Tip Tuesday- Ring Position

Posted on September 25, 2012 by bwiofpeoria

By CS

Tips and Tricks – Ring Position

We previously talked about theading and sizing your ring slings (http://bwiofpeoria.org/blog/2012/03/13/tip-tuesday-3/) but for a long time I always ended up with my rings too low so I wanted to talk about ring positioning. The ring sling that I am using is the BWI of Peoria Library BB Sling in Papaya. It was donated by Nova Natural. It is actually made from a wrap so is a nice and sturdy ring sling.

As you can see, I am first sizing my ring sling by adjusting it to the distance between my shoulder and hips.

I like to carry on my left hip, so I put my left arm and head through the sling.

I want to end up with my rings in a high corsage position. To do this, I am actually going to line up the seam of the ring sling with the seam of my shirt. If you are new to ring slings, you may actually want to start with it a little behind the seam of your shirt.

Then you place your baby in the carrier. This is 14 month old T. As always, make sure you get a good seat.

To tighten the carrier, pull the top rail horizontal instead of down

If you need to tighten the bottom rail, you can pull it down.

Then spread the fabric wide over you back and over your shoulder as comfortable.

As you can see, my rings ended up in the high corsage position and my baby is secured nice, tight and close enough to kiss.

Tip and Tricks: No Sew Ring Sling

Posted on September 11, 2012 by bwiofpeoria

By CS

As my collection of wraps have grown, I have acquired some that I really love. I wear them often but sometimes I want the convenience of a ring sling. A No Sew Sling Ring is a way to have the best of both worlds. You can wear a beautiful wrap but you can have the ease of the ring slings.

The first thing you need is a wrap. I am using the BWI of Peoria’s size 2 Girasol. A No Sew Ring Sling is best with shorter wrap. You also need a pair of rings. They need to be rings specifically made for use in a ring sling. You want to make sure they are of sufficient cross-section and diameter. In addition, there should be no gaps or welds. They also need to be qualified at a weight in excess of that of your baby. The best thing to do is order from www.slingrings.com because then you know you are getting the right rings.

Starting with the wrong side of the wrap facing you. Thread the wrap through both rings.

Now pull a section of the wrap through and thread it over the top ring and under the bottom. This is the same way you would normally fasten a ring sling

Pull the rest of the section through and pull it tight being careful not to twist the fabric.

This part is going to be the back, inner part of the ring sling. You can now flip your wrap over and bring the other end up and thread it normally by coming up through both rings from the bottom.

And then back over the top ring and under the bottom. Your rings may be a little offset so make sure you are threading it correctly.

Then put on your No Sew Ring Sling as you normally would.

After you get your child placed, you may need to tuck in the tail when you spread the ring sling across your back.

When you have finished, you should able to use your wrap just as you would a ring sling.

You shouldn’t need to adjust the rings and more than normal. If you do find your child to be slipping slightly you can try pulling a longer section through in the beginning. If you are trying this with a really thick wrap, you might try pulling a longer section through to start but only pulling it through both rings and not doing the over the top ring and under the bottom ring. This will leave the rings more like a true ring sling but then the only thing keeping it there is the weight of the baby and friction of the fabric. If you are doing this method, you need to be sure to start with a long enough section pulled through.

I hope you enjoy this way of using your wraps.

Picture Day

Posted on August 27, 2012 by bwiofpeoria

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Comfy Joey Water Ring Sling Review and Comparison

Posted on June 27, 2012 by bwiofpeoria

By B

I recently had the opportunity to try the Comfy Joey Water Ring Sling out with my family at an indoor water park. I talk here about how babywearing really helped out on that trip. I’ve owned a water ring sling since my older child was just a few months old. It got a lot of use here as a shower sling. I figured the CJ sling would be the same thing. I was so pleasantly surprised to find that the Comfy Joey water sling is a million times better!

I thought that the major advantage of the Comfy Joey sling was the wide range of cute colors they are available in. Other water slings I’d see are available in black, white and blue. The Comfy Joey ones come in 6 beautiful colors, the better to match to your swim suit.

