VOLUNTEERS!

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2018, babies, baby, carriers, children, natural parenting, parenthood, parents, Q&A, September, sling library, sling library appreciation month 2018, sling meet, slings, toddler, volunteering, volunteers, wraps

It’s week two of Sling Library Appreciation Month 2018, and this week the spotlight is on Volunteers.

Our Library is actually entirely run by volunteers- including the co-owners, so this week we’ve posting something from the volunteer point of view.

Here’s what a few of our wonderful selfless volunteers had to say……

~Jay~

J

How long have you been involved with Bracknell Sling Library?

Since the beginning. I had tried to make contact with the old Bracknell sling library that wasn’t in existence anymore. Then Gemma and Clare stepped up and created the new Bracknell sling meet.

What training have you received?

Peer support training.

What kind of jobs do you do for the Library?

Helping with fitting slings, talking to new praents, helping with events, baking cakes and biscuits for events and sharing social media posts created by others.

What’s your favourite thing about volunteering with the Library?

Trying all the new slings, helping mums and dads find the right slings for them and the friendships made over the years with other volunteers and parents who come along.

 

~Ruth~

How long have you been involved with Bracknell Sling Library?

About two years- although I’m rarely there these days due to having got a new job with the fab reference that the Sling Library gave me!

What training have you received?

I’ve had no formal training but ample opportunity to watch the rest of the team demonstrating stuff, and have a go with my children/ the dolls where it’s felt necessary.

What kind of jobs do you do for the Library?

Turn up to sling meet, set up, help parents choose/ practice with the slings, tidy up.

What’s your favourite thing about volunteering with the Library?

Being able to help new parents to access the world of slings which meant so much to me when my children were small- the freedom to go where and when I pleased regardless of steps and naptime, to hold your baby close when they are poorly, to hold your child close and still make tea, to be able to welcome a new baby and hold your toddler and new baby safely at the same time when needed, to offer my school child some close time after a difficult morning to make parting that bit easier.

 

~Gemma~

Tula Baby (rockets)

Shire Slings Pagan Goddess Size 3

Yaro Turtle Size 5

How long have you been involved with Bracknell Sling Library?

I have been involved since it’s inception, a crazy Facebook Messenger conversation in January 2015 resulted in a cup of tea with a complete stranger. What did happen was the creation of a local Sling meeting into a meagre Sling Library. That stranger Clare is one of my closest friends now and our library has grown so much, but only with the help and dedication of a lot of people along the way.

What training have you received?

From the start YouTube videos, and like-minded friends influenced my skills and abilities. Lots of getting things wrong myself. As the Sling Library grew, we identified that more formal training was beneficial. Peer support training was completed and I considered looking towards a consultancy course. With a full time day/night job and a growing toddler, I soon realised that both myself and our library wouldn’t benefit from this expensive addition.

What kind of jobs do you do for the Library?

All of them: setting up the room, assisting with customers, clean down of the room after a session… Social media- but Clare is the queen here. Finances but without Jenny our maths wouldn’t work despite my grade A GCSE- spreadsheets are not my cup of tea! Enforcement of “lost slings”, purchasing new slings and the sales of retired carriers. Also arranging social events with volunteers. I would highlight that none of the jobs are done by any one person, it’s very much a team game.

What’s your favourite thing about volunteering with the Library?

Easy answer- tiny baby cuddles. Oh and friends- my friendship group has always been very small. I think it’s doubled since being involved in Bracknell Sling Library and I wouldn’t be without a single one of our volunteers, and the people that have helped us along the way.

 

~Caroline~

Traditional Chinese Meh Dai

Lenny Lamb Buckles (neutral sand)

How long have you been involved with Bracknell Sling Library?

Since 2015. I initially came to hang out when my little one was tiny, then eventually volunteered.

What training have you received?

I am a peer supporter which involved completing training on giving advice and using the common types of slings. I’ve also watched many a you tube tutorial for different carries with woven wraps if that counts!

What kind of jobs do you do for the Library?

At the moment, I do occasional behind the scenes support as I am now working on Fridays and unable to give face to face support.

What’s your favourite thing about volunteering with the Library?

