This was the first ring sling I owned. It was my least favorite that I've owned, so it has been sold. In fact, these photos are so old that Jax hasn't fit in those aqua crocs for months. I have a few ring slings now that I love, and learning how to use them properly was a major factor in being able to enjoy using them.
Here are the two videos that helped me learn how to comfortably wear a ring sling.
1. High enough to kiss. Baby should be high up enough on your body that you can easily kiss their head without straining. If they are too low on your body, that you cannot kiss at least the top of their head, it is probably not the most comfortable carry for either of you, and for a newborn, it could be unsafe. If you lower the baby to allow them to nurse inside the ring sling, when they are done nursing, they should be raised back up to the "high-enough-to-kiss" position.
2. Knees higher than bum. You want the baby to be seated deeply in the fabric, so their knees are slightly higher up than their bum. I actually don't have Jax positioned quite right in these photos. He should have been seated a bit deeper. Bara Barns are much wider than other wraps, so it actually makes it easy to get a nice deep seat. I just hadn't done the greatest job in these pics.
3. Two fingers between chin and chest. With a toddler, this is obviously not an issue. But with a newborn or little baby who is still gaining head control, you want to be sure their head is resting in a way that you can easily fit two of your fingers between their chin and chest. If their chin is down on their chest without any space, this can constrict their airway - which would obviously be unsafe.
4. For a toddler like Jax, the back of the sling should come up to his armpits at a minimum if he is "arms out" like in these photos. If it were lower than his armpits, he could arm backward out of it. For a newborn, the back of the fabric can come up to beneath their ears, so that it gives them some head support for their wobbly head.
5. Ring slings are not recommended for back carries. Although some very experienced wearers have done so, it is not advisable really for anyone. Back carries need to be very secure, since you can't see what is going on with the baby, and a ring sling does not adequately meet that need. It is best to use a carrier that is suitable for back carries, rather than attempting one with a ring sling that might put the baby in an unsafe position.
A ring sling is usually made from woven fabric, although I have seen some made by BabyEtte that are a soft stretchy knit only suitable for newborns. Stretchy fabric is lovely and soft for newborns, but once children get a bit heavier, stretchy fabric will sag and not be as supportive (or safe).
Ring slings vary in length, and are usually called "small", "medium", "large", etc. It is generally recommended that you purchase a ring sling that is the same size as your fitted tee-shirt size. However, different sizes can fit different wearers with a lot of ease. The size is measured from where the fabric begins at the rings, to the center of the "tail." If the fabric is tapered at the end, it is measured to the center of the taper (rather than the short side or long side). Bara Barns are considered medium length. I have worn ring slings from extra small to large, and the large was really the only size that was a bit difficult for me, just because the length of it hung down to mid-calf. Since that was way too to long to be walking around with, I wrapped the tail several times around the rings (as shown in the above photos), and that made the length manageable. My favorite size just for wearing is an extra small, because the fabric hanging down past the rings is very minimal and doesn't get in my way. But if I'm going to be nursing while wearing the ring sling, I like a size medium, so I have enough tail to bring it up over myself and the baby for use as a nursing cover.
Bara Barn ring slings, just like Bara Barn wraps (they call them "shawls"), have blunt ends instead of tapered ends. They come with a gathered shoulder (how the fabric is attached to the rings). Other ring slings might be made with several different types of pleats. Different brands sell pre-made ring slings, or you can send wrap fabric to a "conversion artist" who would sew the fabric into a custom ring sling with your choice of shoulder style and length.
The color of this one is "mint." In the second-to-last photo, there is a darker denim blue fabric hanging next to the ring sling fabric. That denim blue fabric used to be the same color as this ring sling, and was a Bara Barn wrap / shawl (size 2, the only size they come in). It is my sad wrap story. I bought the Bara Barn mint shawl (used) shawl the same day as another wrap, a Didymos natural cotton indio dyed a pinkish hue by the previous owner. (Natural cotton means the wrap was originally un-dyed, un-bleached cotton, so it had an ivory beige type color. This is also called "natty" in the babywearing world). I didn't know much about dyed wraps, and didn't ask a lot of questions about how it had been dyed. Since the Bara Barn was a light blue, and the Indio was a light pink, I washed them together in the washing machine, on delicate in cold water.
Unfortunately, the dye job must not have been done very well by the prior owner, and the pink wrap bled dye all over the Bara Barn, turning it into this denim color with some deep red streaks all over it. I panicked and called a babywearing friend. She recommended washing the Bara Barn alone in hot water with blue Dawn soap. I did this several times, and it lightened it up slightly, and lightened the red streaks almost completely, but did not remove the overall change in hue. I was pretty devastated, as the Bara Barn Mint is discontinued, and was my favorite color to wear. It was a lesson learned, and now I don't ever wash wraps together, dyed or not.
I purchased the Bara Barn ring sling to console myself, since the shawl was discontinued and not available anywhere except in Australia (and they wouldn't ship to the U.S.). The ring sling was available in the U.S., so I purchased it hoping that I would get use out of it. I wore it a handful of times before selling it.
The Bara Barn fabric is extremely thin, thinner than any wrap I've tried except what's called "cotton gauze" (not the gauze you would use as a bandage, but a lightweight fabric). Also, I've since tried several other shoulder styles, and found that a gathered shoulder is not my preference. The gathered shoulder combined with the thinness of the fabric, combined with the fact at the time I didn't know how to use ring slings very well, made this experience not the greatest.
I was able to sell it to a local mama who has gotten a lot of use out of it, so that is always a good thing!
