Lending Library Carrier Spotlight - Meh Dai

Lending Library Carrier Spotlight

Meh Dai - Infantino

Hi everyone! Here is a post highlighting one of the styles we have in our lending library!

The Meh Dai! This is focusing on the Infantino version also called a Wrap and Tie!
It is an Asian style carrier with a panel and 4 straps to tie (2 around your waist and then the other 2 go over your shoulders).

Here are some of the reasons why we like this carrier and, in turn, have some in the lending library for checkout :

Quicker to put on than a wrap but still have baby against you in a similar way.

You can roll it to adjust the size if need be. Several caregivers have been able to shorten the panel if their smaller babies prefer the legs out option!

Babies can easily have their arms out or tucked.

You can front carry, side carry, and back carry! Most caregivers seem to prefer front or back carrying with this style. 

It does not seem to take up much room in a diaper bag!

Easy to purchase in big box stores and online! 

 Fairly inexpensive this caregiver sees them around the $35 mark and if you can get it during a sale or on clearance it gets even better! ;) 

-Hannah

Wrapping Challenge- Day 1

It's day 1 of the wrapping challenge!!

Today is a Front Wrap Cross Carry (FWCC ).
https://youtu.be/h0wQRPyQU1c

It seems pretty simple. The video explains it better but I'm gonna give it a go here.

You start with your middle marker in the middle of your body. You wrap it around yourself and bring the ends up above your shoulders. Then you create your pouch area  for baby. Put baby in and make a seat! The visual I use is to have the edge of fabric (also called a rail) in line with the top of baby's diaper! Then you take one end of the wrap and go from one rail to the other tightening the wrap. Then you tighten using the other tail! You want baby snug and there to be no gaps or bulges of the wrap. Then you take both tails and cross them over the other under baby's bum. Bring them around to your back and tie in a double knot. Ta- Da!

We used the size 6 Ethos Cascade Coral from the lending library! Super comfy and such a pretty color! If you want to check it out and try a front wrap cross carry yourself and are in Weber or Davis county Utah let us know! http://babywearinginweberdavisco.blogspot.com/p/carrier-library.html?m=1

Post a picture of you and a little doing a front wrap cross carry below if you want and I'm excited for tomorrow's challenge!

Sorry for the lack of pictures but I'm doing it on my phone - my husband took the computer the one day I was gonna use it haha.

-Hannah and Lewis

Who Doesn't Like A Good Challenge

Who doesn't like a good challenge? I think everyone likes a good challenge once in a while!

The challenge in front of me, and I hope you too, is going to be a fun one! Learning a new wrap everyday for 30 days!

Here is the link with the instructional videos for the challenge!

https://carrylittlehearts.com/2016/09/15/wrapping-challenges/

I hope you join us in learning new carries and trying different things!!

If you do I know I want to see pictures of your awesomeness!

- Hannah and Lewis

Winter Wearing

Hi All!

It got super chilly suddenly here and so it is time to baby wear safely for cold weather! I know it has been on my mind lately and I hope yours, as well!



Most people layer themselves for winter. The same goes for baby. It's important to layer them safely. Their little extremities need a little more layering!

You want to be able to have baby in a good position with their legs like usual 


The same rules apply no matter the season that they are close enough to kiss (except on your back because that doesn't really work), you can see their airways, good positioning, and you both are comfortable.


Think cute hats, little mittens or socks, little socks and booties for feet! Adult gloves or socks work well too! 





You can have baby over your winter coat. You can have your coat over them. You can get those nifty coats with an opening for baby as well!

Lots of options!

So there is no need to stop baby wearing in the cold weather, if anything I think there's more of a reason! Your very own baby warmer! You both are warm and happy!

How many of you worn your baby in the winter?


-Hannah & Lewis


Thank Ilene and Amanda for sharing your winter wearing pictures!

Flying and Travels

Flying and Travels

Hey everyone! Sorry about such a long silence!

We just got back from our first flight while baby wearing! It was quite an experience. Flying from Utah to Virginia was long, of course, but made so much easier wearing him.

Wearing in the airport is easy peasy. One just simply goes through the older metal detectors not the new full body scanners. Once through the metal detector you have your hands swabbed. I'm not sure what chemical elements they are looking for but I just made sure not to touch any chemicals prior to flying! 

On our first 2 flights to the east coast we decided to do a hip carry with the ring sling. My ring sling does not have metal rings so going through security was a breeze. Going though my son was smiling an flirting with everyone as per usual. Getting on and off the plane with him in the sling was super quick and easy. Throwing him in the sling while my husband grabbed his car seat worked really well.

In the Salt Lake City airport and the Chicago airport there were a handful of women babywearing. All SSCs (soft structured carriers). These mommies looked so much happier while traveling!

