Let’s Get Physical – International Babywearing Week

It’s International Babywearing Week, and we’re celebrating, Olivia Newton John Style!!
So we want to see you in your work out gear. Don’t worry, you don’t need to wear lycra (unless you want to!), but legwarmers and sweat bands are a good start. There will be prizes for best dressed. And a group babywearing exercise for all to join in. There will also be competitions and a raffle, lots of awesome goodies up for grabs. Not only are there prizes for individuals, from wonderful people within our own group, and Babes In Arms, but we can win $1000 for our chosen charity, Can Do 4 Kids. 

Monday 7th of October, Bonython Park, 11am-1pm. 

BYO rug/chairs, lunch, water, children, babies, partners, or a friend who is interested in babywearing, this is a family friendly event. 

We look forward to seeing you there! 

Please be mindful and respectful of taking/posting photos of other people and their children, ask permission.
Illness: Babywearing Meets and sick kids don’t mix! With large groups involving children and the winter weather, comes the increase in the risk of either passing on or contracting common illnesses. If your child shows signs of illness (heavy green/brown snot, vomitting, diarrhoea, nasty cough, chicken pox etc) or head lice, we do need to ask that you do not attend Meets during that time. Amongst the families attending we may have people with compromised immune systems, for whom avoiding bronchitis or gastro is very important. We may also have pregnant mothers or mothers with newborns attending, and illness for either of these groups can be quite devastating.

What to expect at a baby wearing meet

So you’ve found your local sling group, asked a lot of questions & have decided to get to a meet. Great choice! If you are new to a group it is often daunting & intimidating being the new kid in class so to speak so here’s a run down of an average Adelaide Baby Wearers meet. This will apply to many of the sling groups around Australia. We are a pretty friendly & sociable bunch so don’t be afraid to come & say hi!

Meets will always be in a child friendly location for obvious reasons & kids are more than welcome. There will always be some experienced baby wearers at a meet so you can be sure that any questions you might have can be answered to the best of our knowledge. If you are new to baby wearing and want to try a new carry make sure to bring a teddy or something similar to practice with. Teddies don’t mind being dropped on the ground & they also don’t move much during the learning to carry process.

On the day one of our Admin & Planing team will demonstrate a handful of carries. Showing you how to safely execute them & sharing any little adjustments or tricks that will help make the process easier for you. These guys are also really knowledgable about troubleshooting any particular problems you have & can direct you to the best carrier or carry for your situation. There will also be plenty of carriers & wraps to look at & feel. If it is an All Areas Meet our library will also be available to borrow from. It’s a great way to try a brand or length before committing to buy.

Aside from talking all things baby wearing we have used our meets to form & strengthen friendships. Despite being such a large & varied group our common interest in babywearing has sparked many a long term friendship.

The upcoming meets are shown in the column to the right on our blog homepage as well as being listed on our Facebook group. We hope to see you soon!

Carrier Review – Liv’s Weaving Collection – Vintage Ruby

 

What an extraordinarywrap. Shimmery, smooth and lush. The shine on the cotton is unreal, unlike anything I’ve seen before in a wrap. This wrap is super soft, dense in the hand but with a lovely drape when in use. Medium thickness. I find it forgiving and solid to wrap with. The fabric is like a second skin as you wrap with it, passes slide across easily, and yet everything stays in place just how you would like. I love that there isn’t too much give, enough for an easy and tight wrap job, but not so much that a ruck gets saggy. I think Liv has found the perfect balance with this. From the pattern you could assume that Ruby is grippy, but you would be wrong, the soft fluffy cottons make her more smooth than expected, though she still maintains enough grip to hold nicely. For me this is the perfect balance. She fared well with my baby and my 2.5 year old, soft enough for a little one and strong enough for a bigger child too. Have I mentioned she’s perfect? Ruby is truly in a league of her own, nothing on the market that I have tried wraps like Ruby! A unique handwoven

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Thankyou so much Liv for letting me try Ruby. I feel incredibly lucky to have my own Liv’s Weaving Collection wrap on the way.

Review by Skye B
Weaver: Liv’s Weaving Collection
Colourway: Vintage Ruby
Size: 6
Materials: 100% handwoven cotton

Carrier Review – Weaving Waves Hemp/Cotton – Byron

Wrap Review: Weaving Waves Hemp/Cotton ‘Byron’ The weaving is flawless. I can’t emphasise this enough, absolutely impeccable. And the artistry in the design is magical. The maker has an amazing eye for colour. It truly is a work of art. Wrapping qualities. Byron is a hemp/cotton blend wrap. It has amazing mouldability with no sag. Even after an hour in a ruck my rails are still tight and the wrap job is smooth. The passes glide over each other easily in multi layered carries but there is still a nice amount of grip. I don’t think I’ve ever nailed a kangaroo carry so well as I did with Byron. I love stretch in a wrap. The first thing I did with Byron was stretch him diagonally, and he did not disappoint. The tell tale bandage-like qualities are there, with a subtle hint of hemp bounciness. I am crossing everything that I can get one of these in every size!

Carrier Review – Pollora Fairies

Pollora Fairies

I was very impressed with how soft this wrap is, and in the hand could easily have assumed it was a luxurious blend. It is one of the softest 100% cotton wraps I have ever felt.

The main point I need to make about this wrap is that it is incredibly easy to use! The passes glide into place and stay exactly where you put them. The wrap job remains rock solid, even with a toddler, and it is soft on the shoulders. It would make a fantastic wrap to introduce a new wearer to woven wraps.