My favourite thing about volunteering with the sling library is all the friends I have made along the way. I love to spread a bit of the slingy love and help other parents/carers either practically or by sharing the same friendship & support network.

~Clare~

How long have you been involved with Bracknell Sling Library?

From day one! Gemma and I had been talking in the previous social slingmeet up group on facebook and decided together it would be wonderful to have a go at setting up a library. Little did we know how much work would go in and what kind of success we might see over the years.

What training have you received?

We arrange regular peer support training for our volunteers, including ourselves and are currently looking at CPD. There are lots of new slings on the market, so in an addition, we make an effort to keep up to date with what’s available, what’s popular and so on. I’ve also undertaken a Futurelearn course “Babies in Mind” to look at attachment theory during the perinatal period.

What kind of jobs do you do for the Library?

I am involved in numerous aspects of the library- stock take, banking, laundry, paperwork, advice, fit and hire, emails, social media, design work, photography, event organisation, room booking, charity events, volunteer recruitment, booking training, volunteer welfare….. the list goes on! All the volunteers pitch in with whatever their skills are to ensure that the library runs smoothly.

What’s your favourite thing about volunteering with the Library?

Sometimes it’s exhausting running a library alongside raising a family and working part time… however, it’s completely worth it. The comments we get from customers about how much slings have changed their lives, how grateful they are and how affordable and accessible the service is… it makes it all worth while. It’s also great to work alongside such a wonderful bunch of likeminded people- I’ve made so many great friends.

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A day in the life of a Sling Librarian…. #2!

Tags

"a day in the life of", 2018, our process, photos, September, sling, sling library, sling library appreciation month 2018, sling meet, sling support superheroes, slingmeet, volunteers, what we do

Just under two years ago, I wrote this post about “A day in the life of a Sling Librarian”- to show you all what we get up to.

This month is Sling Library Appreciation Month– a new awareness raising and celebration month to promote what Sling Libraries do, how they work, how they help families and much more.

Week one happens to be “A day in the life of a Sling Librarian”, so I thought it might be time to write another blog post about what it is we do!

 

How we operate:

Bracknell Sling Library is co-owned by Clare & Gemma- here’s a photo of our best sides.

Gemma & G

Clare & R

We’re local working parents who run the library in our “spare time” with the help of around 10 active volunteers who do a range of different jobs to assist us keeping the library running. We are an unincorporated association, with a constitution, a bank account and AGM meetings to make the bigger decisions about how we run.

Here’s a few of our super volunteers (some have sneakily avoided photos!):

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C

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J

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We have a library session every fortnight for 90 mins (every other Friday 12:30-2 if you’re interested in popping along). Whilst 3 hours a month doesn’t sound like much, I’m sure you can imagine that a lot more work goes in than that!

 

Social Media:

Like many sling libraries, social media is our main tool to spread the word of what services we offer.

We have a facebook page which is public facing (which can be found here) and in addition we have a closed “chat” group (you can request membership here). Both these take some management from keeping on top of local, national and international campaigns and information, to moderating discussion, second hand sales, library session information and general chit chat about carriers. We also have this blog which we try to keep up to date with relevant information, and an email account where most our enquiries end up.

 

Library Stock:

We take regular stock takes to ensure that we know where all our slings are, to check for damage, cleaning needs, general wear and tear and alongside that we try to keep abreast of the market. New slings come onto the market regularly, and we always want our stock to accurately reflect what is currently available in the shops, and what is popular. As a consequence, last year we retired 14 of our carriers and purchased 21 new carriers. The stock currently stands at 106, which has fluctuated a lot over the past 3.5 years that the library has been running. It started with a very small selection and as the hire money came in, we were able to afford to buy a few more bits.

March 2015:

September 2018:

 

Accounting:

Speaking of buying new stock- one of our very important jobs is keeping track of all our finances. We are very lucky that we have a super deal on our room hire and so our outgoings are very low: room hire, training, stock and insurance are our main outgoings. With the help of one of our brill volunteers Jenny, we have a great google docs system in place that the three of us can access. We keep a float for the library session and count everything in and out. Everything is accounted for- from donations, to sling purchases to out of hours returns fees. We try to keep things as simple as possible but accountable, so keeping track of our finances takes a significant amount of volunteer time.

