01 02 03 Down In My Heart Joy!: Didymos Jade Tri-blend Indio Woven Wrap Review SBP Sleeping Baby Productions Ring Sling 04 05 15 16 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 31 32 33

Didymos Jade Tri-blend Indio Woven Wrap Review SBP Sleeping Baby Productions Ring Sling

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Please visit my updated review of this carrier on my new babywearing website!

Click here for the updated review.























































































































Didymos Jade Tri-blend Indio ring sling, Eesti shoulder, silver rings






Top to Bottom: Didymos Gras Grass Hemp Indio GHI, Jade Tri-blend Indio, Spring Indio

Didymos has been making baby carriers since 1972 - long before I was born!  The Indio pattern is one they have been weaving for decades now, in many different fabric types and colors.  There's pretty much something for everyone in the Indio pattern!  Some are thicker, some are thinner, all are classy, pretty supportive, and pretty breathable (not too hot to wear).

The minty green color of Grass / Gras Hemp Indio has been desirable ever since it came out, and especially so now that color is popular in fashion attire as well.  The original Grass Hemp Indio (GHI), is hemp/cotton blend, and on the thin side of hemp Indios.

There is also an older Jade Indio, which is not the newly released Jade Tri-blend Indio.  I'm unsure the fabric content of the old Jade Indio, but it's different than the one I'm reviewing here.

This one was released this summer 2014, and is called "tri-blend" because instead of having just one type of fiber thread (such as cotton), or two (which is very common for Indios to have two types of fibers, such as a blend of hemp/cotton, or wool/cotton), it has three - hemp, linen, and cotton.

The different fibers are woven together, so the entire wrap ends up with the combined wrapping qualities of all three fibers.  I have found hemp fibers to have some "bounce" and "cush" to them, which is very comfortable to wear. They also get very, very soft when broken in.  Many people find linen fibers to get "diggy" on the shoulders due to their thinness, but of course linen is also breathable, and extremely strong.  A wrap that is 100% linen is very thin, but very strong and supportive.  Cotton is light, breathable, but not the most supportive fiber compared to others.

So the Jade Tri-blend Indio combines all those features into one wrap. The thickness is medium to thick, as far as Indios go (not at all thick compared to many other brands of wraps however).  It is nearly as thick in-hand as the thickest Hemp Indios, which include Flamenco Hemp Indio (FHI), Turquoise Hemp Indio (THI), Fire Hemp Indio (FiHI), and Natural (undyed) Hemp Indio (NHI).  The only one of those I've been able to try is FHI, and the thickness felt similar to Jade.  FHI probably has a bit more "bounce" than Jade, however, since the hemp content is higher and it is without linen.

I found Jade to be sturdy and supportive (good at weight-bearing).  It wasn't particularly soft initially, and needed a bit more breaking in than some other Indios.  I felt a friend's Jade, which is much more broken in than mine, and it was very soft and floppy.

In the comparison photo, GHI is on top, Jade in the middle, and Spring Indio (100% cotton) on the bottom.  GHI and Spring belong to a friend, and we took a photo of the three of them together, since they are all pale green Indios, as a color comparison.

I purchased a longer Jade wrap, and had it converted (sewn by a conversion artist), into two ring slings.  I kept one and sold the other.  The one I'm wearing in the photo is almost a size large, which is a bit long for me. I prefer a small or medium, which gives me enough of a "tail" to double as a nursing cover, without hanging as far down my body.  If I didn't want to use the tail for a nursing cover, I would also love to wear an extra small ring sling, as that length hits me just above or near the hip, which means I don't have fabric dangling all over the place.

I am 30 weeks pregnant in these photos, although I was surprised that this dress masks my belly substantially and makes it look much smaller than it does in other clothing!

Ring slings are my favorite carrier to wear to church, because it is so easy to nurse in them discreetly.  They are also wonderful for the age when the child wants to be in your arms, then down, then up in your arms, then down.  You can leave the ring sling on your body, say, while cooking dinner, and pop them in and out as needed, without too much fuss.

This ring sling was converted (sewn from a wrap), by Sleeping Baby Productions.  The shoulder style is called Eesti, which is a hybrid between gathered and pleated, and the most comfortable shoulder style for me, that I've tried thus far (though there's plenty I haven't tried yet!)  It has silver sling rings.


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Last but not least, some ring sling basic wearing and safety tips.

Here are the two videos that helped me learn how to comfortably wear a ring sling.

Threading the Ring Sling
Using the Ring Sling

A few little safety tips for ring slings:

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.

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 arch backward out of it.  I like to get it just above his shoulders when he isn't arms-out. 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 usually recommended for back carries. Although some experienced wearers have done so, it is not advisable as a general rule.  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.

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