How to Use a Sling: Step-by-Step Visual Ring Sling Instructions
Ring slings are the original hope&plum carrier, and we believe anyone can use one. We will also be the first to tell you there can be a learning curve. So we broke the ring sling instructions into an easy visual guide. Read on to master threading, a front carry, and a hip carry, one step at a time.
The Short Version
- Thread once, wear forever. Well, almost. Once your sling is correctly threaded without twists, you don't need to rethread it each time you use it.
- Rings belong between your shoulder and chest, with the fabric capping your shoulder and the bottom hem spread wide across your back.
- Size your pocket snug before loading baby. It should look almost too small. A tight start is much easier to fine-tune than a loose one.
- Three carry options: front legs-out (recommended for all ages), front legs-in (only for very curled newborns), and hip carry (once baby can be held on your hip with one hand).
- After loading baby, inch the top hem up their back and scoop the fabric knee-to-knee to create a supported seat, then tighten in three sections: top hem, middle, and bottom.
- To take baby out, simply loosen just enough to slip them free, and keep the sling threaded for next time.
How to Thread a Ring Sling
Before you can use your ring sling, you have to thread it, which just means feeding the fabric through the rings without twisting it. If the sling twists, the hems stop working together and it becomes very hard to tighten. Here is our favorite no-twist method:
Place the rings on your shoulder and check your top hem
Rest the rings on your shoulder with the warning label facing down. Hold the top hem in your other hand. It should be the same hem that touches your neck. If it is not, your sling is twisted, so fix it before you go on. Then drop that hem under your arm.
Bring the top hem across and up to the rings
Bring the top hem across your chest and up toward the rings. Check that the hem in the tail matches the hem going across your chest. If they do not match, untwist and try again, even if that means starting over.
Thread the top hem through the rings
Hold the top hem close to the rings and spread the rings apart with your other hand. Bring the hem over the near ring and under the far ring, then pull it all the way through.
Double-check for twists
Find the hem hanging down your middle and trace it back through the rings and across your chest. If you cannot follow it the whole way, you are twisted, so go back a step and fix it. When it traces cleanly, you are threaded. Nice work!
Bonus: do a finger walk
Optional and mostly for looks: finger walk the fabric through the rings so it lays flat with even pleats. If everything else is right but your sling is still hard to tighten, a finger walk can help the fabric cooperate.
You do not have to rethread every time. Once your sling works well, leave it threaded. Only rethread if something starts to feel off after several good uses, if you switch shoulders, or if someone else has been wearing it.
How to Put On a Ring Sling
These first two steps are the same for every carry. Get them right and the rest is easy. Whether you plan a front carry or a hip carry, whether you're wearing a 3-day-old or a 3-year-old, start here.
Place your rings between your shoulder and chest
Put the sling on like a sash and settle the rings between your shoulder and chest. Two quick tests: put a finger through the rings. Straight, it should hit high on your chest. Angled, you should touch your armpit. Also, no fabric should ride up your neck. Adjust until you pass both tests.
Start your rings where you want them to end up and keep them there the whole time. It is trickier at first, but you will get a better fit than if you start high and slide them down. Starting higher is not a safety problem, so if that works better for you, go for it. We just say try our way first.
Check the bottom hem
The fabric should just cap your shoulder, with the bottom hem as the lowest edge sitting there. If it lands too low, scrunch the shoulder fabric up. If it sits on top of your shoulder, spread the fabric down. Then spread the bottom hem as wide as you can across your back for the best weight distribution.
Ring Sling Carries: Front Carry and Hip Carry
Now pick your carry and follow the steps. Tap a carry below to see how to size the pocket, load baby, and settle them in. Not sure which to choose? Each option tells you the best fit for each age and stage.
Size your pocket
Bunch all the pocket fabric in the hand opposite the rings so it feels like one strand, kept taut across your back. Slide your hand to the center of your chest and look at the hole you made. Tighten through the rings until the hole looks just a little too small for baby. Then drop that hand to your body so the sling forms an L. Your hand height is where baby's bottom will sit, so aim for a height that lets baby's head rest on your chest.
