Competition: Rockin' Baby Slings and Pouches

 My children are growing and growing and here I am, being offered to review not one, no, two slings. I quickly did a weight check and tick, my smaller than average almost 4 year old (what????) is still within the range. The range of being carried in a sling. Would you believe it.

So we had a bit of fun tonight, for the first time ever I tried out a ring sling. It worked although I'm not sure I want to be carrying 15 kg worth of child any length of time even with the prettiest of ring slings. And neither does she, it was fun for 10 minutes and that was that.

It made me look back though at her baby days, when slinging her was a daily occurrence, it was the quickest and most convenient way of getting about, esp. with a preschooler in tow. I didn't carry Cubling half as much (she didn't like it, not that she liked the pram either but forward facing, the devil of all baby transport modes, was her clear favourite and who am I to argue), but Snowflake ... it was just practical, cuddly, warm and all good.

I'm also rather partial to nice fabrics and if sling manufacturers are good at something, it's definitely choosing fab fabrics.

Which brings me to the slings currently in my box. The Rockin' Baby slings and pouches look a bit different to anything I've used so far, so I was curious. They are handmade in the US and reversible and they are now entering the UK market through a deal with Mothercare who will be stocking them.

The company also has a charitable initiative going, with a strong partnership with mothers in Haiti, a country still very much suffering from the consequences of the earthquake. Every Rockin' Baby sling bought will mean a free sling for a mum in Haiti, to make everyday life a little bit easier, while reducing high infant mortality rates through kangaroo care.

The ring sling is one size with 4 different ways of positioning baby, while the pouches come in different sizes. They also allow 4 different ways of positioning baby, so there's not really much in the two, it's a matter of preference. There's quite a range of fabric prints, all really pretty. Yes, you've guessed it, I wish I had a baby to carry in one of them!

I won't need slings anymore (sob) so one lucky will have the chance to win either the sling or the pouch (size S-M which should fit most mums, you can check on the Rockin Baby website) - your choice, while the second one will be donated to the local sling library. Both sling and pouch are as pictured here with the bold black and white print which is definitely one of my favourites.

To enter the competition to win either the sling or the pouch, please leave a comment below. UK entries only (I'm paying postage myself, and can't really afford to send overseas unless you want chip in the postage through paypal, in which case I'm happy to accept non-UK entries). For an extra entry, share this post on twitter, adding @cartside, so I can see it. You can also share on facebook for an extra entry, please tag @NatureKidsGlasgow.

Of course feel free to follow Rockin' Babies on Facebook. If you don't win, Rockin Baby slings and pouches are available from Mothercare.

Competition closes midnight 31st August 2014. Draw will be by random number generator. Good luck!!!

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Disclosure: I received a pouch and a sling to review, one of which will be given to the lucky competition winner and the other one will be given to the Glasgow sling library.
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3rd Sept: I finally managed to draw the lucky winner, by random number generator. There were 39 entries and I counted them as well as I could chronologically. The random number 18 came up which on my list is Lorna Templeton. Congratulations! The other sling will go to the Glasgow sling library, so people can try it out at sling meets across Glasgow.

Chickened out

Well, I chickened out. Last week, I didn't take the girls outdoors on Thursday, even though our destination was just around the corner. There was gale force wind, hail storms, more than saturated ground.

Cubling would have been fine, she has all the gear.

I have not. Let's face it, I'm one of those adults who never learn. I have waterproofs, but they are a) a size or two too small (after 2 babies and little exercise and many cakes in between) and b) even if they weren't, they won't fit over a sling with baby in it. And a pram doesn't go so well in the great outdoors (plus I can't find the adaptors to fit pram onto the carriage anyway - it's been 31/2 years and one house move... so pram is definitely entirely out of use at present).

Worry not, I've got the solution and my eye on a coat that will keep both Snowflake and myself dry and warm when be-slinged. I'm still hoping for a slightly less extreme weather forecast for this Thursday as I won't have this magic piece of garment just yet.

And, let's face it, we spent two days indoors and ended up shouting rather a lot at each other. I lost my cool a few times and didn't like it one bit, and neither did Cubling. The beauty of the outdoors is that kids find stuff to play, they see, talk, comment, play, explore, splash, run, dig, draw, laugh, stop, observe. All by themselves. Indoors, while I'm dealing with baba, Cubling gets bored and demands attention, attention I can't give her all the time. Organising craft activities while also looking after Snowflake - I'm still working on it, but not quite there yet.

You see, going outside is actually making parenting two easy.

:: this post is part of Outdoor Challenge Monday, which is hosted by 5 Orange Potatoes. If you would like to participate, just head over::

What do you think? This one, or this one or that one?

How many wraps, slings and carriers can the expectant mum choose from? It's a hard call, even if like me you have tried a good few in the past. Having had the experience of a baby who clearly resented her pram and who was rather partial to being carried (and still is), I was often seen pushing an empty pram while carrying Cubling in her front carrier. In Germany these are only recommended from 6 weeks of age, and while here nobody seems concerned about using them from birth, I was still cautious and tried a wrap with cradle position in the first weeks. The wrap was short, and really it was the only position I could create. Cubling didn't like it, and neither did I.

However, the front carrier worked well - she liked it, never cried, she slept in it, I managed to get to town by public transport and with minimum hassle. It worked so well that I really wondered why I had bought a pram at all (from 12 weeks, Cubling was in her buggy, facing forward, much to my dismay, as I would have preferred to have had eye contact with her).

The only problem with the front carrier was that it did hurt my shoulders and back. And it only lasted until she was about 9 months and got too heavy.

This time, I plan to babywear from the word go, rather than bother with the pram in the first weeks. And I'm looking for the perfect baby carrier. I quickly found out that stretchy wraps are good for newborns but not so good for a heavier toddler, while woven ones last longer but may not be as snug as the stretchy ones. Knowing how I struggled to even get a simple position wrapped around my baby, my main worry is that it would take too long, baby would get fed up before we're even ready to go, I'll get frustrated with it and there's a danger I won't try again. Still, I like the versatility of wraps. Maybe I like the idea but not the practice of it? What I do know is that a short one won't do me, and I failed using one I had before.

Some makes come recommended: There's Didymos, Ellevill Zara (with very lovely designs), Calin Bleu, there's Ellaroo too, to name but a few. As with cloth nappies, the choice is massive and it can be more than confusing when you don't want to buy an expensive item that you then won't use.

For a rather long time, a sewing pattern for a mei tai has been sitting in my pattern box. I like the look of the mei tai, but don't trust myself to sew one that would actually be safe enough for a baby. In a way I also feel that the mei tai is basically the same thing as the front carrier I already have, just a bit nicer.

I'm intrigued though with the idea of having a crossover between a wrap and a mei tai and when PhD in Parenting reviewed it a couple of days ago, my mouth began to water. I love everything about the Hop-Tye, the combination of mei tai ease with the wrap like distribution of weight across your body. Oh and the designs. I love the designs, if it comes to fabric, it has to please my eye.

I've also come across so called sling meets. Basically they offer an opportunity for past, current and future babywearers to come together and exchange experiences, and even try out some of the carriers. I just wish I hadn't missed the last one by a week, but I'm glad Glasgow has a sling meet and it's still in good time before my due date (although I'm partial to getting a carrier that would double for getting Cubling off my shoulders NOW).

I haven't quite made my mind up yet, but I guess you can see where I'm heading. So if you have any experience or recommendations to share, I'd be grateful, and maybe so would others who are confused by choice and lack of experience of actually using a range of baby carriers.