Babywearing meets... and a new giveaway!

Yesterday Audrey and I went along to a babywearing meet at our local library. I run a local mums' group page on Facebook with about 2000 members, and lately there's been a bit of chatter about ergos, ring slings, and HOW DO I STRAP MY BABY ON?

Anyway, it was fun. Mostly we did FWCC (front wrap cross carry) and ring sling demos, as they're a great solution for new mums who are intimidated by ALL. THAT. FABRIC. and feel a bit scared of strapping their tiny new babe into a soft structured carrier that seems a bit industrial.

The best part? BabyMumma has given me a gorgeous Natibaby Milky Way ring sling in the Violet Dreams colorway to give to one of you lovely people. This is a 100% cotton which will soften very quickly and be lovely to use with little babies, but it's sturdy enough for your toddler as well. Click HERE to enter - you only have three days!

GIVEAWAY TIME!

GIVEAWAY! 

Recently I reviewed a range of Wrapsody wraps and now it is my great pleasure to give one away! Will you choose the ultra-stylish and multipurpose wrapDuo in black, for easy carrying convenience in and out of the water? The lovely green Freya, with her breezy dragonflies? Or Alyssa, soft and loveable like your favourite tee-shirt? Hit the link, share the love! 
http://bit.ly/14h8VNF

What can you do with a wrapsody hybrid?

Everything! I need to say right now: NEVER back carry with a stretchy wrap.
Yes, it is technically possible.
No, it is not optimal.
No, it's not really safe.

Now, here's the confusing part: Wrapsody stretch hybrids CAN be used for front, side/hip AND back carries. Why? Because they're a stretch cotton with WIDTH-ways stretch but very little LENGTH-ways stretch.  They won't 'give' the same way a true stretchy will, meaning your child can't backflip out (trusting you have a decent wrap job, of course!)

So why not just buy a woven, or just buy a regular stretchy? 

The hybrid will give you more support (and therefore can be used for longer as your child grows) and it's a little easier to know when you have it "tight enough". I don't know about you, but I find it difficult to gauge when a stretchy wrap is sufficiently tight - part of the reason I've always favoured woven wraps and ring slings. However, this is much softer than most (new) wovens and would be lovely with a new baby. It's also going to be more forgiving for a new mum who is learning to wrap, as it's gentle on the shoulders without really careful tightening. Put it on the top of your list for new mums - a baby carrier they can use comfortably and safely for at least 12 months and beyond. 

Let me state that Audrey is approximately 10kg, or 22lbs, and I easily back wrapped her and had her up in back wrap cross carry for about an hour before I felt the need to adjust my wrap job. We later FWCC'd to sleep, and I can see this being a perfect lender wrap to enable new mamas to get comfortable with wrapping at a great price point. 

Summer's here... and so is a Bali Breeze

Summer options! The last few weeks we have had some days worthy of beach walks and gasp - shorts and tank tops! Of course, this means time for lighter wraps, so out came the Wrapsody range. First up, the Bali Breeze, in Freya.

This is an amazingly supportive wrap for such a lightweight, and yes, it would make my tropical-holiday-luggage-cut.
For starters, it's not so expensive that I'd worry about sweating all over it or losing it. It dried in about an hour flat, so it's going to be fine getting smeared with sunscreen and stuffed in a beach bag. Audrey is currently around 22lbs/10kg, and we did just fine in FWCC, BWCC, and DH (front wrap cross carry, back wrap cross carry, and double hammock). I would not use it in a single-layer carry with my toddler but would happily do so with a newborn... oh HAI perfect summer newbie wrap!

Last point in it's favour - being thin, it's easily tightened and adjusted for a very sleek and well moulded wrap job. It will encourage new wrappers to spread passes evenly and tension strand by strand when wrapping instead of yanking on a whole chunk of fabric (which creates agonising digginess). Any wrap that helps you build skills to become a comfortable and safe baby wearer is a good thing :)