A Guide to Choosing your Sling

When you place your new born baby on your chest and they go to sleep they will draw up their knees, their little bum will be down and their head will rest on your chest. This is the natural position a little baby will take up, so when we carry a baby in a sling we are supporting the natural position of our baby’s body. The seat of the sling should support your baby from the back of one knee to the back of the other knee. The Fabric should support the baby’s spine and reach to the back of their neck and offer adequate head support. The baby should be held high and tight and their head should be close enough for you to easily kiss.

Sling Styles

Stretchy Wrap:

A stretchy wrap is ideal for a small baby, the fabric is incredibly soft & moulds perfectly to your baby’s body. The really nice thing about a stretchy wrap is that they can be put on in the morning and left on all day long and you can pop baby in and out as you need to. You can for example drive with the stretchy wrap on and when you get to your destination take baby out of the carseat and pop into the sling without having to tie it in the carpark.

It’s a really great option for someone who has another child/toddler etc as they are really simple to use, easy to breastfeed in and can be pre-tied. Stretchy wraps are at the cheaper end of the sling range from approximately €44-€96. Generally stretchy wraps are used for the first 6 months but some can be used longer than others.

Ring slings:

When we carry a baby on our hip we tend to pop out our hip to take the weight of the child. Using a sling will support the weight so that your body is not put under strain. A ring sling can be used from birth right up to toddlerhood. Ring slings are again an excellent choice for breastfeeding. They are however one shouldered so they would not be supportive enough for long walks etc. A ring sling is something that we would always have in our bags, we use it several times daily to settle our babies, when pottering around with my older children, school runs or when my babies are poorly or need some extra snuggles etc.

A 100% cotton or a cotton blend ring sling will last you from newborn to toddler. You can get really lovely ring slings for between €50-80

Tie in Carriers: (AKA Mei Tai/ Mei Dah)

A Mei Tai/ Mei Dah is an Asian style carrier, excellent for supporting a small baby or toddler. We would recommend opting for a tie on carrier made from wrap fabric to ensure that the fabric is lovely and soft and really will mould to your baby’s body. These are suitable for front or back carries and are really easy to use. Most that you choose for your newborn will be suitable to use from newborn to 18months and the toddler sized ones will last until about 3 years. Tie on Carriers are great as they don’t need adjusting between users and are priced at approximately €110

Soft Structured Carriers (AKA SSC or full buckle)

These are generally very easy to use. If you do want to purchase a soft structured carrier for a newborn we would absolutely suggest that you choose one that is adjustable for a newborn and that does not require an insert (either built in or separate from the sling). Again we would suggest that you would choose one that is made from wrap fabric and ensure that you choose one that the fabric runs from your baby’s knee to the other knee supporting the hips as described above. SSC’s tend to be more expensive than other types of slings. A good supportive ssc that will provide the proper support for your baby’s hips and spine are priced somewhere between €100-160. They can be used for both front and back carries when baby is older.

Woven Wraps

A woven wrap is a really nice way of carrying your baby, a size 6 is generally a really good size to start with. Woven wraps are great fun to learn but they do need some practice to get confident using but with a little practice you can become very proficient in wrapping your baby. There is a huge variety of carries you can learn with a woven wrap – front, hip and back carries.