Testimony!

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2015, 8 weeks old, assisting, baby, babywearing, Bracknell Sling Library, Bracknell Sling Meet, caboo, close caboo, December, fabric, family, help, information, instructions, more than one child, nephew, photo, stretchy, too long, wrap

One of the great things about running the library is having the opportunity to help people.

When my sister in law told us she was pregnant with her second child, we were delighted for them, and one of my first thoughts was about how she would have enough hands for a 3 year old and a newborn at the same time! I offered to buy her a sling to help with her being handsfree, if it was something she wanted to try. We discussed the different options for a newborn baby. Sarah had tried a stretchy wrap previously, but as she’s quite small framed, she got a bit lost in all the fabric. So I suggested a caboo, which is very popular both in our library and with parents who come to our meets with their own slings.

A standard stretchy wrap is piece of fabric which has either one or two way stretch. It’s usually around 5m long by about 50cm wide. The wrap is pre-tied around the body a number of times, nice and tight, then you pop the baby in, spread the fabric over your babies back and then make final adjustments. Some people find this process a bit fiddly, and although you can get stretchy wraps in a shorter size from a few brands including Hana Baby, it can be quite long and end up getting dragged on the floor.

Some people prefer the caboo, as rather than having to tie the wrap onto your body to get started, you simply slip the ringed piece over your head. The carrier is constructed with the same kind of fabric as a standard stretchy but it has a sewn in cross on the back and the fabric also crosses over the body at the front then runs through rings which sit at the hips. This means less fabric and some find it easier to tighten up.

 

I put together this  instruction how to for my sister in law to ensure she had some good information as we wouldn’t get to see her and baby until he was 8 weeks old.

(apologies for manic stare and the fact I’m in my pajamas!)

I was really pleased that when Sarah’s baby was born, they started using the sling almost immediately!

I was keen to try a sling with my second child so I could do things with my first child like hold her hand or change her nappy.

Using a sling means you can have your hands free and has helped make life easier.

I had tried a couple of slings with my first but not really got along with them so I knew what I wanted and didn’t want.

With this knowledge Clare was able to choose a sling for me and show me how to use it and I’ve been using it lots

 

Of course when we visited this week I had to try the stretchy out for myself, and had some lovely cuddles with my nephew. I even wore him for around an hour at the BabyGym class we took our kids to, and it meant I had my hands free to play with my son and niece too.

And of course he fell straight asleep.

This is just one story, we love sharing the positive comments from the mummies and daddies (and Aunties!) we help!

Q&A Guest Post- Sarah

Tags

2015, April, babies, baby wearing, babywearing, Bracknell Sling Library, Bracknell Sling Meet, custom, dye, explore, family, guest blog, hands free, lenny lamb, mei tai, natural parenting, Q&A, rainbow, Sarah, shortie, sling, snuggles, stretchy, unity, wrap, wrap straps

Hi!
I’m Sarah, Mum to almost 4 year old Finley, just 2 year old Zachary and my “diddymost” is Eliana who was born on New Years Day.

About Me:
I work full time, unfortunately, as Deputy head of a girl’s boarding house in a state boarding school. I also run the school’s Equestrian Team. My job is more a way of life (as in I’ve had 2 days off in the past 5 weeks) so babywearing means I can keep my babies close to me at work, with horses and at home.

Family day out

How did you get into babywearing and did you plan to wear your baby when you were pregnant?
I always liked the idea of babywearing. I brought a red kite narrow based carrier when I was pregnant with Fin as that was all I saw! Unsurprisingly it was uncomfortable and I didn’t use it often. When I fell pregnant with Zac I’d learnt a bit more and brought an MNS mei tai. I loved it! Then with Eli I wanted to wrap. I’m so sad I didn’t wrap my boys! We have a little stash now and we’re loving it. We are completely addicted! I still use my mei tai with her too for things like the preschool run.

Out and about

What’s your favourite wrap/carrier you’ve ever owned and why?
At the moment I’m loving my lenny lamb sunrise rainbow bamboo blend. It’s full of sleepy dust and although a 7 it’s weightless and so cushy! We’ve just got it and it’s definitely love!

