threecutiepies's Full Review: Crown Crafts Babysling Baby Sling/Wrap
When I was pregnant with my third child I decided I wanted a "sling baby". I wanted to wear my baby around in those cool slings I saw some other mom's using. My first choice was the Maya Wrap. What I read at the website sounded great. I knew I really wanted to get one. Then someone told me how they loved their Over The Shoulder Baby Holder. This one looked great too (I've written a review for this one also). Which one to try? I got both. LOL! I actually bought both of them used on e-Bay. Brand new Maya Wrap Slings sell for $44.95 shipping. There are many fabric choices, most look very Mexican (actually they are from Guatemala).
The Maya Wrap Sling is basically just a piece of fabric with two rings on one end. The other end of the fabric gets woven through these rings and it allows your baby to sit inside the "pouch" area that the fabric creates. It's designed so you can carry your baby in a cradle position, up vertical against your shoulder (like a burping position/tummy-to-tummy), on your hip (feet/legs in or out), football hold, Kangaroo style (facing out), on your back, etc. Supposedly you can wear twins with a sling on each shoulder. I'd like to really see a person doing that (it's hard enough to wear one baby in it)! You are supposed to be able to nurse your baby while in the sling and the "tail" -- the part of the fabric that threads through the rings and hangs down -- can open up to cover you; like a little blanket. Newer Maya Wraps Slings have an added pocket in the tail that stays shut with a piece of velcro. The website tells you that you can use the sling for a harness (to keep a curious, active toddler from running away from you, I guess), a shopping cart strap and a lightweight blanket. Personally, I think these ideas are a bit of a stretch. Anything to make a product seem more versatile. But, perhaps some moms actually do use the sling for such things.
The Maya Wrap Sling is unpadded. The "rails" -- the sides of of the fabric -- are not padded like they are in the Over The Shoulder Baby Holder. Unpadded sides makes the Maya Wrap Sling very compact when folded up. I was able to put my sling in a small diaper bag and still have room for diapers, change of clothes, etc. When you pull on the tail to tighten the sling around baby, you can pull either the entire tail to pull all of the sling tight, or you can pull the top of the tail to tighten just the top of the sling, pull the bottom of the tail to tighten just the bottom rail, pull the middle of the tail to tighten just the middle of the sling. As you can see, it is very adjustable. Unpadded rails are also supposed to be cooler in the summer.
The Maya Wrap Sling comes with a free instructional video. This one hour video demonstrates the Maya Wrap Sling and the Maya Wrap Pouch (another similar sling that is non-adjustable). I was able to purchase my Maya Wrap Sling on e-bay and it came with this video. When it arrived I was really excited. I couldn't wait to give this a try. My baby wasn't even born yet! I was pregnant and wanted to take my sling with me to the hospital when baby would arrive. I popped in the video and was ready to give this a whirl. My excitement quickly turned to disappointment. The lady on the video did a pretty good job explaining how to thread the sling, position it, tighten it, use the different carrying holds, etc. The problem was that I had a hard time doing what she was doing. I tried with a doll. It took me a few tries just to be able to get the sling on. Soon I was pretty quick about getting it on (hold it in your right hand, slip your left arm and head through it...). Using the doll worked pretty good. I thought I was ready.
Well, I never took the sling out of the bag at the hospital. It was a few weeks before I even tried it with real baby at home. When I did, I tried the cradle position. Well, my baby didn't want to be all scrunched up. She wanted to stretch out. She was 21" at birth. I looked in the mirror. You couldn't see the baby...she was down inside the fabric pouch. All you could see was "something" wiggling around in the fabric, laying across in front of me, sticking out on both sides of me. Truthfully, if looked ridiculous. I realized that position wasn't going to work real well for me or my baby.
At 6 weeks old my friends had a baby shower for us. I did use the Maya Wrap Sling at this party. I put my baby up, vertical, against my shoulder (like burping) and slipped her down into the sling. I tightened it up. The top rail was on her upper back, the bottom rail was under her little bottom; up to the back of her knees. She fell asleep. I spent the whole party with her like this. This position worked pretty good.
The biggest problem I had with the Maya Wrap Sling is that I am small. I did buy a size small, which is for "below 5' 2" and slender". I am almost 5' 1" and petite. The only difference between Sling sizes is the length. This means the only difference you will notice is the length of the tail. Each size is 6" longer than the previous size. When I get my baby in the sling and pull the tail to tighten it......the rings move way down.....almost near my waist. On the website (and on the video) they say the rings are supposed to be worn just below the shoulder. It got very frustrating trying to reposition and get everything in the right spot. I usually couldn't. I've even started out with the rings way up -- on top of my shoulder -- thinking they'd get pulled down into the proper position. They didn't. My mother-in-law saw a lady at a flea market wearing the Maya Wrap Sling and her rings were "below her right boob", as my mother-in-law says (LOL!). So, maybe some moms do wear it that way......with the rings way down.
When wearing your child in the Maya Wrap Sling, you must be very careful to have the tail pulled tight so that the baby doesn't slip through (between the sling and you). The weight of the child pulls on the fabric near the rings and kind of "locks" these rings so that the fabric won't slip. But, you need to make sure you've pulled it snug enough and you should have your arm around your child at all times. The position that worked best for me (and not all the great either) was vertical on my shoulder or on my hip. Both positions you need the bottom rail quite tight against the baby, under their knees. Because the sling needs to be really snug, you'll want to be careful of the bottom rail digging into baby's legs because it's not padded at all.
My experience with this third baby of mine is that, now that she is no longer a "newborn", she wants to sit up and look around. She doesn't want to be carried around in football holds, cradle positions, etc. She is 6 months old and is as happy as can be if she can be on your hip, looking around. For this position, a much safer choice would be the Hip Hammock (read my review of that).
I realize that I may be in the minority for not giving the Maya Wrap Sling flying colors. Most of the reviews are positive ones. I just feel that it never fit well on me. Again, I am quite small (my 11 year old is almost my size) so this may be part of the problem.
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