Baby Wearers: Wrap vs. Sling

joelsgirl

joelsgirl

Well-known member
I wore both of the boys in a sling, and I love being able to throw something over my head, have the weight distributed well and kinda forget there's a human being attached to me.

BUT

I found this beautiful Mei Tai carrier that I think would look so pretty one me. :D
il_570xN.263562950.jpg


And it's sold out, but I've got my eye on this one, too:
il_570xN.242144511.jpg


That second one just looks like SO MUCH material, and I live in the tropics, so I'm thinking it might be too hot. I'd love to hear some opinions from anyone who has done both.
 
Oh I'd love to hear this, too! I bought a ring sling, but several of the local girls here swear by the wraps. The wraps look more complicated to me, so that's why I stayed away from it. I didn't wear my daughter before though, so I really have NO experience here whatsoever. LOL
 
I have experience with the baby bjorn, didymo, moby wrap and the mei tai. I LOVE my mei tai! The only downside to it is that you shouldn't start using it until baby reaches a specific age, I think it was around 4 mos or so. I had the moby wrap in the beginning and used it frequently until I started using the mei tai. I never used the moby after I didn't have to.
 
I wear my baby in a wrap and love it. LOVE IT. I felt that it offered me more security by fully allowing me the ability to mold the material to the baby and to me.

They seem complicated but I promise they're not. I can help walk someone through tying it.
 
I have everything LOL... my favorite and most used are the wraps and ring slings... yes, I think that wrap will be quite warm in the tropics and IMO it's hard to know how stretchy it is and might not be very comfortable after a few months... if I were to spend the money on a wrap, I would get something woven instead of stretchy... that being said I usually highly recommend a Moby, but being in the tropics will be really hot and sweaty and you'll probably prefer the ringsling...

I have worn my babies in a mei tai, it's just not as secure as a wrap, but it can be done... you just have to tie behind the baby's back instead of under the bum... my favorite instructions can be found HERE (the newborn carry is towards the middle)

Mark is the mei tai user in our family... I prefer a woven wrap and ring slings for the newborn stage... and we both use an Ergo after about 6 months... and I still use my ring slings and wraps and I'm available to talk about baby carriers, it's a major passion of mine and making sure it's comfortable and used correctly is a huge passion of mine... so feel free to contact me
 
So I agree with heather. It will be too hot. And it is a lot of material. I made my own... and while I LOVE how it feels on me with baby (so tight and secure and no weight on my shoulders)... it was WAY too hot for me to wear in the summer (though anything would have been, but especially that). My babe was born in April and I barely used it.

I also have a pouch sling and I loved how fast that was and the babe liked it enough.

My friend has a ring sling that I borrowed a couple times and I absolutely loved it. I might get one next time (or use hers ha!). I took it to a football game that was 90+ degrees and it was way too hot for both of us... but way better than a wrap would have been and easy enough to get on and off it was okay. And well, it's not like I stand under the sun at football games for 4 hours often. :)

does that even help? ;)
 
I loved Mei Tais, ring slings, and pouches, but I wasn't a big fan of wraps. There was just too much material for me, and they weren't as quick to put on and take off for shorter carries. You can use a MT with a newborn, but you use it differently than with an older baby. You put their feet up in the froggy position and put them inside the MT, rather than putting them out to the side.

Excuse the old LO, but this was the first photo I found. Here is me wearing Ben in a MT at 6 days old.

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Kellie-what's your average winter temperature there? I used MTs in the summer here (in Virginia), but on the hottest days and the days I was going to be outside a lot I stuck to lighter weight carriers.
 
Sarah8914 said:
I also have a pouch sling and I loved how fast that was and the babe liked it enough.
does that even help? ;)
Click to expand...

Yes, totally helps. This is good stuff!! Question: What is the difference between a ring sling and a pouch sling?

And Heather, what is a woven wrap?