After each sling meet we count up the cash and record it on our spreadsheet (ensuring that it adds up to what it should). We then prepare the float for the next session, check if we need change or to deposit some cash at the bank and carry out those tasks. We also have to pay the invoices for our room hire, check our paypal payments, follow up invoices for purchases etc.

 

Volunteer recruitment, training and management:

We are run entirely by volunteers, and the recruitment, training, CPD and management of staffing the library sessions is an ongoing task. We check regularly which volunteers are available for upcoming meets (bar illness etc), ensure they have appropriate training available to them and generally keep in communication.

We are always looking for new volunteers as many of ours move on when their children reach school age, or sometimes they up or change their work hours or even get a new job which means they can’t help any more. We couldn’t run without our volunteers, so we urge you to get in touch if you might be interested in helping out.

 

Promotional materials:

Whilst most of our promo and comms is done via social media, we also have to ensure we have a presence elsewhere. Recently we purchased a couple of pull up banners, and we have logo-ed material such as flyers for events we attend.

Our new banners

C&J with the banner

 

Paperwork:

The paperwork is a bit boring but also important. Before sling meet we need to ensure that we have enough hire forms, Terms and Conditions and TICKS safety guidelines. We also have a list of the slings due back (all the customers receive an email reminder too), and we’ll need a new cover sheet where we record all slings that go on hire that meet.

To comply with GDPR we try to not keep anyone’s personal details uneccessarily, and so we have a system where our paperwork is stored in a locked file store and only the three admins have access to any personal data.

Some of our (non trained) volunteers

Paperwork

 

After each sling meet we check the hire forms are complete and check the cover sheet is correct. Then we add any new names to our GDPR compliant database, and see if there’s any overdue slings. We contact each of the customers to let them know their sling is overdue and communicate the options (rehire/ our of hours return) and follow up over the proceeding week updating the paperwork to reflect the outcome. We also transfer all the new hires onto our “due back” sheets for the upcoming sling meets.

 

Out of Hours hires:

We try to be flexible to the modern working parent- turns out not everyone is free 12:30-2pm on a Friday- who would have thought! We do offer out of hours hires/ returns where we can facilitate, and whilst sometimes we go months without, we often find that just before the school holidays there’s a deluge of these and we can do 2-3 a week. It can be tricky to fit in around work and parenting but we find out customers are very understanding and it all tends to work out in the end!

 

Chasing lost slings:

I’ve slipped this in the middle as this is our least favourite job by far. Whilst we always send reminder emails that slings are due back, it’s not fun when we completely loose communication from a customer. Whether they’re embarrassed that they don’t have the rehire fee, forgot to bring it back, lost it or have something much more complex going on in their lives, all we ask from our customers is that they’re honest and stay in touch. We have only had to seriously follow up on two “lost” slings over the past 3.5 years and the hours of admin time and stress that caused was significant. We’re a very understanding and kind bunch, we just don’t take kindly to people lying. We run this out of the goodness of our hearts and are here to help.

 

Parties:

Back to a more positive note! We have run a number of parties over the years- notably birthday parties to celebrate another successful year of Bracknell Sling Library, and summer or Christmas parties. These are a HUGE job to organise- getting vendors along and creating floor plans, organising a photographer, collecting prizes for and then running a raffle, advertising the event and getting people to come along- through to organising the happy chaos on the day. We’ve raised over £680 for charity over the past two years- now THAT’S something we’re proud of!

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OTHER:

Goodness what else? Sometimes it feels never ending!

Sometimes we attend events for other organisations- i.e Calmwaves Hynobirthing have invited us to their summer parties to have a stall. We need to arrange our insurance, field enquiries, think about how we manage our money (do we need a card reader, can we accept cheques etc), field emails from manufacturers, retailers and customers… the list goes on. We have quieter weeks and busier weeks. We all appreciate that volunteering is exactly that- home life & paid work come first, and the wonderful work all our volunteers do is in their own time and is much appreciated.

