How do I choose which sling is for me?
Let's face it; everyone has different priorities when it comes to selecting the right baby carrier for them. For one person, the priority may be fashion. For another, it's all about comfort. Thankfully, both comfort and style are top priorities for us here at Baby Holdings, so you can't go wrong. But there are differences between our products, and our hope is that the below information will help you distinguish between them so you can find the perfect carrier for you and your baby!
Parts of a ring sling
| HAVA Ring Sling | SlingEZee Ring Sling | ZoloWear Ring Sling | ZoloWear Adjustable Pouch | |
| Tail |
Flared |
Closed |
Open |
N/A |
| Zip Pocket | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Shoulder Design | Pleated to cup shoulder | Open design to cup shoulder | Folds out to cup shoulder | Slightly tapered to cup shoulder |
| Shoulder Pad | Light padding, contoured, oval | Regular padding; rectangular | Unpadded | Light padding, rounded |
| Rails | Light padding | Padded | Unpadded | Light padding only where baby sits |
| Adjustable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Instructional DVD | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Sizing | 5 Sizes | 5 Sizes | 5 Sizes | 5 Sizes |
| Made in USA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Here's a bit more detail where we think you may need it!
The Tail
HAVA & SlingEZee - By pulling on the
correct piece of fabric above the label,
only the top rail is adjusted. Adjusting
the top rail of a ring sling or pouch is
crucial for a snug fit, which greatly
impacts your comfort.
With HAVA and SlingEZee, the tail comes together at the label. Below the label, the HAVA tail flares out and includes a zip pocket. The SlingEZee tail remains sewn closed, like a strap. Many find that a tail is “lower maintenance” when it is designed to come together at the label, as with HAVA and SlingEZee, because the fabric remains threaded neatly in the rings. Also, many find that adjusting the sling, especially for beginners, is simplified because it is easy to see how the fabric splits into two segments – showing that one segment adjusts the top rail independently, while the other adjusts only the bottom rail of the sling. To adjust the entire hammock of the sling, the entire tail is pulled.
ZoloWear - Gathering the
fabric evenly and isolating
the edges is crucial to easy
adjustability.
The open tail of the ZoloWear ring sling allows for a zip pocket, and many prefer it due to its beauty. Some find that they enjoy bringing the tail up and over their opposite shoulder while breastfeeding. This is certainly an option, though discreet breastfeeding is easily obtained in any ring sling, like HAVA or SlingEZee, which can be adjusted at the top rail. Once baby is latched on to breastfeed, simply adjust the top rail snugly to provide all the discretion you need.
With an open tailed ring sling, threading the fabric through takes a bit more work than with HAVA or SlingEZee. Gathering the fabric evenly around the rings and isolating the edges is important , or the sling may be difficult to adjust. The ZoloWear ring sling is infinitely adjustable, and depending on which part of the tail you pull on, that part of your hammock will be adjusted. Most find that they only adjust the top rail, by pulling on the appropriate edge.
The Shoulder Area
Most beginning babywearers don't realize that shoulder design is crucial to comfort. If a ring sling or pouch runs narrow across the shoulder, the sling cannot spread out correctly across the back to provide proper weight distribution. Though many slings look alike, a sling that cannot cup the shoulder correctly cannot provide the support and weight distribution necessary to offer comfort for more than 15 minutes, much less all day! With our own personal experiences with high maintenance babies who need to be worn all day, we've poured a lot of time and energy making sure our shoulder designs are top notch!Most pouches create a pressure point across the shoulder because there's no contouring to allow for a shoulder. The ZoloWear adjustable pouch is tapered at the shoulder, and features sleek padding at the shoulder, to provide a comfortable fit.
The ZoloWear ring sling can be kept “closed” for those who simply prefer a narrower shoulder, or it can be folded down to cup the shoulder. To distribute your baby's weight more effectively and provide comfort for your back, we recommend folding the fabric down to cup your shoulder.
If comfort is your top concern, we recommend HAVA or SlingEZee. The fact that the fabric naturally spreads wide at the shoulder means that HAVA and SlingEZee provide optimal weight distribution, which translates to greater comfort for your back. Between HAVA and SlingEZee, we find that the majority of babywearers prefer HAVA due to the lighter padding. But, we have noticed that for customers with specific back problems, they often choose SlingEZee. This is due to the regular padding in the rails of the sling, which provide extra support for their back. HAVA does provide plenty of support for the typical babywearer, having 1/3 the padding of SlingEZee.
The Rails
The ZoloWear adjustable pouch is unpadded at the rails, except where baby sits. In that specific area, there is sleek padding at both the top and bottom rails.The ZoloWear ring sling has no padding, which means that it is infinitely adjustable. Unlike many unpadded slings that tend to ‘cut' into parent and baby, the luxurious fabric of ZoloWear, and the way it is serged at the edges, means that it provides optimal comfort over other unpadded slings.
SlingEZee features padded rails. Unlike many padded slings, which cannot offer enough adjustability, the padding in the rails of SlingEZee stops at the correct spot in order for you to adjust baby high and snug in the “sling zone” – above your waist. SlingEZee comes in five sizes. Obtaining your correct size is important, in order to insure that your sling is perfectly adjustable for you!
HAVA features lightly padded rails – just 1/3 the padding of SlingEZee. Like SlingEZee, the padding in the rails stops at the correct spot for adjusting baby high and snug in the “sling zone” – above your waist. HAVA also comes in five sizes, like SlingEZee, insuring perfect adjustability for you. One nice thing about HAVA is that the padding is so light, that should someone have a size that is slightly large, they could work the padding easily through the rings of the sling, making it infinitely adjustable.
Sizing
How does sizing affect the function of your sling? For HAVA and SlingEZee ring slings, and for the ZoloWear adjustable pouch, sizing greatly impacts comfort and adjustability. It is important to get the correct size for your body, so baby can be adjusted snugly in the “sling zone.” When baby hangs too low, or away from your body, this causes back discomfort. It is not worth it to bump up or down a size in order to share with your spouse.For the ZoloWear ring sling, sizing insures that you have enough hammock, but mainly impacts how long the open tail of your sling will hang. If you were to compromise by bumping up or down one size on the size chart, you will not impact comfort or adjustability… simply how long the tail hangs on you.