Someone tell me why ring slings have this really long piece of fabric hanging down, like this:
il_570xN.293932530.jpg
 
Oh, and Rachel, we don't HAVE winter, lol. It's in the 90's pretty much year round. We put on jackets when it drops below 80...you know, like the one time a year it gets that "cold".
 
joelsgirl said:
Yes, totally helps. This is good stuff!! Question: What is the difference between a ring sling and a pouch sling?

And Heather, what is a woven wrap?

Someone tell me why ring slings have this really long piece of fabric hanging down, like this:
il_570xN.293932530.jpg
Click to expand...

Because it's adjustable. I have a ring sling and I love it! The difference between the ring sling and pouch sling is you can do more carries with the ring sling, since it's adjustable and you can tighten it up to make the baby secure. I chose the ring sling over the wraps because I knew the wraps would be way too hot when it was 110 degrees here.
 
Okay, in 90's plus you would only use a Mei Tai inside an air conditioned building.

A ring sling is adjustable, so it has rings and the tail of fabric threaded through it. A pouch is a similar concept, but the ends are sewn together. It has no tail and isn't adjustable. I'll be back with photos in a minute.
 
So... I forgot to mention that my wrap is not stretchy (actually made with a gauze fabric to be lightweight and cooler, and it was still too hot.

A pouch sling is just one big circle piece of fabric.

So the ring has that fabric so you can adjust it to make it fit perfectly for you and baby.
 
The ring sling is adjustable and forms to the baby and your body easier... a pouch is harder to get the correct fit, but it's the same concept, just not adjustable, even the adjustable pouches you can adjust as well as a ring sling because the ring sling you can pull not just at the rails but through all the fabric to make it nice and snug

the key to making every carrier comfortable is high and snug... you should be able to kiss your baby's head... if you can't then you are wearing your baby too low and it will strain on your back

a woven wrap is exactly what it sounds like, it's woven threads and isn't as stretchy as jersey knit which is used for stretchy wraps like the Moby... it's breathes better, but it will still be pretty hot... tbh, any carrier is going to be hot because you've got your body heat up against your baby's body heat... but some carriers just breathe better, a jersey knit doesn't breathe very well.

For summers here... I usually grab something like an Ergo, a ring sling or a mei tai instead of a wrap.

The tail of the ring sling can be used to cover up while nursing or you can tuck it in if you don't like it...

Check out this interview I did about ring slings... Sakura Bloom Friends In Chicago... at the very bottom you can see that I tied up the tail of the ring sling... and for reference, the blue sling is a double linen which is my favorite summer carrier... the linen breathes so well!!! At the bottom you can see I tucked in the tail on my striped silk one... this is my favorite ring sling since it is so sturdy and the most comfortable, but because it's silk it doesn't breathe as well in the summer but I could carry my toddler in that one if I wanted to and be super comfortable... and these are all pictures of Isaac... he was 9 months old in the top picture... and the newborn picture he was 6 weeks old... oh and the middle pictures with the red wagon and the laptop, he was about 4 weeks old... those were for a photo contest they had and I won the striped silk sling from that contest :) I have another silk one too... and that is for a project I'm in the middle of doing for them and they are in the process of hopefully getting it up on the site soon :)
 
and I'll add that if you never get below 80, that I would definitely avoid a wrap... while I LOVE them, they would just be too hot for you in the tropics... a mei tai might be too hot too... there is padding in the straps and they are long just like a wrap, so it probably would be almost as hot as a wrap
 
I have so many photos of me wearing my kids, but it turns out they're much better photos of me and the kids than of the carriers. Here's what I could find.

A pouch:
5-09Zoo2.jpg


A ring sling:
8-07StrasburgRailroad08.jpg


That purple ring sling by Maya Wrap was the coolest carrier I had, and it was usually the one I wore in when it was 90+.

I liked both pouches and ring slings for different reasons, but if I had to choose 1 I'd go with a ring sling. I used them longer (birth to 24 months) than pouches (birth to 12ish months) because they're better for heavier babies. They're also easier to get the correct fit and can do more carries. I love how compact pouches are and prefer them from about 3-6 months because of a particular seated carry that is easier in a pouch than a ring sling, but everything you can do with a pouch you can also do with a ring sling.
 
