New Warning on Baby Slings and Safety Risks

Reader Comments
Back to blog

Bag slings have been criticized for years by babywearing experts because of these dangers. Anyone planning to wear their baby needs to read about how to safely carry a newborn so that their airway is not closed off. And as far as "old fashioned" - women in cultures around the world have been using cloth slings/wraps to carry their babies. Many of these women had to gather food to survive, and it's much easier to do that with a baby in a wrap than holding him in your arms.
I carried my baby in my arms for the first 4 months, and then started using a safe sling (not a bag sling). I found I was a MUCH happier and productive mama when I had two hands free. I also stopped having the tremendous headaches that were caused by holding my baby in one arm while working with another; wearing your baby is much more ergonomical.

Laura of AR 8:45PM March 24, 2010

Why don't parents do like they did in the old days and actually carry their children instead of toting them around like accessories? Are parents these days too busy to actually hold and care for their children? Do these children get proper love and attention, or do they get treated like pets? (Look at how many parents keep their children on tethers/leashes in public places instead of holding them) It's no wonder that current generations of young people have no idea what love and respect is, because they're not shown it early in life. Is it that difficult for these parents to actually hold these children, or place them in a proper vehicle for transporting them? If it's too much of a burden, then you should re-think your choice of being a parent.

JW of PA 3:55PM March 24, 2010

My first thought upon seeing this story was, "why do babies need to be carried in slings?" If carrying your baby in your arms seems an inconvenience to you, perhaps you need to rethink parenthood. I cringe every time I see someone carrying a small infant in one of those car seats by the plastic handle. Oh my gosh, are people really that confident with the safety of small infants in those things? CJ: your remark about "Normal people die doing normal things" Hmmmmm. By normal people you mean week-old infants? By normal things you mean what? It isn't normal to carry your baby in a bag. 3 deaths in one year don't bother you because none of those deaths was your baby. If there are no babies being carried in a sling it would be mighty hard for any baby to die in one.... and yes, I am a mother. A single mother with a grown son. I had him when I was 20. I carried him in my arms.

MJ of TX 3:55PM March 24, 2010

Your post does not even address the article, instead it more or less accuses those whose babies have died from the use of these baby of lacking "forethought" and "common sense".
How would you even come to this conclusion with the article mentioning anything about the supposed offending baby slings? Did it even cross your mind that the slings were in fact poorly made and hazardous to those even with common sense and foresight?

DH of CA 3:36PM March 24, 2010

Some care and common sense are required, of course, but when the statistics show that more people per year are killed by lightning (90/year), being suffocated by reptiles (31/year), and suffocating by cave-ins (64/year), 3 deaths in one year do not cause ANY alarm for me. Normal people die doing normal things. It's an unfair fact of living. That doesn't make them hazardous for the majority with forethought and common sense.

CJ of MI 8:44AM March 19, 2010