A Ring What?

Ring slings can be a mystery to many. What makes a ring sling comfortable? Why are there so many fabrics to choose from? What is the difference between a ring sling and a wrap conversion ring sling? What do people mean by squish-worthy and toddler-worthy?

Well, let me help clear up some of that mystery!!

General Information about Ring Slings

Ring slings are generally constructed with a sturdy woven fabric made of cotton, linen, silk, bamboo, hemp, and other fibers, as well as blends of fibers. Sometimes the fabric is woven just to be a ring sling and sometimes it is woven for a wrap and converted to a ring sling (called a wrap conversion ring sling or WCRS).

The fabric is sewn to two smooth metal rings on one end. The fabric is pulled through the rings in order to make a pocket for the baby to sit in. (Note: rings are sometimes made of nylon, but aluminum is preferred).

The "size" of a ring sling refers to the length of the ring sling (usually in inches). Only two things matter when choosing the length of the ring sling: 1) will it fit around you with at least a small tail and 2) how long do you want the tail to be? Generally, if you order based on your shirt size, it is said that the tail will typically reach your mid-thigh. Of course, this will vary slightly with the size of your baby or toddler. 


This chart should help you in choosing a length.

Size Chart

Size	Length in Inches
XS	65
S	70
M	75
L	80
XL	85
XXL	90

Another thing to consider in a ring sling is the "shoulder." Ring slings can have many types of shoulders. The most common are padded, pleated, hybrid, and gathered. The shoulder really is a personal preference. Many find that a shoulder that spreads out across your shoulder is most comfortable. This would be a hybrid or gathered shoulder. 

Yet another consideration with shoulder might be whether the ring sling is made for a right or left shoulder. This really is only important if the ring sling has a pattern that has an up and a down side.

My Ring Slings

I have owned four ring slings and have borrowed many more. My first ring sling was a 100% linen ring sling with a pleated shoulder made by LilPeeperKeepers, an Etsy shop. It was beautifully made with excellent craftmanship. But it never got soft enough for me and I found both the linen fabric and the pleated shoulder to dig into my very narrow shoulders.

Want a laugh? Here is me in 2010 carrying my daughter forward facing in my linen ring sling (this is not recommended...we all start somewhere and make some mistakes!)

I sold my linen ring sling as soon as my son was born and purchased a Tencel blend Tula ring sling with a gathered shoulder. This ring sling was purchased from Tula and is made from a Lexington Boulder Tula wrap. It was soft immediately out of the package and glided through the rings. Recently, though, I found that Tencel sagged under the weight of my almost 20 lb son. I find that the Tencel blends I have tried thus far are good for newborns and small baby's only. That is, they are "squish-worthy." This ring sling will leave us very soon.

Here's me wearing my teeny baby in the Tula ring sling. Ahhh...I can't believe he is almost one now!

On a whim last February, I purchased another ring sling. A 25% silk/75% Oscha Starry Night Nebula ring sling with a gathered shoulder. This ring sling was converted by Oscha from one of their wraps. Oh, it is beautiful! It broke in very quickly and is extremely soft. This particular ring sling is beginning to sag under the weight of my growing baby. I feel it too is best for a smaller baby (i.e. quishy-worthy). And so it will leave us soon as well.

Gah! This is a lovely ring sling to wear when all dressed up!

The fourth ring sling I own is permastash. I had a size 6 Natibaby My Yellow Umbrella wrap that I sent to Zaneytoes to have converted into two ring slings with gathered shoulders - I own one and a friend now owns one. This is a very strong 100% cotton that has a good amount of grip, but not too much. So far, I have not had the feeling that my son is sagging. It took a little work to break in, but it is now soft and very comfortable. I would consider this ring sling toddler-worthy.

My friend Cara Davies snapped this shot for me.

Because I have had issues with sagging ring slings, a friend of mine loaned me her ring sling converted from a Danu Freddie wrap. This ring sling also was converted by Zaneytoes. Danu is known for using very stiff and strong Irish linen in their wraps. The wraps take a lot of work to break in, but are "work horse" wraps that will not sag under any weight. So far, I am finding this ring sling to hold my baby tight and he seems to enjoy being carried in it for short amounts of time. This is very much a toddler-worthy ring sling!

Our lovely visiting ring sling.

Honestly, I don't think ring slings are for us except for quick ups in order to take the garbage out or run a quick errand to the grocery store. Even then, I'm beginning to prefer quick back carries and I think my son prefers being on my back as well. I will keep my Natibaby for rainy days when wrapping would mean getting the tails of my wraps dirty.

A friend of my recently said that ring slings are great for newborns/infants and bigger toddlers, but they tend to be not as practical for babies between 1-2 years of age. Maybe when my baby is two we'll start using a ring sling regularly again.