I love this thread!!!

So, the ring sling I bought is a light weight denim... I'm thinking that by the time summer rolls around, I'll want to get another in a lighter breathable fabric.

Do any of you baby-wearin' mamas have any good videos or step-by-step instructions of how to do a proper carry with a newborn? I've got my local group that I will go to their next meeting, but Chloe could be a month old by then. I just want to make sure I'm doing it right and using the safest carry for her.
 
These are the best instructions for ring slings (videos)... they are all age appropriate and she is a huge advocate for baby safety... I got to meet her in Chicago when the babywearing conference was here almost 4 years ago... I was pregnant with Isaac :) She's awesome and she really helped me get over my fear of ring slings :wub:
 
Oh thanks, Heather! I'll definitely check those out! I really WANT to be comfortable with the sling, so any help I can get is greatly appreciated. :)
 
oh, and I will add that most babies do not like the cradle carry... I always did tummy-to-tummy with my kids... I even wore them in the hospital in a ring sling... which was perfect for my c-sections... a wrap I had to wait a few weeks to use because of it :)
 
I don't have a picture of me wearing Asher in the hospital... but this is me wearing Isaac in the hospital
t83gav.jpg
 
This thread has me fascinated! I got a Moby to use myself, and a Baby Bjorn (mostly for Jordan).
What are your favorite ring slings and where can I find them??
 
Oh my GOSH I want to eat him up!! I totally didn't even think about taking my sling to the hospital, but now I'm thinking I should. Thanks for the idea, Heather!
 
Can you believe he ended up being my blond headed kid?


My favorite is one that I made myself actually... I lent it out though and now it's gone... kinda sad that I did something nice for someone and now I'll never see it again :( It was a double linen one and was so soft and scrummy :)

My other ones are by Sakura Bloom, I have a double linen one and two silk ones and I'm hoping to get another one soon :)

Other brands I like are: Sleeping Baby Productions
Maya Wrap


and Col... I'd totally return the Baby Bjorn and get an Ergo :p it will last you and Jordan a ton longer than the Bjorn... plus, the Bjorn is really hard on the back... and the fact that you can carry a toddler with it makes the price point so much more of a better value... We still use the Ergo with Isaac when we're hiking really long and he's too tired to walk anymore...
 
Oh, and I have one more thing to say about ring slings :p

make sure that if you are buying from Etsy, that they use "SlingRings"... they are specific rings that were made specifically for the weight of babywearing... do NOT buy rings or ring slings that are made with craft rings... they will bend and break under the pressure... even with a newborn the rings take a lot of pressure so they need to be extremely strong.
 
I can do that. We've got a bunch of gift cards we still haven't spent, so I'll return the Bjorn and put it towards the Ergo. Like this one?
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4447848

I was looking at those Sakura Blooms ones, but I'm not sure I can convince Jordan to let me spend that right now, LOL! Maybe I'll use "birthday money" and get one of the single linen ones to see if I like it. I think I'd rather get linen since soon enough it'll be summer and hot.
 
Yep, that's it :)

Yeah, that's why I usually recommend the Maya Wrap ring sling, they are lightweight and high quality and I've heard tons of people really like them... I haven't tried one out but I've heard really great reviews on them... and I think you can get them at BRU.
 
heathergw said:
Yep, that's it :)

Yeah, that's why I usually recommend the Maya Wrap ring sling, they are lightweight and high quality and I've heard tons of people really like them... I haven't tried one out but I've heard really great reviews on them... and I think you can get them at BRU.
Click to expand...

Cool. I have my registry completion coupon to use and was gonna order in a few days to get some of the last essentials we need. I'll just add the Ergo to the registry and we're good to go. :)

I don't see the Maya Wrap on the BRU site, and I can't remember if I saw it when I was in the store the other day. I'll look into those suggestions you made though, thanks a ton! :)
 
I second the Ergo. I own 3 Bjorns and while I like them, none of them compare to my Ergo. I love being able to throw my now 17-month-old on my back and go.
 
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