On our last 2 flights from the east coast we decided to take the extra time and do a back carry with the Mei Tai (panel carrier with wraps). Once again going through security was super easy and he was happier with a "better" view! Getting on and off the plane with him in a back carry was still easy but I did have to stand to do it.

On these two flights there were 4 other moms baby wearing! 2 moms had their kids in a soft structured carrier and did not buy them a ticket and utilized having "babes in arms". The older kid seemed around 18 months/2 years old and the younger one was around 6 months! One mom had her 2 month old in a stretchy wrap! Perfectly happy and snuggled on their way to Provo. The last mom again had an SSC.

It made my heart happy to see so many moms wearing their kids in the airport and on the flights!

How many of you have baby worn while flying?

-Hannah

The Things People Say!

Hey everyone - it has been a week since our last posting!

When babywearing there seems to be a variety of reactions from people: surprise, wishing they had something like it, or just simple admiration for being able to hold something with both hands. And, of course, the people that just look at you and your child.

In the grocery store I was grabbing some cabbage for a yummy cold pasta salad. A lady was grabbing something nearby. She was watching me get our vegetable from the very back of the display for a minute. She then said "Wow! That looks so great!" We chatted for a minute about how nice it is to be able to accomplish things while holding him.

A super weirdly negative reaction was from a lady who told me that my son was never going to leave and that he would need to be held all the time if I kept "that up". There were several things I wanted to tell her beyond my "he'll be fine" comment but she was just so rude and brusque. Firstly, he will eventually go off and do his own thing and I will miss the snuggles. Secondly, if he needs to be held then he needs to be held. Thirdly, he is in a safe place while we are out and about. I am not worried about him falling out of the clicky carseat, or people touching him, or of someone kidnapping him (if we want to get extreme).

The sweetest lady approached me one day saying that she wished she had had something like that with her kids! She commented how comfy both of us looked and how it must be so nice to not deal with a stroller.

At Lagoon a man asked what it was while putting on the Mei Tai wrap. We were able to chat for a minute about how it worked and how nice it is to use! He was so interested and pleasant. 

It's nice to have so many positive experiences with people while babywearing when we are out and about. Of course, there are going to be a few negative ones here and there but that is ok!

Anyone have any weird, sweet, or funny stories about things people have said to them while babywearing?

-Hannah

Babywearing Adventure at Lagoon

Our friends had a work outing at Lagoon and we were able to go together.  Our sons are 3 weeks apart in age and this was our first experience taking our tiny humans to an amusement park.

I'm gonna be perfectly honestly and upfront - I over packed.

I over packed hard-core. Stroller, clicky car seat to click into stroller, hat, cooler containing water and snackies, Mei Tai carrier, and the Diaper Bag. The diaper bag was overpacked : 2 outfits, sun screen, light blanket, little baby jacket, 3 toys, changing mat, wet bag, diapers, wipes, and my water bottle.

It really hot in the high 90s so I wasn't quite sure if we would overheat alot. I was prepared to safely babywear in the summer : cool cloths for us, frequent nursing, hat, and finding shade. Since it was the first time I wanted the option of the stroller. 

Our friends were equally prepared with stroller, cooler, and diaper bag.

We used the strollers for a while. Then one of us was still using the stroller. Then both strollers weren't in use. They eventually made great cup holders and stuff holders while we baby wore.

 One of the strollers loaded

We were able to ride the Ferris Wheel babywearing! Super cool, right?! The operator didn't bat an eye when asked.

Throughout the day a few other moms were babywearing. One poor mom had a stretchy wrap on! She looked so hot in addition to the material itself it was black.Then there was a dad babywearing (yay!) who was using an uncomfortable looking diaper hip hanging carrier.

Has anyone else gone to an amusement park and baby wore? Or did you go halfsies and have a stroller with you too?

Would love to hear about your experience in the comments!

-Hannah

Photo Credit both pictures : Frances Larson Photography

Hey everyone! Let me just quickly introduce myself!

 

(Hanging laundry on our clothesline)

I'm Hannah and I'll be with you on this blog as well. I have a son named Lewis and we love babywearing. We started with a ring sling - actually the same company that my mom got her sling from. It is awesome She got her sling when I was 6-9 months- ish. It changed her life, and so she really wanted me to have one as well. It changed my life too. Being able to eat with both hands, do a couple dishes, go to the bathroom without an unhappy baby (ah-mazing!), and soothe the fighting sleep. We now also have a Mei Tai, and it is wonderful as well! Since my baby is really big 17 lbs if I know he'll be in it for a long while I'll use it to disperse the weight on both shoulders.

Love wearing him everywhere! Grocery shopping, walking around the neighborhood, doing laundry, and doing dishes.

