Wear your baby before he's old enough to wriggle!

So, I was perusing the sites nominated for an Okie Blog Award, when I stumbled upon Emery Jo's moms are for everyone!. She's nominated for Best Family Blog, and I right away fell in love with her blog. She just had her second son (an amazing birth story), and her laid back, organic approach to parenting is very appealing to me.

(I also liked this site, nominated for Best Writing, written by an attachment parenting-minded mama. And, my good friend Natasha was nominated twice for Best Culture Blog. Check out Tasha Does Tulsa and My Life as Told by Food. If you blog in Oklahoma, you're eligible to vote for these awards, so do it.)

So, anyway, I'm perusing moms are for everyone!, and I notice a post in which Emery Jo talks about having made a sling for her newborn boy. As a new mother, I lacked any faith in myself that would prompt me to make a sling or anything else for Isaac. But I desperately wanted a ring sling. They're adjustable, so you can keep your baby as close as you want comfortably. And you can adjust the position in which you carry your baby as he grows. The thing is, I've never seen one on sale for less than $70. And I just don't have that kind of cash.

I did spring for a Zolo pouch sling, which I got at Natural Lullabies for about $50, using a 25 percent off coupon they gave me on my first visit to pick up some Motherlove herbal breastfeeding supplements. I love the sling.

It's made from organic cotton, and you can wear it about four different ways, until your kid is way too darn old to be carrying him around on your back. When Isaac was younger and less wriggly, I loved being able to wear him around the house and when I went to the store or the park or, well, anywhere. It not only allowed me to be close to my son, but it also kept my hands free to perform whatever menial tasks became necessary. Still, I often wished I had a ring sling. I'm not sure it would matter now if I did or not, because the last few times I've tried to tuck Isaac into the pouch sling (which I should, theoretically, be able to do for at least three more years), he's wriggled and writhed so much that I couldn't keep him in it.

Even so, I recently found myself scouring the Web for ring sling patterns, wanting to learn more about how to make them, on the off chance I ever get the opportunity to have another baby (please, oh please, someday). I found a couple of good sites, and I thought I'd share them here in case anyone else has need for them before I do.

Slingrings.com has a lot of patterns for various types of slings as well as links to other sites. Here, you can also buy the rings you'll need when making your own sling (they caution against buying rings from a craft store, which might not be sturdy enough to hold your baby's weight).

Also, Sling Your Baby is a blog with many different sling patterns and instructions. If you scroll down on the site, she offers some really helpful video instructions for making ring slings. The simplicity and straightforwardness of her blog make sling-making seem so simple. If I had known it could be so easy, I definitely would have made Isaac a sling nine months ago.

If anyone decides to follow any of these instructions, please let me know how your sling turns out!