The Best Sling

The best sling is the one that holds your baby in a safe TICKS compliant position and that you both feel comfortable in.

We are all different people with different needs. We come in all shapes and sizes and have hugely different personal preferences, levels of flexibility and our brains work in very different ways. All of these variables also change with time so the perfect sling for your tiny newborn is quite unlikely to be the one that always works as they become progressively stronger and heavier.  

To help you find your best sling at any stage from tiny baby to several years old our team of independent experts are here to help you find a great fit. We are also happy to bug fix your own slings and carriers.

​If yourself or your child have any issues that may be affected or exacerbated by baby-wearing please check with your health care professionals that carrying is a safe option for you and let us know of any limitations so that we can try and find the safest and most comfortable option for you both.

What can I find at YSL?

YSL stock an enormous range of slings, carriers and even carrying aids to help you find your perfect fit. Please visit the YSL Stock pages to learn more.

Hiring a Sling

Once you've found a potential solution, and learned how to use it according to the TICKS guidelines you can try it out by hiring it for a short time to check it works in real life!  Hire periods are set at 4 weeks for newborn stretchy wraps and close caboos, and  2 weeks for all other options. Our hire fee is now £12. 

Please be aware that when not on hire, the slings are often kept in a pet friendly home. We do not encourage the pets to come near to the slings but some transfer may be unavoidable. If you have a severe allergy, please let us know and we will point you in the direction of independent companies that offer try before you buy services of new carriers to minimise your risks. 
 
Details of hiring a sling

• Basic stretchy wrap newborn slings are available for hire period of 4 weeks at a charge of £12
• All other slings are available for 2 weeks hire for £12.
• Slings may be available for hire, outside our sessions, at our discretion. Hire fees will remain as above.
• Hire fees are payable by either Cash or PayPal (goods and services)
• Hires are expected to be returned at the agreed session. If you can not attend the returns session, slings may be returned to a volunteers home (please contact us if in doubt).
• If you’ve come in for advice about your own sling(s) we politely request a donation of £6 towards our overheads.
• A library value of £20-£100 is associated with each sling depending on it’s cost.  If a library sling or any of it’s parts are irreparably damaged or lost, while in your care, we will ask you to reimburse the library, up to this value.
• Please read the full Terms & Conditions before hiring from York Sling Library.

Caring for our Slings
Please treat the sling like your own while you have it on hire. We want you to enjoy using it and we know that it is nearly impossible to keep slings spotless while in use. 

• Please look after the sling and spot-clean any marks (mud, dirt, food stains, baby sick etc.)
• Please keep the sling away from pets and other animals
• Please keep the sling away from anything that may stain (oil, paint, pens, etc.), or anything that might damage it (bleach, scissors, Velcro, protruding jewellery such as engagement rings, keys in your bag, fire, etc.)
• Under no circumstances is it permitted to smoke whilst wearing or holding the carrier
• Please do not wash the carrier, unless it has been in contact with an infectious disease or the victim of something like a poonami!  Where the sling may need cleaned while on loan to you, please contact us first for advice

We hope you enjoy using your hired sling, if you have any questions or concerns during the hire period please email us or post on our Facebook group.