Rockin’ Baby Slings is a company that believes in giving back. They have a “Mother to Mother” mission where for every sling sold they donate a sling to a mother in Haiti. Once a year Kathryn Wiley, the owner of Rockin’ Baby, takes all the donated slings and takes them to Haiti in order to give them to mothers and teach the importance of holding your baby close. You can check out my Rockin’ Baby Product Spotlight for more information about this. You can also see a video of the first sling drop in Haiti, here.
Rockin’ Baby, the Carrier:
I received a pouch sling from Rockin’ Baby to try out for this review. I have never been very proficient at pouches, so this was going to be a test of my babywearing skills! A pouch is a sash of fabric with a pouch for your baby to sit in. It is worn diagonal across your body over one shoulder. The print I got was called “What’s the New Mary Jane”. It’s a cream and brown large floral print with a beautiful coral color on the inside. Even though I have a boy, not much of the coral shows, and the floral print is so large that while wearing it you can’t really tell. I got the small/medium sling and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was adjustable with zippers. It’s great to have an adjustable pouch, that way the measurements do not need to be as precise and there is the possibility of sharing the carrier between wearers as long as their size difference isn’t too extreme. The pouch has a sleeve that goes over the zippers to add some cushion and to make it look nice. The sleeve also has pockets that run the length of it. The pocket would be perfect for putting a diaper or two inside, but since they are the length of the sleeve and worn on your back, putting your keys in wouldn’t be very accessible or comfortable. The Rockin’ Baby Pouch has some slight padding in the leg area for baby comfort. The pouch came with a detailed instruction booklet that showed how to use it for various carries depending on the age of your baby.
My Rockin’ Baby Experience:
I really liked the box the pouch came in and it was wrapped up with a ribbon inside and looked really pretty. I was nervous about using the pouch, since I’d never really gotten the hang of one I had borrowed before, but I was determined to figure it out. I mean, I can wrap my toddler on my back with 4.6 meters of fabric, how hard can a pouch be?! I liked the fact the pouch was adjustable and thought the zippers were an interesting way to accomplish that. There were 2 complete zippers, so each zipper pull side could be zipped onto one of 2 other zipper half, giving your 5 different pouch sizes, including not zipped at all. I got the pouch zipped to where it should be and then put the zipper sleeve over it. I liked that it hid the zippers so the pouch looked pretty all the way around, but still was adjustable. Wearing my baby the first time in the Rockin’ Baby Pouch I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable it was! My toddler is over 25 pounds, so one shouldered carries are starting to get a little tiresome after only a short time with my ring slings. The pouch is quite deep, which fit my big toddler just fine, but I don’t know if a smaller baby would get lost in the deep pocket, or if being able to adjust the pouch would help with that. Mostly I do a hip carry with my toddler and sometimes it seemed when I had the pouch with the zippers on my back that the padding didn’t extend all the way to where I carried him. Sometimes I ended up with the zippers on my shoulder and if I moved my arm too much I could feel the zipper unzip slightly. When I would check it was never undone more than 3 or 4 “teeth” on the zipper, but that is probably the reason the instructions state that the zippers need to be on your back.
Overall:
My experience with the Rockin’ Baby Pouch was a positive one. I was apprehensive at first about using the pouch, since I had not been successful with one when my son was smaller. This pouch fit very well and was more comfortable than I expected for a one shoulder carry with 25+ pounds of toddler. When I didn’t get the zippers all the way on my back I could sometimes feel them on my shoulder, and could feel them unzip slightly if I moved that arm. Nothing that I was too worried about though, I just made sure to the the zippers better on my back the next time. The “hardest” part for me with the pouch was getting my toddler in and out of it. I am so used to my ring slings where I can loosen it to push the fabric down to make it easier to get him in and out. Using a pouch it is not adjustable while wearing and since there is no stretch to this fabric, sometimes it was awkward to get him in (especially with shoes on that would catch the fabric) and out of the the pouch. Nothing too terrible, though.
Where to Buy:
Rockin’ Baby Slings can be bought on their website or Amazon.com for $79.99
Disclaimer: I received a pouch sling for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received. All opinions are experiences are my own. All pictures are taken by me and are property of The Babywearing Blog. Below is a link to my Amazon Affiliate. If you choose to click on it I may earn a percentage of your purchase.
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I really liked “The Ground Beneath Her Feet” Sling.
Hi,
The Rockin’ Baby Sling looks awesome. I have had no experience “wearing” a baby, but my kids have used wraps, etc. with their children. I have a granddaughter who is 5 months old. Her mother will be interested in this product.
Thank you for sharing this information.
Grammie
I was able to see this carrier in action and it is really neat. I like the zippers for the shoulder adjustment and the fact that it has a pocket that you can fit a diaper in. My baby doesn’t do well with pouches but I may try to give them another go of it now that she’s a bit bigger.
According to me with zipper facility slings become more adjustable and easy to use.I like this zipper one sling.Definitely! I will tell to my friends about this beautiful sling.
Thanks!