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Sunday, January 19, 2014

Everything But The....

The wraps that is! I'm going to share my stash with you today including everything but the wraps :-) And just sharing pictures wouldn't be much fun so I will also explain to you why I like having these things in my stash! So lets start and I'm going to give you notes along the way to help you understand the lingo!

The Ring Slings

No my baby but why wouldn't you want to cuddle with this cutie!
I currently have three ring slings in my stash soon to be four. Why so many you may ask. Because I can! The first ring sling (rs) I owned and probably won't ever leave is still one of my most favorite patterns and is technically a wrap. It's a sleeping baby production (sbp) ring sling made out of Kokadi Erna im Wunderland. Now a little insight into wraps. Kokadi is the brand just like Gap is a brand and EThrna is the color way and im Wunderland is the pattern. Hope that helps to break it all down! I love Erna. She was my first wrap really and helped me snuggle my Hannah for hours on end easily. She, yes she, also helps me teach newbies how to use a RS and it's super soft. I bought her off a local mama who had the other half but has since sold it so we are no longer twinsies. I won't lie either, I was so excited after picking her up that she sat on my lap all the way home and I kept petting her. 

I also have a linen/cotton RS that I made from material I bought from fabric.com. It's really important if you
are thinking about making your own that you know what type of material is safe to use including the weight of the material, rings, thread etc. I don't sell RS because there is a huge liability attached so please don't ask because I will send you to Jan over at sbp. I made this RS because I like making things and linen is breathable and supportive for the heat and bigger babies. It's also a good go to RS when I don't want to have to worry about getting it dirty or anything. It's also my loaner so when people are interested I can let them borrow it to try it out! If you are interested in making your own visit Jan over at SBP by visiting this link here: http://www.sleepingbaby.net/jan/Baby/sling.html

Last but not least is my water rs. I actually had one made of mesh that I made and quite frankly it was horrible! It had way too much stretch and I don't recommend making one of your own. Luckily a local mom had a professionally made water sling that she was selling at a super great price and I jumped on it. These are AWESOME for the pool and for taking a shower with your little one because in water they get so slippery! 

I also have a table cloth that is awaiting conversion in my sewing closet. I paid $5 for a tablecloth at target that is all cotton and got a short wrap and a ring sling out of it. Not too bad for $5! Who says that babywearing has to be expensive. Plus I get to experiment with a different type of shoulder area to see if I like something else better than what I already have. It just add a little cheap variety.   

The Pouch

I only have one of these and I don't use it super often. I actually bought mine at a garage sale for $10 and I was lucky enough to found the perfect size because this can be hard. The one I have is reversible and doesn't fit us now that Hannah is bigger because it's not adjustable. It's an awesome carrier though for under 1 when you are looking for something cheap and easy to pop baby into and out of. I just kept mine in the car so if we forgot to bring our intended carrier we had something to fall back on. Plus it fits into the diaper bag without taking up too much room so it's awesome.
Note: I do not recommend ding a back carry with a pouch.
It is a very advanced carry and works in a pinch. I am doing one
here in preparation of taking my babywearing educator test :-)

Mei Tai's

We have two mei tai's total. One for me and one for the hubby. Our first mei tai was purchased from AnnaCarrieBaby on etsy. We bought from her because she had great reviews and was super affordable. Also, she carried this fun comic book material and I was trying hard to get hubby into babywearing at that point. This carrier will also probably never leave although we don't use it that much. She was really easy to work with too. With that said, now that I know more about babywearing the material she used is pretty stiff and thick which in hindsight is why we couldn't ever get it to mold to us when Hannah was little. Because of the thickness though it's been pretty awesome to use as she gets bigger. 

The other one is a Freehand mei tai (freehand is just the brand). I bought it from Frogmama who is an online retailer when she was doing her end of year clearance sale and you could make offers on carriers!! So I made an offer that I will admit was pretty low but I always say, the worst they can do is tell you no. Needless to say I probably wouldn't have bought another mei tai but since I got such a great deal I went for it and am SO glad I did. The one I got is reversible so it's floral on one side and plain on the other and it's so soft and floppy. It's too small for Hannah now but was really great from about 4 months through I would say 9 or 10 months for us. Hannah is tall to she has outgrown things quickly. You could definitely use it past that point but I have so many options I like to use what fits her best in the moment. This was my go to for when we were flying because there is no metal on it and I could easily nurse in it or do a back carry without too much fuss. It has served us very well and will stick around.
Back picture but sleeping baby win!
I will note that the great thing about all of the above carriers is that you can easily avoid the dreaded carrier muffin top. It's a win win for all. Plus, especially for the mei tai we can easily switch between users without lots of adjustments because of the way it's made. 

Buckles or Soft Structured Carriers (SSC's)

I don't care what you call them but we love ours. We currently have two, one for me and one for my husband. I currently have a Tula as my SSC. Tula is again just a brand of this type of carrier. I LOVE my
Tula but not everyone feels the love for them and that's totally ok. I got mine for an amazing price on an after Christmas sale from one of my favorite retailers, Heavenly Hold. I super love them because they are really easy to work with, communicate really fast AND offer layaway which makes affording your favorite carrier do-able on pretty much any budget as long as you are willing to save and pay as you go. Needless to say I have  bought more than once from them and have my eye on something else even though we are on a tight budget. I chose to go with a standard size tula which is comparable to the size of other well known carriers like the boba, beco and ergo. It is really too small for Hannah right now but I bought with the intention of really using with the new baby once they get here! I also did a review/comparison video if you are interested you can find it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NghBZJhuASs
The other buckle carrier we own is a Kinderpack. Again, kinderpack has been awesome to work with and I'm always happy to promote other businesses when I have had good experiences with them. My husband actually chose this carrier when we were looking at a toddler carrier. It was between this and a tula and he chose the kinderpack because he liked the prints available at the time better and we really liked the option of having a mesh panel so that it can breathe better in the hot summer here in Texas. Since we have purchased that carrier, Will almost always wears Hannah when we are out and about as you have witnessed in this series! He loves his carrier. It's one of the very few we have bought at full retail and new and I wouldn't change a thing. It fits us both great and will last us well into toddlerhood as long as Hannah wants to be carried!

What Have We Been Up To?

Well, you know the drill by now. Not a whole lot of babywearing the past few days outside of going to the store for a random item or two. This is one of the hard parts of living so close to stores, you are always there!!! I will say that my back has been hurting a lot the past few days so I probably shouldn't be doing too much babywearing but sometimes I can't help myself. 
On Friday I finally chopped into one of my tablecloths and made a short DIY wrap that cost me less than $5. I will talk more about it tomorrow I promise. Hannah and I took it for a spin on our walk with the dogs around the neighborhood and it's pretty stiff so we need to beat it up some.

Yesterday I did some more sewing and need to get back in the game working on items for my itty bitty business! Outside of sewing yesterday though Hannah and I went and played at the park in the morning and took the dogs for a walk in the afternoon. I also took the opportunity to try out the carry of the week in our babywearing group since I get to pick which carry we are going to try out that week. It's fun to learn new things, especially when you get to involved your kids!
This is Jordan's Back Carry (JBC) in a size 7 
And in a size 4!

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About Me

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My husband, William and I moved to Austin in July of 2008. We own two chihuahuas and a sickly cat that will never die. We are proud homeowners in a very stepwives looking neighborhood and are friendly with almost all the neighbors (the ones we like at least). We have been blessed with one beautiful baby girl and have another baby on the way of yet to be determined gender.