 

So what about this DAY IN THE LIFE OF?

Well- we may operate a bit differently to other libraries, some of whom also retail slings or run paid consultancy work alongside their library sessions so it’s possible our view is a little different. But sling library day looks like this:

• Check over paperwork/ chase slings due back/ send emails/ check stock
• Arrive at the venue, greet other volunteers & set up chairs and tables, plus toys for the children and get the stock, paperwork and pull up banners out.
• Chat to volunteers about any special events coming up/ new slings training
• Customers arrive- hurrah! Whirlwind 90 minutes of demonstrating, adjusting & fitting,  then filling out the relevant paperwork and taking payments.
• Tidy up time! All hands to deck to get tidied up before the volunteers often have to go and pick their own children up from school or childcare.
• Come home and count money (cross fingers it all adds up).
• Check over all paperwork & chase up any non-returned items
• Sort float, change & bank trips. Print out extra paperwork
• Field enquiries, post on social media & chase up any overdue items. Arrange out of hours returns and collections.
• Glass of wine and early bed!

 

EUROPEAN BABYWEARING WEEK SPOTLIGHT ON……

Tags

2018, carrier, Carrying Connects, ergonomic carrier, eurpoean babywearing week 2018, hip carry, library, May, May 2018, overlooked, scootababy, sling, sling library, sling meet, slumber-roo, spotlight on, underloved, underloved carriers, wrap

Following on from yesterdays post about the meh dai style carrier, today Library co-owner Clare talks about something a bit more unusual…..Apologies we don’t have any better photos of this carrier, but it is pretty brilliant!

Today our ‘try something different’ spotlight is on the Scootababy hip carrier.

The Scootababy carrier is suitable from around five months or 15lb up to around 37lb (around age three)- 6.8kg- 16.7kg. It’s a slightly unusual looking carrier which may put some people off, however it has lots of interesting features which make it a great alternative to a standard buckle carrier or a ring sling.

The carrier comprises of a waist belt attached to a fabric panel, and one strap which goes over one arm and under the other. The strap adjusts from both sides and it’s designed especially to be adjusted one handed. This is slightly different to other buckled carriers you may see on the market which tend to sit best as front or back carries and have two shoulder straps which either sit rucksack style or crossed over the back and buckled under the arm.

Scootababy instructions from their website

Why choose this carrier?
Many of our customers find that their babies start to get interested in looking at the world around them whilst in a sling, which cannot be satisfied in a standard stretchy, wrap or buckle carrier. This is often when we start to discuss with customers the possibility of a hip carry and the Scootababy is a great option to try.

The first time I tried this carrier I was surprised by how easy it was to put on (as per above instructions) and adjust. It is simple to move from a hip carry to a back carry, you just need to adapt the length of the strap at each end to ensure that the wider, slightly padded soft fleece part sits across the shoulder. It cups the shoulder well, and the strap ends roll up and are secured by elastic to keep them out the way.

Library Scootababy

I have personally found that the Scootababy is a more comfortable carry for me than a woven ring sling which is another popular option for hip carries. The bonus of the scootababy is the structured waistband, which helps distribute the weight so it is not solely sitting on one shoulder and across the back.

We have a black scootababy V3 in our library which despite being a fantastic and versatile carrier does sometimes get overlooked for some of the standard buckle carriers or those in fancy fabrics or pretty patterns. In addition because it fits from around 15lb, and many of our customers have much younger babies, it’s not an appropriate fit for them.

However those who do hire it often come back raving about how comfortable it is, and many go on to buy their own.

Stock image

In the UK, Slumber-Roo are the official retailers of the scootababy carrier and prices start at £69.50, with plain fabric, but they also come in patterns too.

You can buy one from: https://slumber-roo.co.uk/…/scootababy/buckle-amp-hip

Why don’t you pop along on 18th May for our European babywearing week ‘hire one get one free’ offer and try it out alongside any other carrier!

Charity Party!