Bright rainbow colours

Softening the wrap

If money were no object, what wrap or sling would you own?
I think I’d just keep buying lots of different ones! I dye my own wraps too and I’d love to do more of this. I’m shortie curious at the moment! I’d also love a wrap strap mei tai when Eli is a bit bigger.

What do you like about babywearing?
That closeness, the feeling of unity and the snuggles! Plus with my manic life having my hands free!!
A great positive for me is also having them at your height to show them things and help them explore their surroundings. I’m always nattering away to Eli when she’s wrapped! I’ve also loved making friends through it, through Facebook groups and sling meets.

Sling meet friends

Sleepy cuddles

What do or did you find hardest about babywearing?
It can be frustrating when a wrap job isn’t quite right but I also love it when, after practice, it goes perfectly!
I think it can be hard when other people don’t understand it too…. those looks in the supermarket that we’ve all seen! In saying that though, some people have surprised me and asked me about it or made positive comments about it. I’ve also recently discovered that another Mum is wrapping her baby because she sees me doing it.

What kind of comments do you receive when you babywear out and about?
There’s definitely a mixture of opinions out there! I think I’ve had more compliments and positive questions than negative ones though. I just try to shrug off the bad ones now.
It can be difficult to feel judged but I try really hard to remember that I’m doing what I feel is best for me and my family and as Mums I think that’s all we’re trying to do anyway!

Thanks so much to Sarah for being our second EVER guest blog post and for answering all our questions. We loved having you at sling meet during the school holidays and hope you can make some of our socials outside of working hours in the future!

Connected

Tags

2015, Bracknell, carriers, different kinds, full buckle, help, high street carriers, information, kanga, March, mei tai, onbu, onbuhimos, rings, ringsling, sling library, slings, soft structured carrier, ssc, stretchy, woven, wrap straps, wraps

Good news- we’re adding a Connecta (full buckle carrier) to the library!

I know there’s so many different carriers out there it does get very overwhelming sometimes, so I thought I’d do a little run down of the usual types of carriers, slings and wraps that you might see with a few pictures to help too.

Stretchy wraps
Stretchy wraps area ideal for babies up to around 6 months and come in a variety of colours. They are made from a kind of t-shirt fabric and have multiple passes around the body to support the baby. They can often be pre-tied which makes it easier to get the babies in and out.

Karen showing off her stretchy

Woven wraps
Woven wraps are probably the most versatile and can be used from newborn up to toddler age (there are also many pictures on the internet of adults being carried in them to show how strong and supportive they are!). They come in different fabrics, patterns and lengths. The length denotes which carries you can do. Wrap Your Baby have a useful size chart and also talk about what different carries you can do with each size. A woven wrap can be bought for around £40 and high end wraps go for hundreds. The high end ones are often hand woven and limited edition styles which boosts up their price. You can do both front, back and hip carries with woven wraps, though some may take a little practice. The longer the wrap, the more different carries and ties you can do. With very long wraps (i.e 7&8) you can do more decorative tie offs.

The fabrics vary and different blends have different visual and structural properties. For example bamboo isn’t so supportive and not recommended for toddlers, whereas something like hemp or wool is more supportive but can be rough or stiff when brand new and require a lot of breaking in. Silk can give wraps a beautiful shimmer but some people get nervous about washing wool or silk wraps. Some need ironing of tumble drying whereas others benefit from being braided, lay on or used as hammocks to break the fibres in and make them soft.

Nicola using a size 6 for a front wrap cross carry

A shorter carrier can be used succesfully for hip carries

Full Buckle (FB) carriers/ Soft Structured Carriers (SSC)
Full buckle carriers consist of a rectangle of fabric that the baby sits into, with a waist strap that clips up and two shoulder padded straps. Some of them also have a chest strap which can help take pressure off the shoulders. These are particularly popular because there are no long tails of fabric to get tangled in or drape on the floor and get muddy so they are very practical. They tend to come in baby, toddler and pre-school size so you can upgrade the size as your baby gets bigger. They can be worn front and back which makes them versatile and comfortable.

