Baby Slings 'N Things Review and Giveaway! Closed!

The following review is a guest post by Slee, you can check her out at her blog Paisley and Pretties! Thanks, Slee!

Baby Slings N Things is the family friendly business of Lisa Filkins. She was fed up with her bulky pouch sling not quite meeting her need to still have arms, and her colicky, clingy, refluxy, but sweet son's needs to be comfortable and close to mom. Instead of trying to buy her way out of the problem, she decided to make a solution, and her "Hands Free" slings were born. Soon she was making them as gifts and now she sells them too. Best of all, she can make her slings while the children are otherwise entertained and not lose any of the all too important family time, because really, isn't family time why WAHMs work at home?

I was blessed to have the opportunity to review one of Lisa's slings, and though I am far from a baby wearing expert, I do a lot of babywearing, so this was a particularly exciting review for me. Being new to ring slings, there was also a certain amount of challenge involved.

I am not going to lie to you. It takes some playing with in the beginning to get the rails adjusted the way you want them and to learn how to get the rings positioned just right. That said, it's not as daunting a task as I'd built it up to be in my head, and Lisa helps out a lot by sending along an instruction pamphlet with each sling that has very clear directions, as well as pictures. I don't know about you, but for me the pictures are immensely helpful. That said, don't go looking for the twitpic of me wearing the sling upside-down in a moment of first-day confusion. K? Thanks.

Other than the time I took admiring the deeply saturated color of the sling, which simply delighted me, I immediately checked the rings to make sure they felt nice and sturdy, and that the seam was secure. Well, the rings are quite sturdy, and Lisa, of Baby Slings N Things, triple stitches the seam to ensure that it is strong enough for even the chunkiest of babies. Lisa uses no-weld aluminium rings manufacturer tested to 120 kgs, and suggests using her sling for little ones up to 16kgs. Why the kgs? Lisa is slingin' it up down under. For the rest of us, 16kgs is about 35lbs, and 120 kgs is about 264lbs.

I also really like that the "Hands Free" Baby Sling weighs less than my typical pouch sling, and far less than my wrap carriers, making it a great lightweight solution for days when you want to toss a sling in the diaper bag and go. I also like that the fabric of the sling isn't too thick, especially for hot days.

One of the benefits of a ring sling is that it's more adjustable. Not only can it be worn in five different positions, the cradle hold, tummy to tummy, kangaroo, hip carry, and back carry, you can also adjust how high up you're wearing your baby in a hold like tummy to tummy or the hip carry, making it easier to breastfeed while babywearing. As an added bonus, the tail of the sling can double as a nursing cover in a pinch, if say, your spouse's creepy friend keeps oogling you whenever the baby gets hungry, or if your baby is the easily distracted type of nurser.

I do wish that the fabric were spread a touch wider over the rings, but before this sling, I'd usually worn Snapdragon in a pouch sling that sits pretty low on my shoulder.

On an almost funny note, my mother has also gotten a lot of use out of it because she broke her arm and the sling the hospital sent her home with just couldn't hold her arm in the proper position. The adaptability of the ring sling meant she could get her arm into a position which was not only comfortable, but secure. Gotta love being able to adjust the top and bottom "rails" of the sling separately!

Lisa has kindly offered to give one Moma Lovebug readers a Baby Slings N Things sling!

Want to win?

You must first visit Baby Slings N Things and take a look around. Then come back and tell me what sling you would choose if you won. This is a mandatory entry. If you do not complete this entry, all other entries will be disqualified.

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Contest is open to US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand Residents only. Contest will end 2/7/10 at 11:59 pm EST. A winner will be chosen by random.org and will be notified by email. I will also announce the winner in a separate post. You must contact me within 48 hours. If you fail to claim your prize, a new winner will be chosen by random.org and emailed. Please see my Disclosure.

*Slee received the sling free of charge in exchange for this review. The opinions expressed are her own*