Paging Tarah!!!!

[aliceinwonderland]

I saw that you have a ring sling from sleepingbaby.net--how do you like it? I'm thinking of getting the linnen one for the summer...

SO far I only have one sling, the hotsling one and it is not cutting it anymore with my chunky-chunk boy :) Are her ring slings easy to use? Pretty (yes, I'm vain)..I carry Erik a lot, but my back kills...

THANKS!!

[DebbieJ]

I'm not Tarah, but I had to pipe in.

I don't have one of Jan's slings, but I have not read one bad review of her work here. In fact, I have only read good things about her!

I say get one!

~ deb
DS 12/03

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/10029.gif

[nan]

I'm not Tarah either, but I just received a custom sleeping baby sling, and it is gorgeous and very comfortable, and I am a super-novice sling user. I have one other sling, a Zolowear, and the shoulders are totally different, but both very comfortable.

HTH
nan

[tarahsolazy]

Well, I actually am Tarah, LOL! I love my sleepingbaby.net slings. Yes, I have two. Black stretch twill, and khaki non-stretch twill. The shoulder is very comfy, and I think they are very easy to use, especially with a bigger baby, like Erik. I use mine in the hip carry, and front tummy to tummy carries, and its my errand sling, like the library, etc. Forrest will NOT sit in the stroller for any reasonable period of time, so I carry him, or I don't shop! My only caveat would be to suggest that you ask Jan to hem the selvedge edge as well as the cut egde of the sling, I think the unfinished selvedge doesn't look as nice. (She does it for free). Also, request metal rings, her site gives you a choice. The plastic ones are less sleek, JMO. They are fantastic slings, everything you need, nothing you don't, like huge padding. You will have the tail, but its kind of nice and flowy. I am 5'1", and the small hangs almost to my knees with Forrest in tight.

For everyone else, who doesn't know what we are talking about:
www.sleepingbaby.net

[aliceinwonderland]

This is very useful--I think I'll get the linen ring sling :)

Now, Tarah, does she include some wearing instructions? I only use my hotlsing so far (that's all I have), and I do not know if I do it correctley, I just plop him in, and his legs are on separate sides of my hip, he sort of straddles my hip, but I almsot alsway keep a hand there for fear he will fall--Erik is nuts about watching me cook, and I need to multitask, so he is on my hip all the time I'm home "Mama is now making pasta sauce...you want to help me stirr? Now mama chops garlic..." LOL

[tarahsolazy]

She has instructions on her website, which are good. The best part about ring slings is the adjustability. For us, that makes it hands free, when it needs to be. The sling fabric goes through the rings, and you pull on it to tighten. The cool thing is, you can tighten the lower egde (rail) and the upper rail separately. You essentially put on the sling, loose, put Erik onto your hip, and maneuver the sling fabric, loose around his bum/thighs, so that its covering from his knees to his mid back. You just hold him in his comfy hip-straddling position. Then, pull on the entire tail to tighten it up pretty well, then give the lower egde an extra tug, then the upper. You can get this amazingly snug. Ah, here are some fantastic video clips on using a ring-sling

http://zolowear.com/Wearing.aspx

I really wanted a zolo, but I was trying to be economical when I bought my first sleepingbaby.net sling. Zolos are great, too. I bought a second, and now I don't want a zolo, just another sb in a summery fabric!

[aliceinwonderland]

..and she waived the shipping fee. so THANK you, for both the above post and for saving me money :)

[nitaghei]

Okay - I love my ring sling from Rev. Jan - it's incredibly comfortable, and easy to use. Highly recomend them!

But - just wanted to add a couple of caveats:

1) At some point, the weight of the baby makes any one shoulder carrier less comfortable than a two shoulder one. I don't know how much Erik weighs - but I definitely found my Kozy more comfortable than any of my many slings once DS was over 25 lbs.

2) Wearing an open tail sling while cooking does not strike me as exactly safe. It's not a risk I'd want to take. YMMV.

ETA: I have Hotsling(s) and a Rev. Jan sling. Love them all! :)

Nita
mom to Neel, January 2003
dog mom to a PWD and a cocker(at the Rainbow Bridge)

[aliceinwonderland]

How is the Kozy different in terms of comfort? Erik is probaly right on the cusp of being 25 pounds--we'll have his one yr appt. soon :)

I have not seen a ring sling IRL, so thanks for the tail tip-- now I'll either be more aware when cooking or else use the hotsling--

thanks--

[tarahsolazy]

I find that they are still equally comfy for me, and Fory weighs 25lbs or so. The Kozy is nice because you can have DS out of the way on your back, but I think that wouldn't fly around here with cooking, etc, if Forrest didn't have anything cool to look at. I wore him in the Kozy at an art/craft show last Friday, on my back, and that was great, there was tons for him to look at. For long time periods, like over an hour or so, I think the Kozy has an edge, because the weight is on both shoulders, and your back. A one-shouldered carrier, ring-sling or pouch, spreads the weight over one shoulder, and the back. For time periods less than an hour, I tend to grab the ring-sling, its quicker in and out.

[nitaghei]

What Tarah said. A Kozy - or any other 2 shoulder carrier - is more comfortable for longer stretches of time, because it spreads out the weight. Neel napped for over two hours in the Kozy last December during a layover at Vienna, and I was just fine. And I have both upper and lower back issues.

But for shorter periods a sling would be fine. And a sling is definitely better for quick in and out type use.

Nita
mom to Neel, January 2003
dog mom to a PWD and a cocker(at the Rainbow Bridge)