I love this sling! I’ve mentioned a few times in recent posts how when I first discovered I was pregnant, I wanted all-natural everything. From a natural delivery to breastfeeding to babywearing and beyond (I wasn’t sure what the beyond part was yet), I wanted the full experience of motherhood as natural as possible.
Sort of like, Crunchy Lite. The kind of motherhood experience where you want everything natural but with vaccines and frozen pizzas and electric Rock and Play swings for when you just want to put your baby down for a bit and watch an episode of The People’s Court and scroll Insta while eating some ramen noodles and drinking a Diet Coke.
All my babywearing mom dreams came true with this sling!
As you may know from reading about my boys, nothing – and I mean NOTHING – about what ended up happening was natural. And that’s okay. They are alive and here because of modern medicine. I also honestly think if they were born at any other hospital in my province, they either wouldn’t have made it or would have even more problems than they already do.
Okay, enough doom and gloom. This post isn’t about medically complex babies or brain bleeds or tubes or so many of the other topics I often write about. It’s about… my new awesome ring sling.
I was sent this sling about a month ago from the owner, who found my story on Instagram and offered to send me a free sling. Not so that I would write about it or share it publicly. I am not being compensated for this post in any way. She just sent it to me out of the kindness of her heart, with no strings attached… or, no slings attached. HA HA. (Puns like that are why people don’t pay me to write stuff, I’m sure.)
But I am compelled to share about this sling anyway. Because I want to point out how cool this business is for being so kind to me, and also because I really love the sling!
This is where I had it a bit too loose at first. I tightened it up mid-walk and it was perfect.
At first it was intimidating to me. So much fabric! Where do I put it! How do I use the rings! This coming from someone who finds belt buckles cumbersome. But it’s actually really simple.
I watched the how-to videos here before I started and I chose to practice for the first time with Axel, since he is more chill than Jaxon typically and I knew he would be more patient with me if I moved him around a bunch.
First, you “thread” the fabric through. This video shows you how.
Then, you can carry your babe! I chose the tummy to tummy carry since the boys are still roughly newborn size. You can learn that here.
Another cool thing about it is you can use the “tail” (the extra fabric that would hang down from the rings) as a neck support for young babies. You just twist it up and tuck it into the opposite side by your underarm. I did that in the photo above with Jaxon and it’s a perfect amount of support for him.
My biggest mistake at first was making it a bit too loose. It felt fine standing but when I started walking, there was a bit too much bounce and it felt not secure somehow. So I tightened it up a bit (by pulling the fabric through the rings more) and then it was perfect and really easy to walk hands-free.
Going out for a family walk in carriers was a big goal of mine. Finally achieved!
We got out for a quick walk to Starbucks down the street and back and Jaxon loved being in it the whole time. My husband had Axel in our other carrier. Mom win!
You can check out True North’s Instagram here (lots of tips on carrying and maintenance!), or buy one of these sweet slings on their website. Support this amazing mama’s (and fellow Canadian’s!) business, you won’t regret it!
