Baby sling

The transporting of small children or infants when carrying them by hand presents many problems for the adult transporting the child, particularly when trying to accomplish other deeds or acts. Holding a baby securely for more than a brief moment generally requires two hands. If the caregiver is standing or moving around, holding a baby is tiring since most of the baby’s weight is on the arms. Heretofore, various types of baby carriers have been known. Carriers are available which variously position the baby on the adult’s front, back or hip. Slings and pouches have been used for many years for holding and carrying babies. One familiar type of sling comprises a triangular or rectangular cloth which is secured behind or on one side of the neck of a wearer by knotting or otherwise attaching the corners. The sling either descends directly or crosses the from of the wearer. One common type is the front pack type, which holds the baby against the caregiver’s chest using a system of straps and buckles, with the baby’s legs passing through a pair of leg holes. The baby may face either forward or backward.

Sling-type baby carriers are designed to be draped over one shoulder of a caregiver. Baby slings are used to facilitate the care and handling of an infant from birth up until an age at which the infant weighs approximately 30 pounds. Baby slings typically have a pouch for the baby, a strap or tail which loops around the caregiver, and an attachment for securing the carrier. The attachment may be a simple knot. A baby sling is known having single fabric layer construction, two locking rings, a shoulder pad, and a wide tail. Baby slings having locking buckles are well known. Such carrier-type slings are typically fabricated from a flexible fabric and comprise a carrier panel terminating at one end in a tail portion, which serves as a sling tie. A pair of buckle rings is secured to the other end of the carrier panel and the rings’ function in concert with the tail portion to secure the ends of the panel together in an adjustable fashion to provide the sling. The sling is formed by passing the tail portion through both of the buckle rings and doubling the tail portion back over one ring and under the other in a conventional fashion. This arrangement provides a friction tie serving to retain the tail portion in the buckle rings.

Typical baby slings have a pouch constructed of a single layer of fabric. This arrangement requires one or more seams at or close to the point where the pouch attaches to the attachment device. o enhance the friction tie, the buckle rings may be provided with serrations along the inner diameter thereof in order to increase the frictional force holding the tail portion in the rings. One popular model of baby sling carrier includes padded side rails extending from end to end of the carrier panel, and a pillow portion secured to the carrier panel adjacent the end bearing the buckle rings, to provide additional comfort to the infant and the person wearing the sling. Various pouches are commercially available for holding and carrying babies on either the back or the front of the wearer. A backpack type of pouch has the advantage of being able to support a larger and/or heavier baby with relatively less strain to the wearer. Simple hip slings for carrying babies consist of a looped sling having a seat which is placed beneath the baby’s or doll’s bottom, and a strap which is laid over the respective adult’s or child’s shoulder and diagonally downward across the torso like a bandolier.

Related information

May 25, 2008 | Filed Under Baby carrier