Beyond babywearing I like sewing, cooking, hanging out with my family, playing with our pet cats, knitting, and reading books. Granted since my son is almost 4 months old I haven't had much time to do most of these things haha.

I'm excited to contribute and share our babywearing adventures and hear about others' adventures!

Jublii Creations Business Spotlight

The first time that I had ever heard of a Jublii carrier, I was in my local cloth diaper store getting a new diaper. They were holding a ‘local vendors’ event and Jublii Creations was there; I walked right by them. I told myself that I had SSCs (soft structured carriers) and I just didn’t need another one. Another month went by and I found myself back in the store, which was hosting as a drop point for carrier donations for Carry the Future, dropping off carriers that I had collected in my area. And there it was: a Jublii standard size tester. I eyeballed it, interested but no, I still didn’t need another carrier.

 

Another couple months passed before I was back in the cloth diaper store and as I was waiting for a friend to meet me, I decided to try it on. It couldn’t hurt to wear it around the store while I was waiting, could it? Oh yes, it could. I knew immediately that I needed to share this with my local babywearing group- those other caregivers just HAD to try this. I hadn’t tried a SSC that was as comfy as this one was. The padding in the shoulders and hipbelt were amazing! So I brought the tester home with me and brought it to the next couple of group meetups and every play date that I could arrange. I knew that I needed to get one for my group and for myself!

 

First things first: I needed to look into who Jublii Creations really was and the answer turned out to be very simple. Jublii was created by a local Utah mom who was not only passionate about designing and creating these carriers but she was also certified nationally (BCIA and ASTM) to do so.  Child carriers are upheld to very strict safety standards and getting certified to make them is not an easy feat, so to be a small company and to have those certifications is a feat worth promoting. Julie also hand-makes each and every single Jublii carrier, so the hard work that has gone into being certified is clear in every stitch.  What began as a DIY endeavor to create a comfortable SSC for herself has turned into a small local business that is getting their name out into the babywearing world in a big way.

For me as a buyer and promoter of products, being local is also a key factor. Whether that is local to my city, state, or to the U.S. in general, I am a lover of all things local. Also being a wearing caregiver in the babywearing industry is an important consideration because someone who actively wears their children will have a better perspective about how things need to fit, the ease of which they should work, and how to make them aesthetically pleasing as well as affordable.  Someone who has never worn a child before may not understand all of these aspects quite as well.

To top all of this excitement off, I finally had the opportunity to meet Julie in person at an expo. She is very sweet and approachable, and it is easy to smile around her. She readily took a minute to chat with me and answer all of my questions.  It was great to meet the lady behind the business and see just how thrilled she was to share her vision with other caregivers.

 

** Photos courtesy of Jublii Creations facebook page

 

 ~ Jessica, carrylittlehearts.com

Ethos Babywearing Business Spotlight

Ethos is a Greek word used to describe the nature or disposition of a person to another person. It is an ‘ethical appeal’ which someone uses to persuade someone else about positive aspects of their character, usually shown in a charitable way. It is also the perfect name for a business that not only makes it easy to afford great quality work, it is also a perfect name for one that creates a product that benefits multiple charitable organizations.

Ethos Babywearing is a Northern Utah based company, created in 2014 by Whitney, a first time mom and savvy business lady. Being fortunate to have friends who wore their babies, she was already introduced to the babywearing world before her son arrived. However, she very quickly noticed that babywearing was not always an entirely accessible nor affordable endeavor, though it was a much needed one. So she decided to journey into the world of creating a line of wraps that would meet both of these criteria for all babywearers; her goal was not to have a million dollar company but to spread the benefits of babywearing around her locally, statewide, continentally and globally.  Hoping to make a difference in the world of babywearing, Whitney decided to create affordable, accessible wraps that would someday become a household name.

Their all cotton and cotton/BreatheBlend™ machine woven lines are great all around wraps that can take the workhorse load of daily wearing, yet at the end of the day have simple wash routines that make them easy to care for and maintain (BreatheBlend™ is the company’s own blend, one that will vary slightly depending on the wrap; the BreatheBlend™ used in Cascade Coral is a cotton/polyester blend, for example). This is a line that I would wrap with in the parking lot, being unafraid of dragging the tippy tails through the mud because I know that I can just toss it in the washer later that evening. These wraps are all incredibly thin in hand, yet surprisingly very comfortable on the shoulders, not digging in as you would expect from first feel of such a thin wrap. They are great for both quick ups around the house or long walks through the neighborhood. Both single layer and multiple layer passes work well and they can carry newborn to toddler. It’s no wonder that these wraps are ideal for donating- they can work for everybody!

