The Sling Lady

I love this story because it rings so true!  It totally reminds me of a great retort I read on the babywearer (if you’re the author, let me know and I’ll credit you!) to the common snarky comment:

Q: “Why are you carrying that child?  Can’t he walk?”   A: “He’s 15 months, I’m carrying him because he CAN walk!”

Today’s sling story is from Kristin, mom to Braden (6) and Gavin (2).

A few days ago I made a quick trip into GNC with ds in a ringsling. The owner was working and helped me find what I needed, made some small talk, etc. He asked how old ds was (he’s 2). And then said “you know, I should buy a few of those things to hand out to the moms that come in here. You made it in and out and I didn’t have to pick up vitamin bottles off the floor.” He chuckled, thanked me for wearing, and we were on our way. I LOL’d to myself the rest of the day, because I know that ds would be one of those kids that could destroy the GNC in about .05 seconds!

It’s that time of year again – the air’s getting chillier, the days are getting shorter, and kids are going back to school.  When I was little, we never started before Labor Day, but here in California, most schools start mid-August.  My son, Jack, started first grade today – -hard to believe!

So what do baby carriers have to do with starting school?  I’m not suggesting that many of you will be carrying school-aged children in baby carriers any longer.  But many of us will be walking our school-aged children to their classrooms from the parking lot (I will, especially at the beginning of the school year, until my “big” boys and girls starts begging to be dropped off at the curb) and some lucky ones will be walking your children from your home.  For those of us with younger children, that means you may be looking for a carrier that’s just right for making the trip.

My youngest Maddy, will be five in December, and she’s honestly getting too big to want or need to be carried much any more.  But until the last few months, she loved catching a last few minutes of snuggling with Mommy while we walked Jack in, before I dropped her off at preschool and headed off to my day job as a social worker for Solano County.   Our absolute favorite carrier for the morning drop-off, was the our old standby, the Kangaroo Korner Adjustable Fleece Pouch.  Mornings are cool here in Napa (even in the summer) and the fleece of the KKAFP is so cuddly and warm!   Pouches are also super easy to get on and off, which makes it perfect for our quick 20 minute trip.  Another brilliant choice: the Scootababy hip carrier.

If you’ve got a longer walk, consider the Ergo Baby Carrier, the Beco, the Pikkolo or a mei tai. These are relatively easy on/off as well, but they provide two-shouldered, comfortable support for as long a walk as you need!

Dear SlingLady,

Also, is the ability to trust the wrap (especially my knots) a learned thing or is there something active that I can be doing? I did tug on them, but still have the worry that if I’m not super-vigilant, he could fall.

Dear Nicole,

It sounds (and looks) as though you are getting the hang of it!  Wrapping definitely takes practice, and as you wrap more, you will gain confidence in both the wrap and your ability to tie it.   Given that you are just starting out, you look fantastic (and I’m not just saying that).

A few pointers:

1. In the pictures you sent, you have him in a nice, snug position (close enough to kiss his head, which is perfect).  The one thing I can recommend is that you spread the wrap across your back and shoulders more.  It looks a tad bit twisted and, over time, the twists can dig into you and become pressure points.  Spreading it out over your back and shoulders will make it more comfortable for you (especially as he gets heavier) and will also spread the fabric out more so that there is room you to tuck his head into the wrap (since you were worried about head support).

2. In order to make the wrap as snug as possible, think of the lengthwise weave as “strands.”  As you are tightening the wrap, grab one rail and tighten it, then move across the wrap “strand by strand” (i.e. grabbing the fabric and pulling the strand) until you reach the other rail.

3. Tie the wrap “ten minutes too tight” – meaning that at first it feels too snug but after 10 minutes, it should be just perfect.  Obviously, you don’t want it to be so tight that you or your baby can’t breathe, but tying it more snugly than is initially comfortable will result in the best long-term comfort.

Please let me know how it goes, and if I can answer any more questions!  And I’m happy to schedule a Skype session with you, if that would help.

Once you and your child get used to babywearing, it’s really a drag when you don’t have one, as today’s sling story illustrates.  This story comes from Susan, mom to Benny, another babywearing blogger – who also posted this on her blog, Sling Babies.

So in my most brilliant move ever, I put my wraps and mei tais (I don’t have a big stash) in the washer to get ready for an upcoming trip and then realized I had nothing to wear Benny in for shopping at Target.

No problem, he’s 16 months old. I’ll just put him in the shopping cart.

