Slings and Baby Carriers

Rating: 5 after 1 vote

Consumer Reports is advising parents to avoid using slings. It's awful that falls have in a few cases resulted in death. Perhaps if that happened to my child I may quit slinging, but it seems to me that a reputable and non-biased organization like Consumer Reports should encourage parents to learn to wear slings correctly--and provide resources on doing so--rather than suggesting we avoid them all together.

Here's my retweet on the topic:

k8ie Tell parents to learn to wear them right, not skip them! RT @DiaryofaNewMom Consumer Reports dissing baby slings http://tinyurl.com/czfbxb

What do other TwitterMoms think?

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kharmaisis on April 26, 2009 at 12:18pm: Hi!

I agree with you! I just sent a chat after I read yours that said:
Women in Africa and many other countries only know the sling and have used it for centuries. Why stop now?

~Khama; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rebecca Doll on April 26, 2009 at 2:36pm: Consumer Reports is not as non-biased as you think.

There are many great brands and products that never get reviewed each year by them.

I think that parents should know how to use a sling properly so that a child doesn't fall out and get hurt.
Avoiding them altogether seems a little extreme.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jennifer on April 26, 2009 at 11:19pm: I love wearing my baby in his sling. I agree with you all, people need to learn to wear them properly.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Adventures In Babywearing on April 27, 2009 at 6:18pm: I think they would probably only be reviewing the types of baby carriers found in stores and (in my experience) the best kinds are only found online - the more traditional types of carriers such as a mei tai, ring sling, etc. The "bag sling" they have pictured there (Infantino I think?) is probably the worst baby carrier to have because of SO many reasons (I learned this at last year's babywearing conference.) The products need to be used properly.

Steph; ▶ Reply to This