EllaNews

One of the first products that Ellaroo manufactured was the Ring Sling. At the time, I was looking for a reliable wholesale supplier for Peppermint.com. There were other manufacturers of padded slings, but the slings were either too padded and bulky, or the company was not able to produce the colors and quantities required to meet our growing demand.

So I grabbed the closest fabric at hand, our Indonesian selendangs, and ran them down to a local sewing contractor in the LA area.

After some experimentation (and crazy flops), the Ellaroo Lightly Padded Ring Sling was born.

At the time, all of the padded slings I had ever encountered had closed tails, like the one worn by Lisa and Charlie, above. It’s a nice design, because it’s easy to thread. However, at some point our Ellaroo resellers ganged up on me and requested that we open up the tail. Open tails are nice because you can use the extra fabric for nursing coverage, sun coverage, and lovely embellishments, among other things. Open tails also facilitate precise adjustments of the individual rails for the best positioning of baby, as well as making the sling easier to share between people of different sizes (like mom and dad).

With the change, the Ellaroo Ring Sling really took off (lesson: always listen to your customers!). Even with the introduction of three other baby carriers over the years, the Ring Sling continues to be a very strong seller for us. I consider it a staple in the baby carrier aresenal. It’s perfect for newborns:

• easy nursing with great coverage for privacy
• easy ins and outs without removing the carrier
• easy to share with two people
• easy to lay a sleeping baby down and get you both out of the carrier
• easy to make micro-adjustments for maximum comfort for both of you

And it also grows with baby. Once they’re sitting up, you just sit baby/toddler on your hip and let their legs hang out of the sling. Up to about 20 lbs, it’s my hands-down favorite baby carrier to recommend. Once baby hits about 20 lbs, many people start to feel like they could use better weight distribution, which is where our other baby carriers come into play.

For the hyenas in the crowd, here’s the lowdown on the Ellaroo Ring Sling:

DESIGN/CONSTRUCTION
• ~25″ wide
• three lengths: small (~72″), medium (~78″), and large (~84″)
• All current fabrics are 100% cotton, moving toward all organic cotton.
• All new designs (2007) are 250 thread count organic sateen (absolutely sumptuous).
• The batting is either organic cotton or recycled polyester.
• 3″ anodized aliminum rings, made specifically for use in baby slings (no slippage)
• Starting in 2007, our Ring Slings are custom embellished using hand block printing, screen printing, embroidery, or appliqué.
• I’m not sure there’s a name for our shoulder design (anyone?), but it’s lightly padded and spreads over the shoulder:


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USE

• can be worn on back (for short periods), front (cradle or upright), or side
• recommended from birth to about 35 lbs, with most use between birth and about 20 lbs
• not recommended for people with neck, back, or shoulder problems (choose a carrier with waist and 2-shoulder support)

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MANUFACTURE

• Ellaroo is involved in the process of making our Ring Sling from the purchase of the raw cotton all the way to sewing, embellishing, and packaging.
• Most of our Ring Slings are currently made in India, with some made in Dallas, TX.
• We use low impact fiber reactive dyes, as well as other processes that adhere to organic processing standards (better for the environment, as well as baby).

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SAFETY

• Our rings have been independently tested by SGS for toxins and heavy metals (barely to none detected), as well as strength (roughly 300 lbs).

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I think that about covers it!

-V