Ughhh!!! It was not a pleasant experience. Benny wasn’t too thrilled to be in the cart and I wasn’t too thrilled as I put him in. He is usually very happy to ride on my back for a long time at the store, but it wasn’t long before he started acting up and making yelling noises the likes of which he has never done before. I just had an overall icky feeling about the whole experience.

Then, the cutest thing happened when we got home. Benny found a ring sling that I hadn’t used in so long that I had actually failed to think to use it for our shopping trip. He brought it to me and wanted to be worn. He’s never done that before! So we cuddled up and nursed. I loved it.

Lately, there has been a lot of publicity around “Mommy bloggers” and the ethics of bloggers being transparent about whether they receive items for free and how this may or may not affect the genuineness of their reviews.   Here’s one article from CNN.  A lot of the debate is focusing around bloggers disclosing (or failing to disclose)  material relationships, policies and business practices, and letting readers know the difference between editorial content and advertising.

This is an especially interesting topic for me, since I started the SlingLady blog as part of an outreach campaign to introduce people to my retail site, Carry Me Away.   So obviously I’m not an objective, disinterested party.  And yet I also want my posts to be honest, interesting and relevant, and not simply advertisements for the products sold on CMA.

How to walk the line between advertising and “real” blogging?  One thing that I’ve found makes it easier is that I only products that I have used myself or that good friends have used and praised, so that I can really stand behind them.  I always research every carrier thoroughly before choosing to carry a new line.  And I’ve discontinued some lines that I haven’t found to be the most comfortable or to the best value.  Carrying products that I love and believe in certainly makes it easy to be sincere while singing their praises!

I also make an effort to mention carriers and accessories that I’ve heard about but don’t carry, especially if these carriers offer features that the lines we offer here don’t.  Some examples are the Peekaru babywearing vest and the Beco Baby Carrier.   Of course, usually when they’ve gotten my attention, I also try to add the lines to CMA!  Still, I hope that mentioning items we don’t carry shows that I’m trying to give the best advice, not just make a sale.

In some ways, this issue is probably easier for me than for bloggers who are trying to be (or at least seem) objective and disinterested.  My dual role as both The Sling Lady and owner of CMA is disclosed and extremely transparent.  Although I don’t get free products to review or get kickbacks from manufacturers when I mention their products favorably, I do profit when I sell said products.  There are probably people who choose to disregard my advice and opinions on that reason alone (or at least to look elsewhere for confirmation).   If I don’t like a product, I stop carrying it.  My income isn’t tied to whether I claim to love the ERGO infant insert or not.  If it was, I’m sure that I, too, would struggle with giving that product an honest write-up!

Remember Sassy magazine?  I was a sophomore in high school when it came out, and I still have every single issue (gathering dust in my garage).  One of my first introductions to “how life is” was hearing that Mennen pulled advertising from Sassy as punishment after the reviewers of its deodorant “Teen Spirit” gave the deodorant a great review but also opined “gag me on the name.” I remember hearing that the mag was really struggling with that loss of revenue, and I was outraged that them being honest and had such a bad result for them (in case you’re interested in the demise of Sassy, there’s an interesting article on this topic here).

For businesses trying to stay in business, it’s clear that honesty isn’t always the best policy!  And while we’d like to think that mommy bloggers are just moms who love writing, the reality is that many of them presumably are trying to make a living, too.

Obviously, things are changing in the advertising world with the advent of bloggers and the web in general (which I know isn’t news).  It will be interesting to see how all this plays out!

In the meantime, I continue to speak my mind about the products I carry, and ones that I know about (both good, like the Beco, and not-so-good, like the Serena and Lily sling). If I can’t honestly get behind a product, I don’t sell it.

As for the ERGO infant insert, I tell anyone who asks that it’s a decent product if you already own an ERGO and are looking to make it work for those first few months.  But I generally tell people who can afford a little more to skip the infant insert and get a pouch, ring sling or wrap for the newborn stage.

Check out the Babble.com article: 3 Most Common Mistakes: Babywearing.  How not to rock a Bjorn!  It’s based on my interview with the reporter.  All in all, I’m pretty happy with it, although there are a few things I would have said differently.  I always get excited when babywearing and baby carriers are featured on mainstream sites, and it’s even more exciting when I had something to do with it.

I am always intrigued by the comments people have.  One in particular cracked me up, although I’m sure the writer didn’t mean for it to.   I’m gathering my thoughts on it to write a post down the road!