As for charities, Whitney says that she knew from the birth of the company that they would give back. “We didn't see a lot of wrap companies doing it at the time, and we wanted to be different. We chose the charities after each wrap was designed, seeing what spoke to us about the design or something that happened during the design phase that inspired the release.” Each and every wrap of Ethos Babywearing benefits a charitable organization (with the exception of ‘Lost in Translation’, which the company does not profit from in any way, but they do donate to local babywearing group Lending Libraries). Every single one. I know of no other wrap company off-hand where every wrap benefits part of a community. Many donate some and some donate many, but no other donates with ALL.

 

Their first wrap, Dusky Argyle, is 100% cotton and has benefited the Carrying On Project. The Carrying On Project is a non-profit organization that matches donated carriers of many types to military families who otherwise are unable to get a carrier on their own. The goal of this organization is to help create secure attachments through babywearing when deployments (and injuries) would otherwise make life very difficult on the service members and the families left behind. For the caregivers who remain stateside during a deployment, it can be tough playing the role of mom & dad (whether by the other parent, grandparent, guardian, etc.) and children can feel easily ‘abandoned’ by the parent(s) who have had to go. Being able to carry them close helps both caregiver and child feel attached and safe. Babywearing can become the eye of the storm that disrupts their daily lives.

 

Manhattan Sundown and Manhattan Skyward are also 100% mercerized cotton and both benefit a homeless shelter for women and children in the Bronx, called Siena House. Created in 1990, Siena House is a temporary residence for homeless single mothers trying to find work and affordable living. The House works to empower these women through independence and showing them their self-worth. Babywearing not only holds a key to the physical aspects of emotional attachment, but it provides these mothers with the practicality of being hands free to deal with daily life. It allows them to be self-reliant at a point where they may not quite feel like they can be, relying on others. Ethos wraps will continue to go a long way towards continuing to empower these mothers as they move forward in their lives.

 

Solace Vesper is both endearing and heartbreaking all at once. After hearing of the multiple losses of 2 dear friends, Whitney was inspired to name her newest wrap in honor of the memory of those lost and for the perseverance of those left behind. “Solace, which we named the wrap's pattern, means comfort or consolation in a time of distress or sadness.  Vesper, which we named the wrap's colorway, means evening prayer: a representation of the feverish nighttime pleas into the darkness.  This wrap is dedicated specially to the mothers who have lost a baby, but there are so many losses that deprive us of someone to hold. This wrap is for the fathers of those babies, too. It is for the grandbabies who have lost grandparents, and the grandparents who have lost grandbabies. Solace for the parent who has lost his or her partner. Solace for the mother who grieves the loss of the dreamed-of birth. Solace for the parent who has lost a parent. For the loss of a self that existed before a new chapter began. For the grievance of the loss of a relationship that ended. For the parents who grieve a brother or sister: an aunt or an uncle their babies won't know.” Solace Vesper benefits Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, a non-profit organization that provides remembrance photography services to families who have experienced the loss of a baby.

Cascade, the newest line at Ethos, is an innovative wrap where the benefits will go to an organization that is more widespread than mothers and children. One that hits close to home for the founder, The Mastocytosis Society is a nonprofit organization that promotes the education, research, and advocacy of a rare, debilitating, and almost completely invisible disease. This disease is multi-symptomatic, with side effects ranging from bone pain and widespread inflammation to sleeplessness and exhaustion. Whitney states that cascade means “a process whereby something, typically information and knowledge, is passed on”, and by advocating this worthy cause through the promotion of this new wrap, she and Ethos Babywearing are continuing to do just that. Cascade. "A process whereby something, typically information or knowledge, is passed on."

 

 Ethos’ handwoven line is cotton and banana silk, all handspun in Nepal.  As with all handwovens, they going to cost more out of pocket than their budget line.  “Our handwovens benefit our artisans' guild in Nepal, which has a charitable mission following the two major earthquakes that rocked the country in early 2015. They have built community toilets and sanitary facilities, community kitchens, temporary and permanent housing, schools, and delivered countless quantities of food and water to stricken areas.” By buying an Ethos handwoven, you not only get the benefits that come with it (cush, softness, the individual artisan’s skill that goes into creating it) but you help to support fair trade, needed community service projects, and the continuation of a timeless tradition that also creates work in an area that has come upon hard times. Maiti Nepal is one such organization in Nepal that can benefit from weaving work; young woman and girls who are rescued from human trafficking can learn a new craft as they try to begin life anew, free from oppression. Whitney saw this need and strives to fill it wherever she can.

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Overall, Ethos Babywearing is a phenomenal wrap company with values that go far beyond beauty and profit. They have created beautiful wraps, yes, but they are helping to create a more beautiful world through kindness and fairness, and are paving the way for other entrepreneurs in the babywearing world to hold themselves to a higher standard of accountability and affordability for the everyday caregiver.    ~ Jessica, carrylittlehearts.com

** Photos courtesy of Ethos Babywearing website