Are Baby Slings Safe?

Are Baby Slings Safe? Yes!

When we went to our first expo, many parents were concerned that their baby might fall out of the sling. Leah put those worries to rest real fast when she would put the baby on her back and bent over backwords. Moms and dads gasped with excitement. When they saw that Nash wasn't falling out, they were very surprised. Baby slings can be very safe if sized and used correctly.

Recently Consumer Reports said that Baby sling carriers raise safety concerns. In it Don Mays brought up "startling" facts and figures. According to the author, "Over the past 10 years, there have been at least 22 reports of serious injury associated with the use of sling-type carriers. The injuries include skull fractures, head injuries, contusions and abrasions. Most occurred when the child fell out of the sling."

At first glance, those injuries are scary.

However, the important part to look at is that there were 22 reports in the past 10 years. I'm not trying to downplay what happened, but that's only about 2 injuries per year. It seems to me that baby slings are rather safe. Later, Don says, "For now, we think there are better ways of transporting infants including strollers, hand-held infant carrier/car seats and even other types of soft infant carriers."

Many of us have used the hand-held infant carrier/car seats. They're a pain when not in a car or on top of a grocery cart. I wonder how many injuries happen to both child and parent. I imagine it's more than 2 per year. Accoding to Thingamababy, the car seats have had a history of breaking. The consumer Reports article got a lot of comments. Most of them decry the claims made in the article. Take a few minutes to read the entire article including the comments.

What do you think?

Are baby slings safe? I say yes!