Unido pouch slings available from our library

It's high time we did a write up on one of our earliest library donations - two beautiful, 100% NZ made pouch slings from Sarah at Unido.

Our two Unido pouches - S on left, M on right

Like all pouch slings, Unido slings are great for quick and easy babywearing and fold up nice and small when you're not using them. They can be used for front, back and hip carries. What sets Unido apart, though, is the fact that their pouches are fully customisable. You can buy them direct from stockists around NZ but if you want one that is exactly tailored to your body size, all you need to do is go to their website, put in your diagonal shoulder to hip measurement, choose your coordinating fabrics and place your order. There's an extensive range of fashionable printed cotton fabric to choose from for the outside, and the solid coloured fabric on the inside is a diagonal weave for added strength and durability. Unido slings are fully reversible as well, so you can wear them with the print on the inside for a different look. Another nice touch is that you can order a matching mini pouch for your child to wear their 'baby' in as well. Unido also provide a comprehensive illustrated guide to using their slings.

Please check out Unido's blog or their Facebook page.

The Unido pouches in our library are a small (fits size 10-12 or 59-63cm) and a medium (fits size 12-14 or 63-68cm). We'd love you to come and try them out at one of our slingmeets and they're also available to hire at any time by contacting our librarian.

Thanks again, Sarah!

Natures Sway carriers now available from our library

The team at Natures Sway have kindly donated three carriers to our library. Natures Sway (NS) have recently added to their range - in addition to the NS sling which you probably already know about, they now also make a soft structured carrier (NS Pouch Pack) and a stretchy wrap (NS Carry Wrap).

Here's some information on each of the carriers:

NS sling


The NS sling is available in either 100% cotton or an organic blend of 55% hemp/45% cotton (which we have in the library). The design of the organic sling has been updated to make it easier to adjust and more comfortable for both you and your baby, especially in the hip carry position. The sling is designed to be used from birth till around 2 years old. The slings are easy to adjust between different wearers as they do up with an adjustable buckle, and they are also great for breastfeeding in, as shown below.

NS slings now come with a yellow safety loop which goes around the buckle for added safety. Also, in terms of safety, rest assured that the NS is not a 'bag sling' however it's very important that you place your baby in the sling correctly following the NS instructions. Your baby needs to be lying diagonally along the line of stitching (which indicates the placement of your baby's head and spine). Here's a video from NS showing exactly how to do this:

For more information on NS sling safety, see here.

NS Pouch Pack

The NS Pouch Pack is a soft structured carrier so is more comfortable for extended periods of wearing and can be used from birth to around 3 years of age. It can be used as a front or back carrier, as well as on your hip if desired. Like the organic NS sling, the main fabric of the body is 55% hemp and 45% organic cotton, with a front panel available in several different patterns (we have a fabric sample book available for you to look through). The front panel has a zip to extend the height as your child gets older. The wide shoulder pads are padded with wool for comfort on your shoulders, although, like all SSCs, the waist strap means the weight is largely distributed to your hips. There is also some padding around the the bit where your baby's legs go for added comfort. It's easy to use, and folds up relatively small to put in your bag if necessary.

NS Carry Wrap

The NS Carry Wrap is a stretchy wrap with a woven panel. The woven panel adds extra support around your baby's spine and helps prevent sagging, while the 100% organic cotton knit on the rest of the wrap is comfortable for your shoulders and back. The woven panel (available in the same range of patterns as the panel on the Pouch Pack) also means it's easy to find the centre of the wrap and tie it correctly. The wrap has a built in storage pocket so it's easy to fold up and put in your nappy bag. 

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NS have a great comparison chart available on their website comparing the features of each of these carriers to help you work out which one is right for you. If you'd like to check out any of these carriers, they'll be available to try and/or hire at our slingmeets or you can email our librarian anytime. 

Thanks again to Natures Sway for making these available to us!

Nurnurz Pouch Slings - new to our library

Babywearing Wellington has recently received two Nurnurz pouch slings for our library, thanks to Carissa from Nurnurz Slings.

One of our members, Stefanie, just bought one of these for herself and has kindly written a review for us. Here it is:

"My daughter has just turned 5 months old and as much as I’ve loved popping her in the Moby wrap we’ve been using since birth, I was encountering some convenience issues with it and wanted to find something more handy and easy to pop on.

I live in Wellington and as everybody knows, the weather can be a little challenging sometimes. Battling with my Moby, the wind and the puddles between the car and the pavement, it was not convenient for me when I wanted to just ‘pop in’ to the bank because I happened to be passing it in my car. I found myself just grabbing her and popping her on my hip to run in and out of shops. My chiropractor had words with me about that, much more thoughtfulness was required. Let alone the moments when I have her in my hand and am juggling my credit cards, phone, car key in the other, while trying to pay for something. Having only really known about the Moby since her birth, I decided to investigate other quicker options and found myself on the Nurnurz Nuture Slings website.

Ahah! Here was a double thickness 100% cotton fully reversible, and quite pretty, pouch. Made to measure the wearer exactly (meaning unfortunately my partner can’t have a go), it rolls up quite neatly into my handbag for those dash and go moments. My first port of call was Babywearing Wellington, to see if they had any in their library to hire (which they didn’t at the time but now stock two), but as I’m a little impatient I just went ahead and ordered one off Trade Me.