Too small for my baby? Yes, we mean it. Look down and think, "it looks like my baby might not fit through there." That is the size you want. It is much easier to loosen a snug pocket than to tighten a loose one.
Isolate the hems in the rings
Find the top and bottom hems in the rings and spread them to opposite ends so each sits by itself. A finger walk here is optional and just for looks.
Load your baby
Hold baby high on the shoulder opposite the rings, as high as feels safe, supported by your opposite hand. Bring your ring-side hand up through the pocket, gather baby's legs, and guide them onto the tube of fabric with the tube in their knee pits. If they will not fit, lift the top ring and loosen a little at a time until they do.
Settle baby on the sling
Center baby on your chest with their head right under your chin. Their knees sit above their bottom, and their bottom comes over the tube so you cannot see the tube underneath. If baby is too high or you have to crane your neck, loosen a small amount at a time until they sit comfortably centered.
Check your rings
Loading baby often pulls the rings down. If you lost your shoulder cap, push up on baby's bottom and shrug your ring-side shoulder to slide everything back into place. If it will not budge, loosen a touch and reposition before you tighten.
Important: watch your baby's development closely. Once baby starts pushing up to stand against the fabric, legs in becomes a fall risk. Move them to the legs out position at that point.
Size your pocket, then fold it
Size the pocket the same way as legs out: bunch the fabric into one strand, center it over your chest, and tighten until the hole looks just a little too small. Then fold the pocket in half so the bottom hem meets the top hem without twisting. That folded pocket is where baby sits with legs in.
Still make that pocket small before you fold it. A snug start is easier to fine-tune than a loose one.
Isolate the hems in the rings
Find the top and bottom hems in the rings and spread them to opposite ends so each sits by itself. A finger walk here is optional and just for looks.
Load your baby
Hold baby high on the opposite shoulder and separate the two hems to open the pocket. Guide baby down so their bottom lands in the lowest point of the pocket, legs froggied next to or in front of them. All of their weight rests on their bottom, none on their legs or feet.
Check baby's bottom and height
Make sure baby's bottom is the lowest point. All weight should be on bottom. Feet should be froggied above bottom. If you feel baby's feet at the bottom of the pocket, reposition baby. Also check that you can kiss the top of baby's head. If you can't, baby is too low, which means the pocket is too big. If baby is in your face or you can't keep your neck in a neutral position, baby is too high, which means the pocket is too small. Adjust in small amounts to get it right.
Check your rings
Your rings should still be in place after you position baby in the pocket. If they slipped too low, try bringing the whole pocket around you both to lift the rings back up, though it can be tricky to keep baby centered with all their weight on their bottom while you do it. If your rings keep sliding down, you are probably starting with too big of a pocket.
Size your pocket (off-center)
Bunch the fabric into one strand and slide your hand off-center, somewhere between your belly button and your hip. We call it a hip carry, but it is really an off-center carry. Tighten through the rings until the hole looks just a little too small for baby.
Make that pocket small. Look down and think, "my baby might not fit through there." That snugness is exactly what you want.
Isolate the hems in the rings
Find the top and bottom hems in the rings and spread them to opposite ends so each sits by itself. A finger walk here is optional and just for looks.
Load your baby
Hold baby high on the opposite shoulder. Bring your ring-side hand up through the pocket and guide baby into the off-center spot: far enough out that they are off your midline, far enough in that you can still drop your other arm. Sit them on the tube with the tube in their knee pits.
Settle baby on the sling
Baby's knees sit above their bottom, with their bottom over the tube so the tube disappears underneath. They should be high enough to see over your shoulder and for you to kiss their head, and low enough to rest their head on your chest when they get sleepy or overstimulated. Loosen or tighten in small amounts until they land there.