Tags

2017, attachment parenting, August, baby, babywearing, Berkshire, blog, blogging, Bracknell, Bracknell Sling Library, Bracknell Sling Meet, Bracknell Slings, charity, child, Christmas, clare dowling photography, community, craft, fundraising, gentle parenting, good cause, guess the weight of the cake, jewellery, kindness, love, lymphoma association, PANDAS, parent, party, photo, photography, post natal depression, prostate cancer, raffle, sling, sling library, stalls, summer, Summer party, support, toddler, wrap, wrappers, wrapping, wraps

In an effort to update this blog a bit more, I thought I’d tell you all a bit about the charity parties we’ve held over the last 7 months. As a not-for-profit group, we are in a fortunate position that we can help raise money for charities via our bi-annual sling parties.

The parties are like any normal sling meet, with sling hire, fit and advice, but with the addition of stalls, raffles, competitions, sling sales, photography, food & drink and interactive music sessions for the little ones.

At Christmas with the help of the wonderful Rainbright Photography (who donated all her proceeds from the event), we raised £445 for Lymphoma Association  (more info here on our facebook page).

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Our summer party took place two weeks ago and we raised £240 for PANDAS Foundation (Pre and Post Natal Depression Advice and Support). In addition we raffled off a brand new  Little Frog ringsling that one of our librarians won and and raised £56 for Prostate Cancer Research . We have lots of fun at these events and hope we can continue them long into the future!

 

Z

(Photos by ClareDowlingPhotography )

A day in the life of….. A Sling Librarian

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"a day in the life of", 2016, blog, Bracknell, Bracknell Sling Library, Bracknell Sling Meet, library, October, Sling Librarian

I’ve done this kind of post before but it’s quite interesting to document what goes into organising a sling library.

And realistically it’s not just one day or done by one person- there’s social media, sling washing, selling of old slings and buying of new ones, answering queries, and we even managed a volunteers social last week too!

First off there’s 6 bags of slings and a toddler to pack into the car. We arrive at the venue 30 minutes before the Library stats to get the toddler fed and set up the room.

Packed in

Empty hall

Lunch for small one

 

Next we get out all the slings and display them from stretchy wraps to woven wraps to ring slings, to buckles and toddler size slings plus the demo dolls (not a real baby on the table!). Then we set out the mats and toys for the little ones (modelled here by baby T trying to escape!)

Sling Tables

Kiddy play area

 

The wonderful volunteers arrive to help out, and then our customers start arriving throughout the two hour session.

Looking at the options

Chatting to Volunteers

Things get messy!

 

We let customers watch demos of suitable options and try whatever carriers they think will suit them. Hopefully lots of happy parents/ caregivers go home with a sling to hire!

Mei Tai and wrap

Close Caboo

Close Caboo

 

Then it’s time to pack up, tidy up and head home to do the paperwork and make sure the numbers add up!

Packing up

Paperwork

 

MORE NEW THINGS!

We are excited to announce that we’ve updated the library a little, adding:

–Juno Mountain Buggy

–Bebe Sachi Wrap Strap Mei Tai

–Ergo 360

–Opitai Wrap Conversion Toddler Mei Tai

–Bundlebean Winter Cover

–(Second) Toddler Connecta

–Sleepy Nico

Juno Mountain Buggy Carrier

Bebe Sachi

Opitai

Ergo 360

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Toddler Connecta

Sleepy Nico (tribal hearts)

Q&A Guest post- Holly

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babies, baby wearing, babywearing, Berkshire, blog posts, blogging, Bracknell, Bracknell Sling Library, Bracknell Sling Meet, carriers, close caboo, guest blog, Guest Q&A, handwoven, lenny lamb, natural parenting, Reading, sling, sling library, sling meet, slingdad dom, slings, wraps

My name is Holly, I’m 33 years old and I live in Reading with my husband, 23 month old daughter and 4 cats. I am also a working mum so I juggle being a police officer with looking after my crazy toddler and running our local baby wearing group and the facebook pages ‘reading baby wearing UK’ and ‘reading babywearing walks & socials’

 

How did you get into babywearing and did you plan to wear your baby when you were pregnant?

I hadn’t thought much about baby wearing until I started going to homebirth groups when I was pregnant. A lovely lady called Zena who hosts the meetings (wife of the famous Slingdad Dom) showed me lots of varieties and the close caboo caught my eye. From then on it was something I thought I might do for convenience; little did I know how it would take over my life!

