Sunday, February 26, 2012

March Slingmeet

We hope you all can come to Babywearing Wellington's next slingmeet
from 10 am on Friday 2 March, 2012
in the lounge at the Southern Cross
39 Abel Smith St, Te Aro, Wellington.

We have a short presentation on a particular aspect of Babywearing, following by an informal session when you can try a range of different carrier types, ask any questions you like, hire a carrier from our library or just chat with some friendly folk over a coffee.

This month's presentation is about wrap style carriers
Wrap style carriers are the jack-of-all-trades when it comes to babywearing: they distribute the weight of the baby over shoulders and back, adapt to all sizes of wearers and babies, and can be tied to accommodate wearing baby on the front, hip or back. Emma and Sarah C will talk about woven and stretchy wraps and we’ll demonstrate a few carries.

We're happy to answer any questions you may have about all aspects of babywearing and about any type of baby carrier. Please feel free to bring any questions you have with you on Friday, or contact us at any time.

As always, our carrier library will be available for browsing and borrowing.

Bring your friends!

Our meetings are open to the public, so please feel free to invite anyone you think might be interested - friends, family, other mums and dads... you don't have to have a baby to be a babywearing supporter!

Friday, February 24, 2012

NZ Babywearing Week 2011 events rundown

Better late than never, here's a write up of how Babywearing Wellington celebrated NZ Babywearing Week last October.

The week kicked off with 13 people plus babies/toddlers attending a fun babywearing cha cha class at the Dowse gallery, led by the lovely Hiria (who was 'wearing' her son in an SSC). The choreography was simple enough to pick up, and the gentle dance moves soothed some of the babies off to sleep. And dancing with a toddler strapped to your back is a pretty good workout!

Later in the week, Hester helped a few people shop for material then use the material to make their own stretchy wraps. Thanks to our regular venue, the Southern Cross Garden Bar for the use of the Guest Room for the DIY session.

Ending the week was our second ever sling walk. We decided to change the route this year to make it a bit easier to walk (ie flatter!) so registration was at Frank Kitts Park. Last year we had around 25 people attend so were expecting a similar number, maybe a bit more.

So we were pleasantly surprised to see lots and lots of people with carriers turning up to register, so many in fact that we ran out of goodie bags. All up we had around 60 adults and around 40 children attend which was a fantastic turnout! And an even bigger surprise was to discover that NZ Babywearing Week organiser Helen MacMillan and Slingbabies founder Jess Richards had flown down from Auckland for the day to attend. It was lovely to finally meet Helen and to see Jess again. 




Wellington had put on a stunning afternoon for us, and we set off along the waterfront in the sunshine, attracting lots of looks from people wandering the other way. So much babywearing en masse was obviously quite a sight!

We walked around Te Papa and then along to Courtney Place, and up Dixon St. Then a lovely stroll taking in the sights and sounds of Cuba St before we arrived at the Southern Cross - the destination for afternoon tea and the prizegiving. Thanks again to the Southern Cross for hosting us and providing some yummy food platters.



Thanks to the generosity of the NZ Babywearing Week sponsors and some local businesses, we had a great range of prizes to give away.

  • A limited edition Manduca SweetSoda valued at $255 courtesy of Wickelkinder GmbH won by Cassie
  • An aromatherapy/massage voucher valued at $60 from L’esscience won by Catherine




  • A Manduca front pouch valued at $39.95 courtesy of Wickelkinder GmbH won by Karin
  • A one year subscription to The Natural Parent Magazine valued at $32.00 courtesy of The Natural Parent Magazine won by Kathryn

  • A pair of Manduca fumbee shoulder strap protectors suitable for baby carriers, carseats and push chairs, valued at $29.95 courtesy of Wickelkinder GmbH won by Anna
  • An OURS DVD valued at $25.00 courtesy of OURS DVD
  • A bag of Rockin’ Green eco laundry detergent valued at $22.80 courtesy of Rockin’ Green NZ won by Cassie
  • A pair of Huggalugs leg & arm warmers valued at $19.95 courtesy of Huggalugs won by Holly
  • A Tummy2Tummy Babywearing Instructional DVD valued at $19.95 courtesy of My Natural Baby Ltd won by Louise

  • 7 copies of the latest issue of The Natural Parent Magazine valued at $9.90 each courtesy of The Natural Parent Magazine 



We hope that all the winners enjoyed their prizes!

At the end of the prizegiving, the committee got a prize of our own - a new Storchenwiege Albert woven wrap kindly donated from Helen (who also runs My Natural Baby). This brightly coloured wrap is a fantastic addition to our carrier library and is available to hire at our slingmeets. It was a lovely way to end a great afternoon.


Thank you to everyone who attended for supporting us and helping to make the afternoon such a success. We're all looking forward to this year's one now!





Thursday, February 16, 2012

Heart to Heart Stretchy Wrap Available in Our Library

The Heart to Heart wrap is one of the stretchy wrap carriers available to hire from the Babywearing Wellington library. The team at Heart to Heart generously donated this gorgeous wrap to the library last year. Check them out at www.babywrap.co.nz

I have one of these wraps myself, which was perfect for my little lass when she was a newborn. Being cotton, it was very easy to take care of. I just threw it in the wash after one of the many messy incidents involving a number two.

The features that I really like about the Heart to Heart wrap is that it is extra wide, allowing plenty of space for those larger or taller babies such as my bonnie wee lassie. It is truly 'one size fits all': wide, long, with tapered ends, which makes it easy to tie.

Heart to Heart wraps are made from 100% quality cotton milled in NZ (no imported fabric). I love made in NZ!

The advantage of being a stretchy wrap means you can put your baby in and out without taking it off or re-tying. I also found it rather supportive of the baby's weight, especially if you get a nice snug tie and tighten it up rail by rail (come to our March slingmeet on Friday the 3rd and I'll show you how - more details about the next slingmeet to follow shortly).

The Heart to Heart wrap comes with a pocket sized instructions, which is a useful thing to throw in the nappy bag and have on hand.

These lovely wraps are available in a gorgeous moss green, beautiful blue, white or black. The one in our library is blue.

This photo is one of my earliest outings with in the my wee lassie in the Heart to Heart (at just 8 days old). Fond memories of those newborn days!