Continuing on in my ramblings about baby carriers, I’ll tell you a little about my ring slings today. The first carrier I ever got was a ring sling; it was an Over the Shoulder Baby Holder (OTSBH). It was recommended to me by another babywearing mama, so I thought I’d give it a try. It beat the heck out of the Baby Bjorn I had prior to that, and I was pretty happy with it and used it quite a bit with my oldest son. What I didn’t like about it was the heavy padding on the shoulder. I thought that the padding would make it more comfortable, but really all it did was make it bulky. I also found it difficult to get it adjusted as securely as I’d like.
With my second son, I decided to try a Maya Wrap, and that was a much better fit for me. Despite the fact that it had no padding, I found it much more comfortable than the OTSBH. Also, it has an open tail, as opposed to the closed tail of the OTSBH. What this means is the end of the fabric that hangs down out of the rings is left open rather than sewn together. Some people like a closed tail because it reduces the amount of adjusting you do – you just pull the one end and are done. But I prefer an open tail, as it does allow for greater adjustability. The top and bottom rails of the sling can be adjusted independently, which makes for a more secure fit in my opinion.
Ring slings in general are nice because they are fairly versatile; you can carry the baby/child in a number of different positions. The unpadded versions are trim enough to pack in a diaper bag pretty easily. And while they aren’t exactly one size fits all, each size will fit a pretty broad range of people, so there isn’t the sizing issue like there is with a pouch sling. My husband is a good 6 inches taller and about 80 pounds heavier than I am, and we can both use the same sling (though if I were going to buy one just for him, I would get him a bigger size).
I can’t even remember the last time I wore my OTSBH, but my Maya Wrap is still in circulation. Prior to my Hotsling purchase, it was my carrier of choice for errand running or any time the baby was going to be in and out a lot, and it’s still good for that purpose. I have also found that I can do something with it that I haven’t been able to do with any other carrier: get the baby not only tummy to tummy as a newborn, but almost up on my shoulder. A couple of my kids have far preferred to be up on my shoulder over any other position, and the Maya comes the closet to being able to duplicate that hands free. I definitely find it to be a useful weapon in my babywearing arsenal.