Check your rings
If loading baby pulled the rings down or you lost your shoulder cap, push up on baby's bottom and shrug your ring-side shoulder to slide everything back into place. If it will not budge, loosen a touch and reposition before you tighten.
How to Make the Seat and Tighten a Ring Sling
Baby is either on the tube of fabric in the right spot or nestled in your pocket, legs-in. Now finish the carry and get to those hands-free snuggles.
Move the top hem up
Inch the top hem up baby's back with your thumb. For a newborn who is not ready for a hip carry, bring it up to the nape of the neck. For an older baby or toddler, armpit height is plenty, and you can go higher if they fall asleep. As you go, keep the rest of the fabric down at baby's knees.
This part should feel a little stuck. If it feels too easy or all the fabric pops out, your pocket was probably too big. If you cannot get the hem up baby's back at all, it was too small, so loosen a little and try again.
Make a seat (legs out only)
If baby is already knee to knee with knees above their bottom, your seat is made. If not, support baby, bring your ring-side hand behind their near leg, reach to the far knee pit, grab the fabric at their knees, and hinge at your hips. Let gravity help you scoop the fabric up and around their bottom in a straight line from knee pit to knee pit.
Aim for a straight line from knee pit to knee pit, not a triangle. Pulling up lots of fabric between you two does not deepen the seat, it just makes the bottom hem harder to tighten.
Tighten in thirds
Work the sling in three sections. Top hem first: move the slack to the rings, push up gently on baby's bottom to unlock the rings, and pull the top hem straight across an inch or two at a time. Then the middle: pinch a few inches below the top hem, move any slack to the rings, and pull toward your opposite hip. Then the bottom hem: reach behind your back, move slack toward baby's knees, keep the deep seat, and pull straight down.
You can start with the top or bottom hem. Start with the top for a newborn who needs head and neck support. Start with the bottom for an older baby or toddler who likes to pop their seat.
How to Take Baby Out of a Ring Sling
We would not leave you hanging, literally. This last part is just one step, we promise.
Loosen a little bit
Support baby's weight with one hand. With the other, pull up gently on the top ring and let out just enough slack to bring the top hem back down to baby's legs, moving toward the tube position again. Then slip baby out the top.
Loosen only enough to slip baby out. The more you loosen now, the more work you make for yourself next time, since we want that small pocket. Keep the sling threaded between wears so it is quicker to put on.
Ring Sling Instructions FAQ
Do I need to rethread my ring sling every time?
No. Once your sling is threaded and working, leave it threaded. Only rethread if something starts to feel off after several good uses, or to help break in a brand-new sling.
Can I use a ring sling with a newborn?
Yes. A ring sling works from birth. Use a front carry (legs out is recommended) until your baby has the head, neck, and trunk control for a hip carry.
Should my baby's legs be in or out of the ring sling?
Legs out is the recommended position for almost all babies, including newborns. Use legs in only for a very curled-up newborn who resists legs out, and switch to legs out once they start trying to push up to stand.
When can my baby do a hip carry in a ring sling?
When you can hold them on your hip with one hand, or once they are rolling in at least one direction. A hip carry should always be done legs out.
Is it safe to start the rings up high?
Yes, it is safe. We suggest starting the rings where you want them to end up for a better fit, but if starting higher works for you, that is fine.
What size ring sling do I need?
hope&plum ring slings fit caregivers XXS to 6X and come in three lengths: 74 inches for smaller builds, 84 inches for most bodies up to 3X, and 94 inches for big and tall.
Meet the Author
Jenn Tolisano
Jenn Tolisano is hope&plum's Director of Community Education & Content. She has been a babywearing educator for over ten years. Working as a high school teacher before entering the world of motherhood, she has brought her passion for education to all things baby carriers. Babywearing has been such an essential parenting tool in her household that she wants to spread the babywearing love to all families. Jenn believes that every caregiver deserves to have a baby carrier they love and feel comfortable and confident in. She hopes that her fit checks and blog-writing with hope&plum help to achieve that goal!
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