4 Ways To Use Your Slings Rings and What Size To Choose

What are Sling Rings?

Metal sling rings are very useful accessories to have if you love using woven baby wraps, not only do they add a lovely flourish, they can offer you different Carry options, such as No-Sew Ring Slings, and allow you to get more out of the length of your wrap.

Sling rings for baby carriers, wraps and ring slings come in 3 sizes:

Small - 2" diameter, Medium - 2.5" diameter, Large 3" diameter.

Let's look at what you can do with sling rings and what size you may need. The size of rings you require will depend on the wrap you're using. In general it depends on the GSM (grams per square meter), but blends can also play a part, some will feel and wrap thinner or thicker than the GSM suggests.

Shop for your sling rings here

1. No-Sew Ring Slings

If you're not sure whether you'd like a wrap or a ring sling you could consider using a Shorty wrap, a wrap which is shorter than your base size, and a pair of rings and trying a No-Sew Ring Sling Carry. This ingenious carry is just like using a ring sling, but your baby's weight cleverly secures the rings rather than having them sewn in.

For this carry we'd recommend large rings unless your wrap is very thin and under 220gsm.

2. Ring Finishes

Ring finishes are useful in replacing knots in a few situations, such as:

• if you struggle to tie a knot
• if you don't have enough length left in your tails to comfortably tie off
• if you find a knot uncomfortable
• you want to be able to easily adjust your wrap through the rings

A medium-sized ring works for most wraps when you're using a single-ring finish. The ring has to be neat enough to hold the wrap securely, so if your wrap is very thin (below 220gsm) you might need a size small. If it's over 300gsm a large ring may work best.

3. Shorty Carries

Using a sling ring can allow you to use a shorter wrap than you would normally need for certain Carries, for example by tying off using the ring (which requires less length of fabric), or by reducing the number of 'passes' you use in the Carry. For example a Front Cross Carry, which requires your Base Size, can be turned into a Short Front Cross Carry with your Base -3 if you use a ring.

For many simple short carries you'll need a medium sling ring unless your wrap is very thick.

Sling rings are also hugely useful for wrapping twins. You can use a Base -2 to carry two babies in a Tandem Hip Carry using 1 ring Choose large rings for this type of carry.

4. Fancy Finishes

Sling rings are great for creating some beautiful fancy finishes with your wrap. You can use the rings as an alternative to knots, which can be comfier and of course they look stunning!

The size of ring you require will vary depending on the type of finish you want to use. For simpler finishes with only one pass you can often use a medium ring. For most wraps, any finish which has 3 or 4 passes going through the ring will require a large size.

Sling Ring Size Guide

This table gives you an overview of what size of sling rings you'll require based on your wrap and what you may use them for - this is just a guide though and may be different for your wrap. Remember GSM is a guide to the thickness of the sling. In general, a low GSM wrap will almost always feel fairly thin, however medium and high GSM wraps can also feel thin in hand and may wrap more like a lower GSM sling (this is usually only the case with Tencel and Viscose yarns, which are heavier in weight than most natural yarns). The way a sling will wrap is a combination of weave structure, yarn type and GSM.

Shop for your sling rings here

We hope this has helped you to understand how you can use sling rings to compliment your baby wrap, and what size of rings to choose. If you have any further questions please email us on info@oschaslings.com and we would be happy to discuss your options.

We'd love you to share your sling ring photos in our Facebook Community The Clan, or tag us on Facebook or Instagram page.