On the ring sling that I have, the material is like a football jersey, with larger holes. When dry, it is somewhat slippy, not dangerous, just needs to be readjusted often. Once it gets wet, it becomes grippy. I expected the same from the Comfy Joey, but that isn’t the case at all. The CJ is rock solid. I put baby girl in, got her settled and headed to the pool. I didn’t need to adjust the sling one time during the 90 minutes she was in it. The CJ material is grippy from the get go. This is a big advantage when you are wearing your baby around, say, a water park, where you will be in and out of the water. I was really surprised at how supportive and comfortable this ring sling was. I could definitely see wearing it for a day at the pool. I think the smaller holes in the Comfy Joey would make for better sun protection as well, though neither sling is made to be a substitute for sunscreen.

Close up photos of the fabrics:

Comfy Joey is the green one.

Another difference is the shoulder style. Really, it’s a matter of personal preference. I really like the “CJ Hybrid” shoulder, as it’s called. Some info from the site: “Fans of gathered shoulders will find that this design allows the sling fabric to be spread wide to hug your shoulder similar to a gathered shoulder style, virtually eliminating pressure points. However, our design also allows the shoulder fabric to be worn narrowly, or scrunched up, maximizing the freedom of movement for the ring-side arm with less bulk than you’d expect.” This means that you can wear the shoulder either spread out, to distribute the weight better, or bunched up, to have full range of arm motion. Honestly, they are both super comfortable on this.

CJ shoulder, spread

And bunched

The other, spread as much as I could

And bunched

The rings on the Comfy Joey are smaller, too, which helps it to be less slippy. It’s just as easy to adjust, though.

Picture Day

Posted on June 11, 2012 by bwiofpeoria

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Tip Tuesday- Getting a Good Seat

Posted on May 29, 2012 by bwiofpeoria

By KSC

This week we will talk about getting a good seat. Whether you use a wrap, a ringsling, a Mei Tai or a soft structured carrier we often use the term getting a good seat in the carrier. It means making sure that your child has the bum lower than knees position and ideally has the carrier covering and supporting knee to knee. I will be using our lending library’s SBP’s wrap conversion ringsling, our Wrapsoday hybrid stretch wrap and our Action Baby Carrier soft structured carrier.

With the ring sling I make sure the bottom half of the material is knee to knee and well tucked up between me and my child’s body. You can see that the top half of the fabric is flat and not bunched around his back.

You can see the bum lower than knee position here again.

Here shows how the fabric is tucked up between his legs and my stomach/side.

In a wrap I will pull the bottom of the wrap straight down and then pull from between his legs and up between us.

I make sure that I pull that material up along my back and knee to knee on his body.

Here you can see the bum lower than knee position that I end up with when I use this method.

In a soft structured carrier I make sure the waist band is flat against my back without any gaps. I then bring the fabric up and over this bottom so that he sits about half way over the waist band.

I would do the same with a Mei Tai as I do with a soft structured carrier. As a final check with any carrier that I am using is to make sure his position is correct by lifting up on his heels which pushed his bottom into that nice deep seat.

BB Sling Review

Posted on May 15, 2012 by bwiofpeoria

By HD

Carrier: BB Sling (generously donated to us by Nova Natural)

Reviewed with children age: 12 months

This is a ring sling carrier made from the same material as a woven wrap. The material gives extra support and you can carry a heavy child comfortably. I used this carrier primarily with my 12 month old, but I did try my 3 year old and he also fit.

I am not a typical ring sling user, but this sling was easier than a lot of ring slings I have tried. The fabric makes it easier to pull through and adjust the fabric to size. The shoulder is especially comfy and spreads easily. I also thought the fabric added sturdiness, I even slid my son to my back a few times and I normally don’t do this with a ring sling, but he was safe and secure.

For me, ring slings are great in and out carriers and I like to use them for quick trips into stores. They are easy to fold up and stick in a large purse or diaper bag. I also really liked this carrier for getting ready for work in the morning. My little guy enjoyed being carried as I rushed around to find all of my things and get myself ready!

