Eco Child’s Play

So far we’ve talked about the benefits of babywearing, some general guidelines for babywearing, and the pros and cons of the pouch.

Next up: the ring sling.

The ring sling tends to be the go-to babywearing carrier for most babywearing parents. It’s very adjustable and fairly versatile, but its learning curve is less than some of the other baby carriers we’ll be discussing.

The ring sling is, basically, a long length of fabric with two sturdy rings sewn into one end.

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To put the ring sling on, hold the fabric across your back with the rings in one hand at one shoulder and the tail in the other hand at your opposite hip. Bring the tail up in front of your body and across your chest, and feed the tail first up through both rings, then back down through the bottom ring. The rings should rest at about your collarbone, and the sling should look something like a Miss America sash.

To adjust the sling pull the tail out and away from you as one piece to adjust overall length, or pull on one side or the other to adjust the tightness of the sling. Keep the fabric fanned out over your shoulder and back, and don’t let it bunch up against your neck–this distributes the baby’s weight evenly.

With the ring sling, you can carry a baby in a front cradle, a kangaroo, a vertical front facing in, or on either hip. You can also shift a baby in the sling briefly around to your back if you need a clear work area in front of your body, and you can carry two children simultaneously with two slings.

The advantages of the ring sling are that it is very versatile–co-parents of very different body types can both comfortably wear their baby in the same sling. The ring sling is also extremely adjustable. By virtue of being able to pull on various parts of the tail, you can adjust fit nearly perfectly–this is what allows you to be able to wear a newborn vertically against your chest, for instance, something that you’re unlikely to be able to do in a pouch. You can also, say, adjust your sling to be very high on your body so that you can nurse hands-free, and then adjust it lower when your baby is finished so that her weight is at your center of gravity, and then lay her down on a bed and undo the rings entirely so that she can finish her nap.

The disadvantages of the ring sling include the fact that it does include a hard component–the rings. It’s possible if you’re rushing or careless to bump your baby’s head on the ring, although it’s unlikely. And like the pouch, you will need to regularly switch the shoulder on which you wear the sling, because all the baby’s weight will be borne on that shoulder.

And as in any cradle carry with a newborn, take care to support your baby’s airway with proper positioning. Your baby’s spine should be straight, whether she is lying on her back or on her side facing you, and her chin should be untucked. A good rule of thumb is that if your baby is making a lot of noise breathing, then she’s not breathing well. Adjust her position in the sling to straighten her spine and untuck her chin, or ease a washcloth or burp cloth underneath the small of her back to straighten her out.

In a sling and a pouch, remember that your baby should always be resting in a hammock of fabric. Even if she’s in a hip carry or a vertical newborn carry strapped to your chest, there should always be fabric between you and the baby and fabric between baby and the world. In addition, if you’re wearing your baby in the hip carry, her butt should be sitting lower than her knees–this is how you know that she’s sitting securely in her hammock of fabric.

Next time? It’s a wrap!

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