The moment it arrived it changed my life! My little one likes to look out at the world whether we’re walking down the street or hanging up the washing, and this was becoming a little difficult with the larger wrap that I have.

I keep it in my handbag because it is just so convenient. Simply fold it in half, pop it over the arm babe needs to be sat on, making sure her spine will sit in the seam exactly, it weighs near to nothing and fits over my jumpers and under my raincoat. To use, just pop baby over the shoulder, her legs either side of your hip, bum into the deepest part of the pouch, hitch up her knees, pull the pouch up her back to her neck (arms in or out) et voila! In addition, pull over the loose fabric over the ‘holding’ shoulder to reveal the beautiful fabric design underneath, to cap on the shoulder and produce a lovely balance of the weight. One happy, secure, looking out at the world baby, and one happy, straight-spined mum with two free hands.

The thick cotton ensures that she’s really secure and I feel very confident in just letting her be, she does like to put her hands in her lap and just sit there. Because of the unique vantage point she calms right down if she’s been in a little strop, and we have great fun stopping to look at things that have caught her eye, be it a tree, flowers, a poster, and I get to see exactly what she is looking at alongside her.

So I’ve found all sorts of big uses for this little piece of fabric:

· Popping to the neighbours or dashing in and out of the car to and from shops

· Supermarket shopping (if you’re prepared to be stopped at every aisle to be told how gorgeous your baby is)

· Midnight wind/walking around sessions take the weight off my arms

And my personal favourites, having her:

· Breastfeed

· Sleeping

My little one has had a cold for the last few days, feeling very sorry for herself, and she wants to be upright all the time to drain her nose and near mum for hugs and cuddles as much as possible too. We attended a workshop for two and a half hours on Sunday, space was tight and after a little wriggle, I popped her in the pouch to feed her (very simply, lift up the rear leg, lean forward, shuffle the wrap around, place baby’s mouth on the boob and there you go), then as usual she fed herself to sleep, so a quick shuffle up and back, her head nuzzled into my shoulder and mum was able to do the figure-8-hip-dance-rock to keep her asleep (for an hour), and I didn’t feel it a strain to hold her that long at all.

I am a bit forlorn that I didn’t buy one earlier in little one’s life, as I would so have used it from newborn had I known about it, especially seeing as she was born in summer and the layers of Moby were super heated in the sun. I’m also looking forward to deviating from my favourite ‘hip carry’ position to the other uses; cradle, front, back and kangaroo. And as I’m going to get use out of this until for at least 2 years, it is a great investment and fantastic value for money.

The fabric is beautiful and the make is really high quality, so my impatience paid off. I’m considering buying another now, just a different colour/design for when one is in the wash, or it doesn’t match her outfit, and I’m waiting for the swim edition to come out so I can hold her in the pool when we go.

As for juggling my keys, credit card and phone, never again. There’s the best little pocket right by her back, and the lovely people at Nurnurz said ‘not for mobile phones please, we don’t want those so close to a baby’, so now I just leave that in the car. Who needs their phone when they have the world to explore through their babies eyes?"

Thanks for the great review Stefanie!

Babywearing Wellington has a medium sling (fits 62-64cm) and a large (fits 65-67cm) available to hire. Please contact our librarian or ask at our slingmeets if you're interested.

Popit wrap - new to our carrier library!

Amy from Popit Wrap www.popit.co.nz has generously donated one of her stretchy wraps in aqua/black to our carrier library. So we thought it would be a good opportunity to review it.

Popit Wraps are 100% NZ designed and made. They're made from 100% light weight cotton knit which only has width wise stretch for more support and safety. They're machine washable and dryable - a big plus with babies, especially newborns! They also come with an instruction DVD (included with your hire) showing different tying methods.

They're the first stretchy wrap I've seen with two sides - colour on one side, black on the other. I really like this, as you can change it to suit your mood. When you have the black side facing out, the colour peeks through at the edges which looks cool. It's also a good way of making sure the wrap hasn't twisted as you're tying it.

Believe it or not, this was the first stretchy I have tried and I was pleasantly surprised when I put Audrey (15 months and around 10 kg) in it. It was comfortable, supportive and not nearly as 'stretchy' as I'd thought stretchy wraps were. Sarah C had one when Holly was born and enjoyed using it with a newborn. The fact it came with instructions on DVD was a big plus, and she liked how many different colourways they come in.

The instruction DVD has well paced video instructions with a voiceover explaining the different steps. I think it would be easy to follow for a beginner wrapper. The DVD contains instructions for 6 different carries, including front carries, a hip carry and a back carry. Because the Popit Wrap only has 2-way stretch it is theoretically safer for back carries, however it is not overly wide (compared to a woven wrap) which means you would need to wrap very carefully to ensure a safe carry. I would recommend only trying this if you are an experienced wrapper and don't have a child who likes leaning back.

The Popit Wrap is available to hire from Babywearing Wellington's carrier library. If you're interested, please let us know at the next slingmeet or by emailing babywearingwellington@gmail.com.

Amy would appreciate any of your feedback once you have tried it out too.

Thanks again, Amy!