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Happy Baby |
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Safety |
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Make sure Baby's knees are higher than her bottom. This will prevent her from tipping out the top or slipping out the bottom.
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Videos |
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Visit the Online Videos page for step-by-step help using a ring sling.
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Threading Your Sling by Joanna Sutcliffe |
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Lie sling "right side" down and gather the tail in your hand, ensuring that
there are no twists in the length of the sling.
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Thread the gathered tail through both rings, again ensuring that there are no
twists in the length of the sling.
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Thread the tail back through one of the rings - like doing up a buckle. Again,
ensure that there are no twists in the length of the sling.
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Your sling should end up looking like a large loop of fabric, with the tail
hanging from the rings.
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Putting on Your Sling by Joanna Sutcliffe |
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Taking care not to twist the sling, put it over your head. If you
want the sling to rest on your right shoulder, put your head and your left arm
through it. If you want it to rest on your left shoulder, put your head and
your right arm through it. Most right handed people wear the sling on their
right shoulder. I'm right handed but wear it on my left. It's just a matter of
preference. You may want to get used to wearing it on both shoulders so you can
switch if one gets tired.
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Now you have the sling across your body like a sash. Place the
rings at around the collarbone level. |
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The shoulder part of the sling is important for spreading the
weight of your baby and making sling wearing comfortable. Spread the material
out over your shoulder, from the neck to the top of your arm. Make sure that
the sling is not twisted and that the material is spread out across your back
too. There's a trade off here - the wider the spread over the shoulder, the
more comfortable the sling will be... but it can restrict your arm movement a
little. |
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This is the part of the sling is where you'll put your baby |
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Cradle Carry by Joanna Sutcliffe |
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| This is great for a newborn baby. It provides good
support throughout the baby's body all the way to the head. Baby can be
enclosed in the sling for a secure feeling or peek out at the world. Older
babies can't really be put in this carry because there's just too much of them!
William is 22lbs at 6 months and it's starting to get a little difficult to fit
him in! |
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First, put the sling on.
Then arrange the two sides of the fabric so that it forms a pouch. In this
picture the edge of the fabric being held close to me is called the "inner
rail" and the edge being held away is the "outer rail". This will help with
understanding the instructions below. Make sure that the pouch is roughly the
size you see in the picture - or about the size of your baby. It's good to get
some of the adjustments done before the baby is put in the sling. If the pouch
is too big, pull on the tail of the sling. If it is too small, lift the rings
away from each other and pull on the body of the sling to loosen it. |
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Hold the baby high on your "slingless" shoulder.
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Guide his feet into the pouch, as far away from the rings as
possible (I find this helps with adjustment). There should be approximately the
same amount of fabric on either side of the baby. If it is uneven at all, there
should be more on the "outside"
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Here is William in the pouch. I haven't adjusted or tightened the
sling yet, so I'm holding his weight in my arms with the sling draped around
him. The point in the sling just by my elbow is his feet. He's kind of curled
around my body.
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Now you need to start tightening the sling. Identify the edge of
the tail which corresponds to the "inner rail". Holding the weight of the baby
in one arm and holding him in the position you want to end up, pull this
fabric. This will take up any of the slack in the part of the sling next to
your body. |
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The sling is starting to look more snug and is taking some of
William's weight. Now the "outer rail" needs adjusting. This is the part of the
sling that will hold your baby to you and prevent him from falling out. Pull
and arrange it into roughly the right place. |
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Identify the edge of the tail that corresponds to the "outer rail"
of the sling and pull on it to take up some of the slack. Use your other hand
to support some of the baby's weight - it's almost impossible to adjust the
sling if there's a chunky baby leaning on the part you want to adjust! |
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Here you can see William is nice and snug in the sling and no
longer needs my arms to support his weight. |
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To protect the baby's head from bumping into the rings, or for a
more streamlined look, wrap the tail a couple of times around the rings. |
| Other notes: It is possible to nurse in this position
but the "inner rail" needs to be a bit "baggier" so it can be pulled out of the
way. To do this, support the baby's weight with your arm, lift the rings away
from each other and pull on the "inner rail" to loosen it. If your baby is very
small, or the sling very wide, the pouch may seem too deep for your baby. If
this is the case, supports the baby's weight with one arm and pull on the
middle of the tail with the other hand Some babies like to be enclosed in the
sling. William hates this unless he's really sleepy as he likes to see what's
going on. It's easy to move the fabric around to accommodate whatever your baby
needs - a view of the world or protection from over stimulation.
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~Joanna Sutcliffe
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Thanks! |
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Special thanks to Diane at www.Mothers-Helper.ca for generously donating this gorgeous purple sling.
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Back Carry with a Ring Sling |
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Safety
Use the same diligence you would use with any back carry.
In addition, use a mirror to check baby's position and to be sure that
the cloth covers baby from his knees to his shoulders. Tighten the
cloth so that there is no gap between baby's chest and your back.
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Got $5 & 5 mins?
Make a Carrier! |
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Shop |
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More Help |
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Comfort |
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Make sure that the rings are higher than your breast and lower than
your shoulder. Don't let the rings cut into your shoulder or your
breast. Make sure that the cloth is spread out as it goes over your shoulder, and spread out well on your back, too.
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Report a Problem |
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Broken link? Missing image? Misspelled word? Inadequate instructions? Please email maintenance@wearyourbaby.org. I cannot respond to every email, but I do appreciate your help. I will email you back if I can. Thanks, Tracy Dower
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You are a Master Babywearer |
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In China, it is said that "A master is anyone who knows more than you do." So, you are all master babywearers compared with most of the moms in the world. You do NOT need to know everything there is to know about babywearing -- if you know even ONE carry with even ONE type of carrier, you are in possession of knowledge other moms desperately want -- even if they do not yet know they want it. ;-D Therefore, you should all feel confident enough to teach others! So, pick a public place, pick a day of the week, and start sharing your skills with other families! Then, list yourself here.
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