mine on my right shoulder, but you can do either. For the sake of directions, I will be assuming you will use your right, too.
To do it if it’s not threaded through the rings, first, place the end with the rings over your right shoulder, with the rings just below your shoulder. Make sure the fabric is fanned across your shoulder. Then bring the tail around your back and under your left arm, making sure to keep it untwisted on your back.
Then, gather the tail of the fabric in your hands towards the middle like this until you have one little wad of gathered material:
Pull the wad up through both rings, then down over the top one and down through the bottom one.
Then just pull (I pull up and out to keep the rings in place) until the sling is tightened pretty close to your body. After you do all of this, you can just leave the sling threaded until you want to wash it and just put it over your head to use it. Put the rings high on your shoulder to start with and usually adjusting after you get baby in will make them slide down to just below your shoulder. Notice that the sling does not go across my neck, but spreads the weight across my shoulder.
CARRIES
Next will be a description of different carries. If you have any questions, you can email me and I will be glad to help.
First, the “rails” refer to the top and bottom seams of the carrier. If you thread the rings well, the top rail (edge closest to your head) will be tightened using the left edge of the tail, and the bottom rail will be tightened using the right edge of the tail.
Cradle carry
This is best for little babies. You can nurse using this carry and use the tail for a cover if you loosen the inside rail a little. Gage never liked being carried like this and he’s reallytoo big even in these pics, but some babies love it. We can still nurse like this if we’re out.
First pull the bottom rail up inside next to your body, making a pouch. Tighten the bottom rail close to your body using the left side of the tail.
Next, hold your baby on your slingless shoulder and slide his or her feet into the pouch and down away from the rings. Slide him all the way in with his head near the rings and tighten until you can wear him comfortably.
Notice that he is not down deep in the sling. His back is straight and supported. If your baby is too deep in the sling and his chin is to his chest, pull on the middle of the tail to make the pocket more shallow. Also, notice that he does not go in parallel to the rails of the sling, but perpendicular. His bottom should be in the middle. The people that I know that use this carry turn their babies more outward facing, almost like a modified kangaroo carry.
Tummy-to-tummy, legs in
With this carry, make a pouch with your sling, just like for the cradle carry. Put baby up on your slingless shoulder again, but this time, drop him down into the sling right in the middle with his legs froggy-style. Again, Gage is a little big for this, but he doesn’t mind showing you :). This was our favorite newborn carry.
He should be high enough for you to kiss his head (when he was little, this was more like chest to tummy, really). Tighten up just like with the cradle, making sure you have plenty of fabric across his back for support. When they’re little, you can also get their head in. We used this one all the time until Gage got bigger and harder to wad up inside the sling.
Forward facing or kangaroo carry
This is the same as the previous carry, only facing out. You can do this when they have some head control. Gage likes looking out like this sometimes. With this carry, just make sure the fabric is high enough on their chest and tight enough to hold them up. His legs are just bunched up inside like a frog or crossed like tailor sitting (Indian style).
Tummy to tummy, legs out
For this carry, your sling should be spread out across your front before you start, with the top rail at the top and the bottom rail at the bottom. Start with baby on your shoulder, as before and slide him down to where you want him, spreading the fabric out across his back to the back of his knees. Make sure the bottom edge of the fabric hits him at the back of his knees and that his knees are higher than his bottom. Tighten the bottom rail, then the top rail and make sure to leave enough fabric in the middle for his bottom to sit. Gage likes to ride with his hands out, but I may tuck them in and bring the top rail up higher if he is asleep (which he does a lot in the sling).
Hip Carry
When they have good head and decent trunk control, you can carry them on your hip hands-free. It’s basically the same as the front carry with legs out, but lower and over on your hip instead of right in front.
Back carry
We use this occasionally when I need both hands in front. Gage tends to lean to the side to see, but he’s in snug, so he can’t come out.. You can start with baby in hip carry, tightening as much as you can and still leave room to slide a little, then just slide them around. I find it’s best to lean over and get him as high as I can on my back.
Resources:
There are some good instructional videos online at http://www.mamatoto.org and some great info at www.thebabywearer.com , if you have time to sift through it. Be prepared for people to come up and ask you about your sling. I don’t go out that someone doesn’t comment on it or ask me where I got it.
I hope you enjoy your sling as much as Gage and I have.
Jessica Fincher
Babycapes@gmail.com
www.babycapes.blogspot.com
Pattern used by permission of jamie@slingmemommy.com
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