Week of Love Giveaway and our love of Ring Slings

Happy Sunday, Babywearers of the Midlands!

When we did the cold weather babywearing meeting at the end of January, we had no idea how often we would have a chance to use what we learned this winter! Mother Nature sure has thrown us a curve ball. We hope all of you stayed warm, kept busy, and that babywearing helped mitigate the cabin fever running rampant through your house while we were all shut in the majority of this past week.

Since we were all closed in, and had little but our families and technology to occupy us, we hope everyone got a chance to enter in one of our fantastic giveaways this week. The prizes and winners  are below:



We'd like to thank the contributors, in no particular order: Bravado Designs, Diva Cup, Cupcake, Dr. Bronner's Soaps, Chocolate Monkey, Macaroni Baby, Snappi, Hape Toys, Marah Rutland, DC, Skyebaby Dipes, PURE, Bella Tutus, Silly Lily, and Charley Mae Designs.

 Ring Slings

What is a ring sling? Ring slings are long rectangles of fabric that thread through two rings for adjustability.  The tail is the piece of fabric that hangs down from the rings. Pulling on the tail tightens the sling. Three key bits of Ring Sling anatomy: Tail, Rings, and Shoulder.

The Tail is the fabric hanging down from the ring. It does not matter, from a safety perspective, if you have six inches of tail or a whole yard of tail. That is personal preference. A longer tail can be flipped up for a nursing cover or wrapped around the rings for padding if you do not like it just hanging down.
The Rings: it is of utmost importance that the rings be made specifically for babywearing, smooth and with no welded joints that could break or fracture from stress. www.slingrings.com is the place to purchase them if you are sewing your own ring sling or want to try some for a no-sew ring sling. Either aluminum or nylon offered on the site are perfectly safe. Most people prefer the aluminum rings. I have nylon in my water ring sling, and like them for that purpose. Please do not buy craft or hardware rings for this purpose, and if buying a ring sling off of Etsy.com or another WAHM maker, be sure to ask if sling rings were used, if the listing does not say.
The Shoulder: is the way the fabric is sewn, coming from the rings, to fit over your shoulder. There are several different styles, and nearly every ring sling user out there has a passionate preference. It's a personal choice, and it is really hard to say what makes one style preferable over another.
A short word about SBP (Sleeping Baby Productions/Jan Andrea) Her website is an endless fount of information on babywearing and ring slings, including tons of DIY tutorials. In fact, you can see her summary of shoulder styles and how-to here.
 

SBP (sleeping baby productions, sewn by Jan Andrea of www.sleepingbaby.net) - this is a pleated shoulder, a very common one you will see listed on babywearing swap pages

Eetsi - another shoulder style offered by Sleeping Baby Productions. it's a hybrid gathered/pleated shoulder. Many parents prefer this style for wrap conversion ring slings (abbreviated WCRS)  - where you can send a woven wrap into a maker to be made into a ring sling.

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Gathered: one of the most common of DIY sewn shoulder styles

 


Padded or Lightly padded: The Maya Wrap ring sling has this sort of shoulder.



Hot Dog - this is a narrow pleated style that fans can be spread out. The term "hotdog" comes from the observation that the fabric, when folded in towards the center several times, makes a sort of hotdog-bun shape. The sling's edges end up inside the folds, rather than along the outside of the sling.



 Ring Sling Fabric:

 
Most woven fabrics can be used in a ring sling. 100% cotton, silk blends, linen and linen blends, all find their way into ring slings. I would not want a stretchy or jersey material for a ring sling. It will not hold tension as well and will be less safe for your baby. In water slings you will see athletic mesh used; this is safe as long as the material is not too stretchy. Whether you make your own ring slingare or go to buy one, keep some things in mind about the fabric used. You want durability - in general, you'll want to look for "bottomweights" -- that is, fabrics that are used for sewing pants and skirts. This includes twills, linens, and heavier woven cottons. Within that category, you'll want something fairly lightweight. Weaves like twill and jacquard, which are woven in a complex pattern, will not tear easily (good!). Simpler weaves, often called "plain weave" because the threads just go over and under each other, like a checkerboard, can tear more easily (bad). This is the case with calico and many shirtweight fabrics.