 

What’s your favourite wrap/carrier you’ve ever owned and why?

I don’t think I can choose a favorite carrier but my top 3 are:

1 – close caboo because it is so easy to use, super comfy for baby and wearer and also a reasonable price.

2 – lenny lamb ergonomic carrier, specifically the lace patterns but vanilla lace is by far my favourite. In my opinion they are the most well designed and manufactured SSC. They are extremely adjustable and gently padded and come in so many beautiful prints and colours.

3 – my hand woven wraps. Honestly woven wraps tick all the boxes; versatility, comfort, appearance…. Yes they do take some mastering but once you get the knack they are simply addictive and can be used from birth to toddling and beyond. I still carry my BIG girl in my wovens and we both love it.

 

If money were no object, what wrap or sling would you own?

If money were no object I would get a custom hand woven wrap made by Little Fellows (based in UK) or Mad Hatter warped and woven. It would have pastel rainbows and sparkly thread in it.

 

What do you like about babywearing?

I love baby wearing for so many reasons; convenience (easy to throw in your bag/car/wrap round your neck as a scarf when not in use), space saving (no need for bulky buggies etc.), the huge variety of styles and patterns you can get, the closeness and bond you get with your baby and the magic of the carrier in calming a tired or teething or poorly baby.

I also love how, when they are little and just need cuddles all the time, it gives you the chance to clean/cook/have a pee whilst they stay just where they want to be. I am also in love with baby wearing because it can be a wonderful social activity; I have met so many friends at the local walks and the support they offer is priceless.

 

What do or did you find hardest about babywearing?

The only struggle I have had with baby wearing is the frustration when you are trying to master a new carry, especially in a woven, and you just can’t crack it. I also find it hard not to spend my whole wage on slings every month lol!

 

Does your partner join in with the babywearing?

My husband doesn’t babywear although he did when she was small enough to be in the caboo and he saw how cosy she was and wanted her to sleep on him. I wish in hindsight I had encouraged him more but because I was learning too and she is my first baby I wanted to do it all. He is now unsure his back would cope (he has back issues) so he leaves it up to me.

 

What kind of comments do you receive when you babywear out and about?

I can’t recall getting any direct comments about baby wearing for a long time now but when she was young I got lots of lovely comments and smiles; it really is magical because babies just don’t cry in slings like they often do it buggies.

 

Baby wearing is one of my favourite things about being  a Mum and I would encourage any carer to give it a try. I am so proud to be able to help other people to safely wear their children.

 

 

Thanks to Holly for her input to the local babywearing community- the Reading babywearing group and the Social & Walks groups that she runs are great social places to chat about slings, sling libraries, meet likeminded local friends and learn more about babywearing. She’s always supported local libraries like ours and we love having people like Holly locally to us!

Q&A Guest Post- Jay

Tags

2016, babies, baby, baby wearing, babywearing, Berkshire, blog posts, blogging, Bracknell, Bracknell Sling Library, Bracknell Sling Meet, buckles, carriers, family, May, mei tai, natural parenting, peer supporter, photos, sling, sling library, sling meet, slings, toddler, volunteer, wrap, wraps

I am Jay. I have 4 wonderful children,3 biological and 1 stepson. 3 boys and 1 girl. I have a philosophy that ‘everything happens for a reason’ and I do my best to surround myself and my children with happy and positive people and being part of a sling community certainly helps with that.

I used to work in Executive Recruitment but recently had the opportunity to change jobs and now I am a carer in the community,helping to look after people with dementia and other ailments.

I love working with people and also being able to be there for my children,as my job can be flexible. Through the sling library I have trained to be a peer supporter and really enjoy helping people to find the right slings for them and their baby or child.

 

How did you get into babywearing and did you plan to wear your baby when you were pregnant?