What Can You Do While Babywearing? Go swimming!

Posted on May 9, 2012 by bwiofpeoria

By HD

Getting into a pool, ocean or lake can be very intimidating for a little person. To help my little one feel more secure, I like to use a sling made for the water. This helps baby feel safe when experiencing something new. I also feel safer holding baby (especially in a murky water situation like the lake pictured).

The pictures are my little guy at around 3 months enjoying a cool off in the lake. This was his first water experience and he loved it!

I am using a solarveil ring sling (solarveil helps protect from the sun and dries quickly). BWI has a few water slings in our library if you think water wearing is something you want to try!

Tip Tuesday -Ring Sling

Posted on May 1, 2012 by bwiofpeoria

By KSC

This week we will talk about spreading the fabric in your Ringsling. I keep my ringsling set to about the same position all the time with slight adjustments for taking baby in and out of the carrier. After wearing my ringsling a few times I find that my fabric starts to look bunched up and does not glide smoothly through the rings. It ends up looking like this.

So what I do is loosen a few inches of the fabric in the rings.

I make sure that both of my rails are nice and flat and not twisted in the rings.

This is the opposite rail spread out and flat through the rings.

Next I start to slowly pull my spread fabric through the rings a small section at a time keeping it bunched evenly.

Pulling each section down through the rings.

Each section is nearly all the way through now spread evenly. You can see the separate sections are spread nicely on this striped ringsling.

This is how it should look when you have all the fabric pulled through. The fabric will spread from one end of the rings to the other side with the fabric evenly distributed. This will help with any adjustments you need to make once you have baby in the sling. I usually look at my ringsling after a few wearing to make sure my fabric is spread out like this.

Comfy Joey Toddler Width Silk Ring Sling Review

Posted on April 12, 2012 by bwiofpeoria

By TP

Comfy Joey Silk Ring Sling Review “Toddler Width in Seattle Silk” – Ages worn: 8 weeks; 12 lbs.

Brief Description: http://www.comfyjoey.com/catalog.php?item=264&catid=40&ret=catalog.php%3Fcategory%3D40

Velvety soft, with a weave that recalls snow capped peaks and majestic pine trees, and colors that are distinctly downtown; this best-selling, high-contrast sling crowned with silver SlingRings will slip right in to your wardrobe like it had always been there.

With its grippy texture and 36 inch width, our Seattle is perfect for cuddling your toddler on a hike in the woods or on a visit to your favorite barista. Seattle’s excellent diagonal stretch yields and molds to you and your child, and the Toddler-Width CJ Hybrid Shoulder provides a cushioning effect whether worn gathered or scrunched. The effort you put into threading and adjusting this sling will yield a slip-proof, rock-solid carry.

Learning Curve: This was my second babywearing experience (first was with the Boba wrap) and I went to a Saturday Meet-up. I was given one-on-one assistance on how to measure out the right length for my body and how to tighten/loosen around the rings. Once I was shown how to do it, I tried it myself and that’s all the help needed. Very easy to pick up after you’ve seen it done in person. (Shameless meeting plug – Go to a meeting; they’re super helpful!!!).

Activities: I wore my daughter around the house mostly, as we didn’t get out and about during these few weeks. Most activities consisted of snuggling, rocking, walking outside, pushing Big Brother outside in the swing, picking up around the house, etc.

Innovation: I absolutely loved how easy it is to get your babe in and out of the sling. By looking at it, I thought it was going to be struggle, but I learned it’s very easy to use for a new wearer like myself. Loved how this product was a standard size and a good fit for my plus-sized body, as well as my skinny-minny mother. No special attachments/extensions needed. That’s a plus for this plus-sized girl!

Ease of Nursing: I’m not a huge fan of nursing with it on. Not because of the wrap; it’s just my preference to be sitting down in a sturdy chair.

Safety: I felt completely comfortable with my daughter in the sling. I just ensured she was tightly tucked in around her bum, and she was good to go.

Storage: The storage is very simple. This sling doesn’t wrinkle much at all, so you can throw it in the purse/diaper bag and go.