Sizing:

Ring Slings are sized from extra small to extra large, starting at 65 inches and going up to 85 inches. The sizes increase in increments of 5 inches, thus a medium is 75 inches long. The size is measured by the length of the fabric from rings to tail. It does not necessarily correspond with shirt size. The majority of people can use any size ring sling, the only difference will be the amount of fabric hanging from the tail, which, as stated above, is personal preference. Most people like the tail to hit about hip level, but that is, of course, a preference that varies from person to person.
 

Use and trouble shooting:

 
Ring slings are generally fairly easy to use. You slide it over your head, with the rings at shoulder height or higher with the fabric cupping a shoulder. (which shoulder you choose is personal preference. I wear my rings on my left shoulder so I can tighten right handed. Some choose to wear the rings on the dominant side because they tend to carry baby on the opposite hip). Before you put your baby in the sling, make sure the fabric on your back is well spread out and the bottom rail (the edge closest to the floor) is fairly snug by tightening the edge of the tail furthest from your body. Now you can put your baby in your sling, facing you, in an upright position. In most cases, you want baby's legs out of the sling so their bottom is sitting in the pocket. While holding your baby close to you, tighten the top rail of the sling by pulling down on the edge of the tail closest to baby until it is snug. Baby's knees should be above their hips if they are seated comfortably, and they should be high enough to kiss and check their airway. (see last week's blog post about TICKS). The top rail should reach the baby's shoulders, and the bottom rail should create a nice wide knee-to-knee seat, with some fabric in between you and baby. With an older baby or toddler, you can have baby on your hip as you tighten, and they can wiggle their arms out if they prefer, as long as the top rail remains snug under their armpits.

 
 The most common complaint we see about ring slings is the shoulder - it creeps up the neck or is just plain uncomfortable. This week, on our Facebook page, Emily helped troubleshoot these problems. If the troubleshooting suggestions do not work for you, you may want to try a different shoulder style. Don't be shy to ask the members in the Facebook group. Often one of us has (or has had) different types of ring slings and may be able to help you find one to love.
 

 
 
1ST PIC - I seem to have problems with the wrap creeping up my neck (and this is an Eesti shoulder - it's even worse with a gathered shoulder - if anyone has a box or hotdog shoulder we need to connect ).

2ND PIC - my first solution. I loosen the top rail and flip the top of the shoulder over to keep it off my neck without having to slide it too far down my arm pinning me down. Then I re-tighten the top rail.

3RD PIC - my second solution. I start with the rings almost on my back then when I'm done adjusting it ends up in that dip right in front of my shoulder below my collar bone. I find it creeps less and doesn't pin my arm down as much when I do it this way.

The two things I find most helpful when adjusting baby are: 1 - make sure the fabric is evenly bunched in the rings and not overlapping (helps it not slip and you can tighten easier) 2 - When I tighten my bottom rail, I pull back and down towards my hip (away from the center of the rings - again helps it to not overlap). When I tighten my top rail, I pull the opposite direction - so up, out and away from my body (again away from the center of the rings).

Lifting baby's weight with my other hand make adjustments easier as it lessens the tension on the rings. Some people keep the wrap tight and then have minimal adjustments. I had a hugo baby and found that frustrating so I loosened a lot and got really good at adjusting Some people take baby out of the top (hubby does) but I pop baby's seat and lift the RS over their body and take them out that way - easier for me to move the fabric than the baby. I think it started when he would fall asleep.



 If you have other questions, or just want to connect to other local Babywearers, head to our Facebook page, or come to a meeting or playdate!
 
Our next meeting is Thursday, February 27th at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Broad River Road. It starts at 10 a.m. We'll be talking more about the Ergonomics of Babywearing.
 
Our March meetings cover a hot topic - Babywearing on Budget! Come join us the first Saturday at Expecting Well on Gervais, or the last Thursday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Broad River. Both meetings start at 10 a.m.
 
We will also have play dates scattered throughout the month. Hope to see everyone soon, and happy Babywearing!