Pollora fairies also has no ‘wrong’ side, because it is hemmed alternately on each rail. I actually really like this feature, I don’t need to worry about wrapping inside out, and I can keep track of my rails while I am wrapping!

My toddler adored the fairies which meant for extra snuggles with her. And my baby enjoyed many naps in the soft snuggliness of the Pollora.

Review by Skye B

Brand: Pollora

Pattern: Fairies

Colourway: Magic Fairy

Materials: 100% cotton

Length: 6

Baby wearing gets you places

DD, 18mths, and I wake today all excited About our two week holiday! Bags packed, cat cage ready, then the kitchen sink blocks up as I’m putting the breakfast dishes through! Quick dash to the supermarket for drain unclogging stuff – size 3 woven wrap comes in handy for quick ruck with a U pass- into the shops then back home. Drains unclogged we drive to the freight terminal to drop the kitty cat off in his cage, again size 3 woven wrap in a ruck for DD so I can handle cat cage, handbag and toddler into the freight building. Keeps toddler up and out of the way until we are done then back to the car.
Head over to domestic terminal, drop car off – size 3 woven wrap in a kangaroo carry tied under bum, as toddler is restless from all the up and downs and needs a breast feed on the run. She is feeding, I’ve got nappybag (backpack) on back, handbag in one hand, pulling suitcase with other hand. Checking in is a breeze – touch screen checkin done, suitcase dropped at bag drop, straight through security with DD still in kangaroo carry, though she is finished her feed now.

Surprise! We meet DN (dear niece 6yrs) as she disembarks solo from another flight to meet us. Two girls in tow, we hang out at the Qantas club kids zone, killing time 90mins) for our flight.

Time to go! DD in single rebozo with size 3 woven wrap, DN holding one hand, backpack on, handbag in other hand with boarding passes ready… On to the place we go! Sitting in our seats, I get DN sorted then get DD out of rebozo and into her little seat belt on my lap. A short flight later we reach our destination. DD goes back into single rebozo then we disembark.

Being a rural terminal, we meet our luggage on the little trailer as it comes around. I slide DD from rebozo on the front to my hip, grab the suitcase, then the cat cage. It is about 6.15pm, dark, and blowing a gale, as we wait for our lift to arrive. DN huddles next to me and wraps the long tail of the woven wrap around her and states, delightedly, gee wiz your mum must have paid good money for this awesome sling – it is keeping both of us toasty warm at the same time!
Beep beep! – our lift is here.

What a beautiful sunny day! Crystal clear water and blue skies. Freezing cold in the shade – a perfect winters morning.

After a nice warm breakfast, my mum, DN, DD and myself walk the 3km into town. DD on my back in a half buckle wrap conversion mei tai with lovely long straps so I can tie a Tibetan finish. Towards the end of the walk DD cracks it, since we are so close to our goal (the beachside playground) I swing her down to my front and she has a breast feed until we reach our destination.

After the lovely long play with DN, DD is tired so up, up, up she goes. ninety minutes later she wakes up feeling refreshed. In the meantime, with her on my back, DN, my mum, and my dad join us for lunch and another walk to grab some groceries. Then we walk home for afternoon tea! Great day out!

Has baby wearing added to a holiday experience? Feel free to share your experiences below.

Submitted our very own secret squirrel xoxo

MTBW – Rose

Babywearer – Rose

Who makes up your family? Me, Husband (Brooke), three daughters, Lilly (6), Zara (3) & Cedar (4 months)

Favourite carrier? wraps! ALL of them.

What do I love about BWing? everything about it. the practicality of getting things done, the snuggles, ease of getting out and about,and of course, the beautiful fabric 

Embarrassing fact – i can touch my nose with my tongue ;p

MTBW – Nic

This weeks round of meet the baby wearer is here. Today we feature the girl from the North, Nic!

Who makes up your family? Kane my husband, Harper (4), Corbyn (almost 1), Gumnut (little Jack Russell with a big personality) & Mace (RIP our dear crazy Kelpie) …and myself, Nic.

Favourite carrier? My first ever wrap was a Moby 4 years ago & once my babe got too heavy for that I stopped wearing him. I was so sad. Just recently, I discovered the wonderful world of wovens… heavens I’m in love!

What do I love about BWing? Knowing my babe is safe and not crying, while I tend to my other son. Free hands to play, make dinner, hang washing, clean (pfftt, who am I kidding!!!), and when back-wearing, being able to hug my big boy without squashing little one or altering the feeling of a good, proper, long hug from Mum.

Embarrassing fact – I hide in the pantry to eat Malt TV Snacks, so 4yo can’t devour them all. It’s the only chocolate/treat/sweet thing we have in the house, and I hide it from everyone! Its mine… all mine!

MTBW – Kylie

Welcome to our Monday afternoon edition of our meet the baby wearer posts 🙂

Name – Kylie Thane

Who makes up your family? Myself & Marley (2)

Favourite carrier? Wraps! Shorties in particular, GHI to be specific.

What do I love about BWing? The ability to keep my daughter close & the convenience of having two hands free.

Embarrassing fact – I love super mario so much that Marley’s first ever toy was a stuffed toy was a Yoshi, closely followed by a 1up mushroom 

MTBW – Terri

Babywearer – Terri

Who makes up your family? Me, husband – Simon, Emiliana (Mlly, 3) & Archer (3 months)

Favourite carrier? Have only tried a few, but lusting after many. My Angel Pack is very soft and comfy. Can’t wait to try wovens with baby #2.

What do I love about BWing? What’s not to love? Babies are born to be held, and this way I can hold, and get stuff done. Handy!

Embarrassing fact – When I was in high school I wanted to marry Don Burke, men with beards do it for me!