I wanted to carry my baby when I had my first child and invested in a mothercare sling. It never felt right. I now know that is because I had her in the cradle position and couldn’t see her properly (I had no idea what TICKS was.) With my second child I was determined to do it right. I started with a caboo and then used a mei tai,with a brief flirtation with a connecta which I wasn’t keen on but my partner at the time loved it. I would push one child in a buggy and carry the other in the sling. With my third baby I used a stretchy,then a mei tai,then started borrowing from the Bracknell Sling Library and fell in love with a manduca and a hop tye,both of which I also own now…and still borrowing from the library to find my next sling.

 
What’s your favourite wrap/carrier you’ve ever owned and why?

My favourite, I think, is a mei tai. The simplicity and diversity of it.

If money were no object, what wrap or sling would you own?

I would own all the slings…well,most of them. 😉

 
What do you like about babywearing?

I like the closeness,the ability to have hands free for my other children and to breastfeed on the run. Also,no buggy to pack for trips.

 

What do or did you find hardest about babywearing?

Wanting all the slings and not having them all. Actually,ring slings…love the idea,know how to use them in theory but just can’t get it to work well for me.
Does your partner join in with the babywearing?

Yes. He went from ‘I won’t wear one of those’ to deciding he liked my mei tai,then falling in love with the manduca too and has now chosen his own toddler sling.

What kind of comments do you receive when you babywear out and about?

Mainly positive oohs and ahhs but the occasional “isn’t he too big for that?” and “doesn’t it hurt your back?”

J

 

Huge thanks to Jay who is one of our super peer support trained volunteers. She’s learnt so much so quickly and is always on hand to help out at our meets  with her gorgeous little boy, and is wonderfully encouraging and helpful on our facebook group too!

Onbu!

Tags

2016, babywearing, Bracknell Sling Library, Bracknell Sling Meet, fun toddler, jellystitch, May, new carrier, onbu, pattern, sling library

We have one onbu at the sling library already. It’s an unusual carrier- a buckled carrier without a waist strap. It’s for older babies who can sit by themselves, up to pre-school size and a very handy little carrier they are too!

We currently have a Nova inbetween size onbu, but Amy from JellyStitch very kindly offered us a toddler size one for our library. This was a wonderful opportunity that we couldn’t pass up. It arrived today……

 

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And it’s love! The Jellystitch has wider, thicker padding to the straps which really helps if you’re taking the full weight of your toddler on your shoulders! I’m yet to perfect the fit for me, but working on it! Can’t wait to see how popular it is at the library next week.

 

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May time

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2016, babies, baby toddler, baby wearing, babywearing, beco, Berkshire, birch hill, blog posts, blogging, boba air, Bracknell, Bracknell Sling Library, Bracknell Sling Meet, carriers, connecta, firespiral, hire, lenny lamb, lilebaby, May, natural parenting, new, scootababy, sling, sling library, sling meet, slings, success, toddler, wrap, wraps

We as a library are really proud of what we’re accomplishing over at Bracknell Sling Meet & Library. Because we’re a community group, all the money we receive from hires goes back into buying more brilliant slings for everyone to try and enjoy. It means we can widen our range to even more popular carriers and also some of the less well known ones, but in addition we are now reaching a point where some of our carriers are so popular that we are buying two of them.

We now have two manduccas, two lilebabies, two baby size connectas, three size six wraps, two size 7 wraps and once we’re decided which Ergo- we’ll have a second one of those too!

What have we added to our library over the last month?

Scootababy (black)

Connecta Baby (Harris Tweed)

Connecta Toddler

Boba Air (black)

Beco Toddler

Firespiral Library exclusive Size 2

Lilebaby Carry On Toddler Airflow

Lenny Lamb Buckles (neutral sand)

 

This month we’ve added:

• Scootababy 
• Connecta baby in Harris Tweed
• Connecta Toddler in Indio Yukie
• Boba Air in black
• Beco Toddler in Nimbus
• Firespiral size 2 Sling Library exclusive
• Lilebaby Toddler Carry On Air

In addition to the Lenny Lamb buckles that we added the month before (bottom right image).

 

Sling meet was a ROARING success this week. News about all our new carriers has spread and so we managed a huge 19 hires, and 4 out of the 5 newest carriers went straight out. We’re looking forwards to seeing photos of happy babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers and happy mummies & daddies!