Suptumitously soft and super adjustable – the Mamaruga Zen Sling is a real gem of a baby carrier. It combines the feel of a wrap with the intuitive practicality of a buckle carrier. Whilst also being one of the very few carriers that genuinely works beautifully well for tiny babies and then seamless grows with your child to continue giving them a great fit all the way into toddlerhood.
See how it works and hear my full thoughts here on my video review… or read on for more
Key Zen Sling Facts:
- It’s massively adjustable! Both the width and height of the panel can be adjusted allowing this carrier to shrink all the way down to accomodate a newborn and then seamlessly grow and grow and grow all the way to still give a perfect fit to a 2 year old, possibly even older. Better still the height actually adjusts in two ways – with the overall panel height adjusting separately to the leg openings. Most adjustable carriers only allow you to alter one of these – which means often either shorter babies with chubby legs or tall and slender babies aren’t as well fitted… but by offering both the Zen Sling offers all babies a completely customisable fit! And one that’s really easy to adjust as baby grows.
- This carrier is weight tested for use between 3kg (6.6lb) and 20kg (44lb). Realistically this is one that will work for most babies from within a couple of weeks after birth through to 2 ish… For reference my daughter was 13 kg at 2, 15 kg at almost 3 and my son didn’t hit 20kg until he was 5… but it’s always reassuring to know that the fabric has been weight tested beyond what you will need!
- It is made from dreamily soft Jersey knit fabric. Feels a bit like a favourite pair of jogging bottoms. The kind you secretly want to wear all the time! Except that the Zen Sling comes in all kinds of lovely patterns and looks really stylish and not at all slouchy and slobby!
- The fabric is slightly stretchy, this is wonderful with babies as doesn’t feel rough or restrictive on them, allows them to wiggle while still holding them securely. Consequently sometimes parents don’t like this as much with bigger toddlers as the stretchy material does feel like it has more give than a woven cotton. The closely related Zebulo is a great alternative if baby is a bit older and you want something light but more toddler proof!
- The Zen Sling offers 3 carrying positions – front carry (facing parent), hip and back carry. It doesn’t offer a facing outward carry but it does do the hip carry really really well so often parents find this is an ideal alternative and do not miss facing outwards.
- The shoulder straps are designed to fan outward across your shoulder if you find this comfortable, and are designed to cross across your back when wearing baby on your front. When wearing baby on your back there is a chest strap that comes separately that can be threaded through the straps if desired. This carrier doesn’t offer “ruck sack or H shaped straps when wearing baby on the front, as it is very difficult to attach this seperate strap to your own back! So this is definitely a carrier for those who prefer to wear their straps crossed rather than those that prefer the H shape.
- My one gripe with this carrier is the waist band. It is also made from soft jersey and I find as baby grows this has a tendency to fold/scrunch under baby rather than lie flush and this can be a little diggy over time. It’s a small gripe, against an otherwise amazing carrier but it’s the one thing I personally would change!!
-Madeleine
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I love that babywearing has grown in popularity over the last few years! I see so many parents absolutely loving snuggling their little ones while getting stuff done… and it’s fabulous. But one of the downsides of this growing popularity is baby carriers are now on almost all must have lists of things to buy before the baby arrives. And here is a the catch: carriers (particularly buckle carriers) fit a bit like jeans – different brands and different styles fit different bodies. In fact it’s worse than jeans because as well as needing to fit the parent it must also fit the baby, and fit how you want to use it, fit your lifestyle and fit the personal preferences of your little one! All of which is almost impossible to tell before baby is born because it’s very difficult to try a carrier on when you have a bump in the way and how can you know how you are going to use it or what your baby’s preference is going to be before they’ve even entered the world?
But 