Anyone used a ring-sling to carry a newborn?

[bumbleweed]

Bought a ring-sling because my 4 week old will only settle in my arms and not on his own and I need my hands free to look after my 2 year old and do essential things.

He wants to be in a lying down position and I cant get it right with the maya ring-sling I have bought. Gutted as I thought this sling would be the one.

Any baby-wearers around to help?

what is the prob you are having?

never got on with my ring sling either.
I have a moby wrap though which is bloody fantastic. best sling I have ever had

actually, I likes my coorie when ds was smaller and lighter too

used a hug-a-bug wrap sling with dd and been trying it with ds but he doesnt want to be upright he wants to be cradle-held, and thought ring-sling would be easier for this and easier to whip on and off.

wish he would settle upright I am more comfortable with this position and familiar with my wrap sling! but he is his own person and lets me know in no uncertain terms that he is not happy.

prob is that with his head at the outer edge it is lower than his body and he feels like he is tipping out and the fabric is loosening. with head at the ring end (feels more natural) its impossible to tighten the fabric without it pulling at his head. either way feels like he is falling away from my body rather than snug and tight like in the hugabub.

I have a ring sling, my dd wouldn't really fit into it properly until she was about 8 weeks and she was quite a big baby.

Good luck

you can do a cradle hold with your hug a bub.

try this: put his head near the rings. support his weight with your hand near the rings. with the other hand, pull on the top rail and the bottom rail separately to tighten them to get it to where you want it to be.

thanks kiskidee I will have another try tomorrow when not so tired

cant get the cradle hold to work in the hugabub fingerwoman, too baggy, baby falling out, have tried about 8 times and gave up and ordered maya

sushi thanks for replying, I feel the opposite, feels like he is too big to fit in cradle hold - but thats ridiculous as he is only 9lb9oz - maybe because on the video she does it with a tiny baby and it looks totally snug and compact in there whereas ds looks huge and hanging out of the thing!

cradle hold that's from the moby site, but should be the same with hug a bub I think

i found this video

he is not too big for a cradle hold (or too small) a mate of mine is feeding a porker of a 5 mo old in a cradle hold.

I used one on my prem baby years ago I had a Hggababy and she kind of nestled down and swung around when i moved, she wasn't held TIGHT against the body, you couldn't actually see her when she was in it.

I have found instructions look for the Cadle hold and you will see

thanks to both of you for the links - you have given me some motivation to persevere - will read instructions and watch the video again tomorrow when less frazzled

thanks crunchie

I have a maya ring sling and I had the same trouble as you with my DD when she was new but then I tried it with another newborn a few months later and got on perfectly. I think I'd had more practice with the sling by then.

I think my original error was that I had the sling too tight to start with and so the whole thing was too high up. Try having it quite loose before you start.

I had the head away from the ring side: Put baby in feet first in to ring end and cuddle them in the position you want them to be in but with your hands outside the sling obviously.

Pull the bottom rail first (the outside of the tail) until the fabric layer closest to you is tight across your body and quite high up (you will now have that inner piece of fabric between you and baby.

Then pull the whole tail to bring the whole thing up to the right level and then finally pull the top rail to tighten the outer layer across baby.

You should be good to go now and won't need to hold baby or support them at all unless your going to bend forwards.

I carried DD in an Ellaroo RS as a newborn. I preferred her head to be away from the rings so that's worth a try. It does take practice too - do it with a contented baby, not with a wriggling, screaming one! I do remember that by about 6 weeks she couldn't bear to be in a cradle hold in it, so I used to put her in upright, slightly to my left side (suited me better) with ehr feet enclosed in a froggy position and she liked that. I was sure that it came right over the back of her head to support it.

Yay I managed to use sling twice today - position of ds not perfect but okay.

Your video link was really useful kiskidee, as it was more realistic showing all the adjustments you need to do than the dvd that comes with the thing.

Thanks for your tips PTIYPASMI - did pretty much that and managed to get baby in bit squashed up but head level with body this time rather than sagging below.

Thanks for all your advice - glad I persevered as dd and I did gluing and sticking today while ds in sling, and I cooked lunch too.

Reaching anything even at shoulder level bit tricky tho - seems to throw it off shoulder.

yay. i was wondering how you got on. i think if you are finding the pouch too deep you can also tighten the 'middle' so make it shallower.

Brilliant well done!!! Yes it's ironic that your free shoulder is invariably the 'wrong one' isn't it?? You will have to become left handed!!!

I agree - perhaps pull the middle of the tail to make it more shallow before you do the final adjustments to tighten the whole thing up?

Well done though - you have done far better than I did!!

GLad you got it sorted!
I carried DD2 out of the hospital ward in my ringsling when she was one day old! I put a folded muslin under her head to raise it a bit and laid her head away from teh rings. It is easier if you put the rings on the top of your shoulder when you put them in so that when you tighten it it pulls the rings down instead of them along IYSWIM. That way the 'cap' bit tightens over your shoulder and it doesn't feel as loose.

The weight of baby is making the fabric slip back through the rings after I have tightened it - especially the 'inner rail' so I cant get it high enough up my body - anything obvious I am doing wrong?

It sounds like you may need to rethread the fabric through the ring again from scratch - did you do it according to the video? i.e. gather the end of the tail inch by inch from each side at the same time until your hands meet in the middle and then push it up through both rings and then down through one. Then make sure the fabric is split evenly across the rings and nothing has managed to fold over....

I agree, it doesn't sound like it is threaded right, the weight of the baby should tighten the fabric not make it looser.