Welcome to the Natural Mamas forum. We are a natural parenting forum with an emphasis on babywearing. A Natural Mama is a mama that listens to her instinct. A Natural Mama is more likely to: cosleep, breastfeed, babywear, use gentle discipline, home educate, use complementary medicine, do BLW. BUT you do not need to be doing all (or any) of them. It is not a fixed box that you either fit in or not.

Most of us were brought together by our love for slings. It does not matter whether you have one sling, a million or none you are welcome here to share your experiences here and ask for help.

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We have rules which can be found here. If you have any questions or remarks please contact one of the forum moderators.

Bag-style slings, as their name suggests, resemble large shoulder bags with a deep pocket for the baby to lie or sit in, an elasticated opening and a strap designed to be worn over the sling user's shoulder, or across the body. The sling using community, has been actively warning against their use for some time. The warning has now been heeded in the USA, where the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has raised the alarm about their safety. One brand is now the subject of a product recall and it is to be hoped other manufacturers producing this type will be encouraged to withdraw them from sale in the future. At Natural Mamas, we share the concern about this type of sling, and urge parents to inform themselves about safe babywearing.

Sadly, the announcement has caused some confusion, with some reports believing the warning extends to all slings. This is not so, and traditional pouches, ring slings, wraps, mei tais and soft structured carriers are, and always have been safe for use with your baby so long as you follow the guidelines on correct positioning.

Broadly speaking, you should keep your baby snug to you, close enough to kiss her head, with her chin clear of her chest to avoid any constriction of her airways, and her back fully supported. Her nose and mouth should be free of any obstruction.

More information:-

If you are looking for general advice about babywearing (carrying your baby in a soft sling) then head over to the General Babywearing board. You could also have a look at the photos section for different types of carriers to see what you like the look of.

For more specific advice, we have a separate board for each main type of carrier (Wraps, Asian Style Carriers (mei tais, soft structured carriers, etc), and Ringslings/Pouches). On the Wraps board you will also find the Carry Of The Week threads which are a great way to learn new carrying methods!

If you are crafty, then you will find loads of information and chat in the DIY (carriers) and Craft Room boards.

For non babywearing chat, we have the Natural Mamas House, with everything from the Lounge (general chat) to the Business Room (to talk about WAHM business ideas) to the Kitchen (recipes and cooking questions) to the Playroom (parenting chat, breastfeeding, pregnancy & birth, cloth nappies, and more!)

The Market Place contains FSOT (for sale or trade) boards for slings and carriers, cloth nappies, and anything else (legal and decent!) You need to have 30 days membership and 30 posts before placing adverts in FSOT and there are also ISO (in search of) boards where you can post requests for specific items that you are looking for.

But first of all, why not head over to the Introductions area - we love to get to know our new members! And if you have any problems or questions, take a look in Technical Support, or feel free to contact a moderator at any time.