A local Daddy with a toddler size Connecta full buckle

Mei Tai
A mei tai is similar to a ssc/fb but instead of clips to secure it, it has fabric straps which you tie. There are three kinds- standard straps, padded or wrap straps (sometimes called infinity straps), though you can also get “padded to wrap straps” which start out padded at the shoulders then spread into wider straps. The padded and wrap straps help cushion or spread the weight of a heavier baby or toddler. These usually come in baby, toddler and pre school sizes and can be either made from standard cotton fabric or can made made from the same fabric as woven wraps or converted from wraps (same with many full buckle carriers)

Standard mei tai straps

Woven wrap strap mei tai

Ring Sling
Ring slings are popular with with babies and larger toddlers because of the speed and ease of “quick up and downs”- particularly handy for toddlers that want to walk but get tired quickly. These are one shouldered carriers that go around the shoulder and the baby sits on your hip (or your chest when they are small). The fabric threads through the rings and can be tighened up to secure the baby in. These are usually made from woven fabric similar or the same as wraps, and some with “picture” print on sit on one specific shoulder or the other to get the print the right way up. They do take a little practice but can be very secure and comfy.

Newborn quite high on the chest in a ring sling

Woven ring sling (in our library!)

Those are probably most of the main style of carriers you are likely to come across but there’s a huge number of other things out there too.

Other:

-Pods
Pods are a bit like a mei tai but without a waist strap

-Bag sling/ pouch
These are similar to a ring sling but cannot be adjusted in the same way. When used correctly they can be very comfortable though you must be careful to follow the T.I.C.K.S guidelines for safe babywearing.

Safe babasling

-Highstreet Carriers
These full buckle carriers are readily available in high street shops. They often advertise three ways (on your front facing in, on your front facing out and on your back). Whilst these are very popular and help enable a lot of parents into babywearing, the baby’s position isn’t necessarily particularly comfortable for parent or child, and isn’t recommended for long periods of time as it’s not particularly ergonomic.

-Kanga
These are African carriers which are pieces of cloth that go around the waist.
-Onbuhimos (onbu)
Onbus traditional Japanese carriers that look a bit like a mei tai but with rings at the waist.

 

Hope that was actually useful- it’s all correct to the best of my knowledge but please let me know if there’s any errors or anything I’ve left out and I can correct and update. I’m still learning about all this too!

 

Let us know if there’s anything you’d like to know about in more detail and we can certainly blog about it.

Sling Meet and Library

Tags

2015, breastfeeding, buckles, close caboo, cloth bum, cloth nappies, first hire, first meet, full buckles, half buckles, hire, March, mei tai, natural parenting, photo, ring sling, size 4, size 6, size 7, sling library, sling meet, slingmeet, slings, stretchy, wrap straps, wraps

Hi all

Thanks to everyone who came along or shared our flyer about the Bracknell Sling Meet last Friday. We kept hear people talking about it, which was great news, and lots of people turned up on the day to try slings, drink tea, play with babies and meet the cloth nappy lady too!

We had about 15 people through the door on the day which was a perfect number for the 90 minutes we had in the room. We hired out our first two slings (a size 6 woven wrap and a ring sling) and got some great feedback about the afternoon.

A quick snap before everyone left

 

We currently have 9 slings for hire in our library:

Babyhawke reversible mei tai

Close Caboo Stretchy

Shire Slings Hornbeam in Autum and Elderberry. size 4 100% Cotton

Calin Bleu 100% cotton (gauze) size 7

Freedom slings padded ring sling

Diddymos standard grey/nature, size 6 100% Cotton

 

As our meets are fortnightly, please don’t turn up this week as we won’t be there! Next meeting is Friday 13th (lucky!) at the Birch Hill Community Centre.

Even if you don’t want to try or hire any new slings come along and:

• Chat to other likeminded parents
• Drink tea
• Learn more about slings
• Let your small people interact with others and play in a safe space