The joys of sling

In 2009 and 2010 I was lucky enough to be a tester for the Mother and Baby Awards, courtesy of Jessica Milln. The first time, I tested toiletries, promoted to slings the next time. The main point of what I'm writing is to say how much of a difference testing the slings made to me and my husband. In particular, finding the babysense sling.

I started out with a babasling when Abbie was a newborn. Mostly because it was there and  was too tired to research sling options, I was just desperate for some hands-free time while she slept, snuggled, and my co-learning new Mum friends said it helped them. However, I didn't really get on with the thing, found the buckle annoying and difficult to use. This also made me feel unsafe when holding Abigail in it. So it went in a cupboard somewhere and was forgotten about.

When I started testing, Abbie was about 14 months old. I had 3 slings and a back carrier to test, but I'm going to focus on the main sling which won our hearts and minds... the babysense sling.

Sling when you're winning

After about 5 mins preparation (you have to make sure it is on your shoulder right so no neck strain, see this video) I, and then my husband, very quickly clicked into using the sling all the time. It is my preferred mode of transport for her to the buggy. She was at my eye level, instead of nowhere to be seen (just in front of me staring out from a buggy down at ground level), so we could share moments together - looking out at the countryside as we went for walks, cheeky smiles (this is us in the snow before Christmas).

In addition, and something that significantly boosted my support for the value of slings and baby wearing, it was a special time to replace the cuddles that were going, having recently weaned her - a harder thing to do than I thought, as it wasn't just the practical aspect of ensuring she was able to swap to drinking enough cows milk, but the warmth and comfort of being in my arms as she fed since the day she was born was taken away as she was weaned. I know the ability to spend time together out for walks with the sling helped enormously with the change-over.

My husband never went through that (obviously), but he also was a convert to the value of slings. For example, the photo is taken from our holiday to Carcassonne, medieval city, cobbled streets. It would have been a nightmare pushing Abbie around on a buggy, would have shaken and rattled her all the way around; there were also restrictions on access for buggys (where as we just went straight in), same also for nipping in and out of shops, around slow-tourist people. Things were definitely simpler with the sling. Abigail again, got to see a whole lot more of Carcassonne, over the city walls etc. from the higher view point of Daddy's shoulder.

B still uses the sling now - its still the simpler option. I also think for Dads, who worry about missing out on time with their baby, because the Mum's doing all the feeding/cuddles, time with the baby in the sling is a nice alternative for them to have bonding time together. It also is helpful if it settles them, allows free time for Mum etc.!

An extra bonus to the sling is that my daughter is high up, close to me - this is reassurring when you're walking through dodgy parts of town. No, no-one would choose to do that, but sometimes you have to. I walk from The Forest park and ride, Nottingham, to nursery and on to work at the moment. The Forest has a park between it and the route into town. Unfortunately, you get less-friendly, or at least intimidating types, e.g., drunks, gangs of lads with or without their dog weapons (pitbulls, staffys, rottweilers etc). Sometimes they're on a lead, but not much (I'm talking about the dogs). The buggy is harder to navigate quickly out of the way, and leaves Abigail lower down (at dog eye level), the sling is much more convenient for getting out of the way when not feeling safe.

The only problem with slings at the moment is that most are accessible online only, so you can't really get a feel for which you prefer (the limited range is mostly baby-carriers in places like Mothercare). The prices for slings can range from £30 - £100 as well, and the less we see of slings in shops, the less accessible they may appear. The babysense one is about £35, babycarriers cost about the same, but have about a million clips and buckles to deal with - too much effort with those things!