Babywearing with Sling Studio

Back when I was a clueless, pregnant 25 year old (still pretty clueless) I bought a baby carrier from a high street store. It was in the sale and wasn't particularly nice to look at but that's not what it was for and anyway, everybody would be too busy admiring my beautiful baby to notice the fugly carrier. Fast forward to Lil being born and she was not a fan of fugly carrier. She wanted to be close to me AT ALL TIMES, she'd made that very clear, just not in a bloody carrier. It's safe to say pretty much nothing got done during that phase.

This time, I've been doing lots of research on slings and baby carriers and had an idea at which one I was going to buy but then I came across Sling Studio, thanks to The Calm Birth School. They were holding a giveaway and after looking at all their lovely slings and carriers, I entered. And hurrah, I won!

I'd never heard of these guys before so did some digging. Sling Studio was started up by Alicia back in 2012...

"I started the Sling Studio in 2012, inspired by my own experience of carrying my daughter Mariel in a sling and my love for textiles and British manufacturing.

Like many new mums, I found the early days of motherhood both joyful and overwhelming. When a friend showed me how to wear my beautiful new baby in a sling, I found that I could keep her snuggled close, but regain the physical freedom to carry on doing the things I loved.Ever since then, slings have played an essential part in my parenting.

Having spent my childhood in Yorkshire I was, from a young age, aware of our country’s wonderful mills and heritage in producing the finest textiles. The decline in the British textile industry caused me to believe passionately in ‘made in Britain’, and that is why I took the decision that all of Sling Studio’s products should be manufactured in the United Kingdom. In fact, the vast majority of the yarn used in our baby carriers is produced, spun and dyed in the British Isles.

My dream is that the Sling Studio’s beautiful baby carriers will play their own part in the revival of the British textile industry, whilst introducing more parents to the joy of ‘hands free hugs’."

The Connecta Carrier

I'm not the most patient person in the world and wondered how difficult it would be to put the carrier on. Surprisingly, it was super easy. I used one of Lil's dolls to test it out and it took no time at all to strap the weird, plastic thing onto me (the doll not the carrier). And the carrier is SO comfortable! The fabric is not only beautiful but very soft and I'm super excited to use this come Autumn (the falling feathers print is just perfect for my favourite season).

Not a great picture, just look at the fabric though!

I mean, I need to practise putting it on and making it look neater but you kind of get the gist. 

But why baby wear? I cam across a great article here about the impact of babywearing on postnatal mental health. We are all at risk of developing a mental illness after birth (last year the Royal College of Midwives reported that nearly 60% of mothers felt down or depressed after giving birth). Babywearing has been cited (by mothers, no less) as having an impact on their mental health. Read the article, it's brilliant. You can also read about this from the health providers point of view here.

You can find an overview of information on babywearing here.

If you're looking for a baby carrier but don't know where to start, you can check out Sling Studio on Facebook and the lovely Alicia will be more than happy to give you some advice. Thanks Sling Studio for making baby wearing so much more comfortable and easier!