I made a baby sling about 6 weeks ago. The sewing took me almost no time, but I waited such a long time to get a right photo so I can eventually finish the post. Of course the life has been quite busy as well, with Vivian growing up everyday. Firstly it was the infected eczema, then she got sick and I got sick, and then she started solids, now is teething……I agree, parenting is continuously challenging, and it’s a non-stop job just has one thing after another, endless

Anyway, let’s talk about the sling. I have been wanting to sew one since I was pregnant, but too scared to start as I don’t know if she would like it or feel comfortable in it.

After Vivian turned 4 months old, I have realised, she seemed much calmer when I was holding her on my shoulder instead of putting her in her pram when we were out and about, especially when she was tired, sleepy or bored.

The problem with that was, at that time she was about 7 kg+, if I held her, I can’t do anything with my hands pretty much all engaged on her. Also it is really a lot of hassles to take the pram everywhere, you know, getting it in and out of the car all the time and all the folding and unfolding, wheeling it on rough, steep or muddy road tracks, having to walk a long way to find a lift because not being able to use escalator in the shopping center and always occupying a lot of spaces in the public area, bumping onto other people’s heels…..

I was initially interested in a sling design using sling rings, but I found it too hard to get appropriate metal rings and a bit dangerous using them after I tried with one of my big poncho scarves, as I found that baby’s head can easily get touched to the metal parts, which is probably the last thing you want in the world. Plus, there was always something not right when I was positioning her into the sling and she seemed not very happy in it, so I didn’t press on.

Then I found this pouch sling and liked its curve design at the bottom and not requiring rings. I was immediately attracted to it. That night after Vivian fell into asleep, I quickly did measuring, cut the fabric and machine stitched the seams.

I started at 8:15pm and finished the whole thing at 10pm. Yes, this is how quick this sling actually takes, given that I am not really a seamstress expert and had to do French Seam for the first time in my life, plus, I cut the first piece much shorter because I measured wrong way and had to join two broken pieces together to make up:-(

To be honest, I had the impulse to wake Vivian up to try it on immediately but certainly I wasn’t so that stupid to wake up a slumber

Now you can see the photo, not too bad, right? If I could change anything, I would next time make the sling shorter. The measurement I used is 27 inches, but I think maybe 26″ could have been just right.

Recently I used it a lot, especially taking her to Fyshwick Fresh Food Market on Saturday. She seems comfy in there and I did get some pram-pushing parents looking at me (actually my sling). There were even a couple of times, Vivian started to drool on it and turned her head back to my chest as she was kind of sleepy and I felt that it could have been a place she could even doze off.

The new brain research says that wearing your baby (using a baby sling) gives a healthier (stimulates your baby’s physical growth) and smarter baby, promotes strong attachment (as they need to develop communication skills and a trusting bond with you first BEFORE true emotional stability and independence can occur), and certainly the freedom for parents. Plus, it’s proven to reduce your child’s day and nighttime crying by up to 43%. No wonder one of the basic strategies to getting baby a good night sleep is to use a sling during the day.

Anyway, if you want to make one yourself, this is the best tutorial I found on the Internet, very comprehensive and helpful!! I would love to make at least another one for Vivian, and honestly I wish I could make one for each of my new mom girlfriends if they ever asked me to do it. It would be perfect for any newborn.