Love to wrap

I have always been a wrapper at heart, though I've had good and bad days, sometimes doing the perfect wrap job, others wanting to chuck it in the bin after getting into a hot frustrated mess with a wriggly baby.

But this forever makes me happy I stuck with it. My beautiful 4.5 year old. He hasn't been wrapped much as I only came to full time babywearing when his first brother was born, though he has been up a few times. And today when he came over all poorly and hot at sling meet, he asked me to wrap him, insisting on front cuddles. So I whipped out the library's size 7 silk Indio and that's what we did! 

Later on middle boy asked to be wrapped too, a rarity these days - and as smallest was happy exploring I was happy to oblige.

This is why I would encourage everyone to learn to wrap. I think it's the one type of sling that will do you from newborn to 'school age' and beyond! 

Joy and Joe Happy Faces Teaching Wrap Review

There are currently two special wraps travelling the UK's Sling Libraries. They have been specially woven by Joy and Joe baby to act as 'teaching' wraps, to encourage more people to take up wrapping! I was lucky enough to get on the list to try one with South Cheshire Babywearers.

It's always fun to receive parcels in the post, and especially when you open it to reveal a sling! And this one was lovely. It was gorgeously soft for a 100% cotton wrap, I just wanted to snuggle up in it! It felt almost silky and also seemed to have a bit of stretch to it. Biggest boy wanted up first, he's nearly 4.5 now and around 19/20kg. He was happy, comfy and well supported in a simple ruck.

For the rest of the week the wrap carried around smallest boy, 9 months old and 20lb. I found it really easy to wrap with, the softness meant the passes were able to glide easily, great when doing a double hammock - and I do love a double hammock! 

I have to be honest that I'm not completely struck on the faces design, however, this wrap is meant for sling libraries to purchase at a discounted rate to teach customers, not to be on the market as such. The big bold stripes are useful when wrapping to show you are tightening the wrap equally. It also has a white reverse side which helps too. I think it could be improved by making one of the rails a completely different colour so it is more distinctive as one of the issues encountered when wrapping is knowing which rail to tighten, and being able to follow it easily would really help newbies.

All in all I think the concept of the teaching wrap is a good one. We do have a number of wrappers at our meets, but they all come for the social side, it's rare that we get new people coming along interested in wraps straight away. So although we always have wraps lying around, they are all different makes, sizes, blends, and the easiness of wrapping varies. It would certainly be handy to have a stock easy to use, standard size wrap to show people, and this fits the bill.

If you'd like to know more about this travelling wrap, check out this blog post over at Joy and Joe:

http://www.joyandjoebaby.com/blog/introducing-the-new-jj-teaching-woven-wrap

And finally, a lovely picture of Becky and baby Elinor trying out the wrap at our mini sling meet.

Nova Baby Deluxe Mei Tai

I've not had much experience with mei tais. I tried a lower end one when middle boy was a baby but didn't find it particularly comfortable and was much happier wrapping! So I was looking forward to trying one again.

The Deluxe Mei Tai from Nova Baby Carriers, a Norfolk based company, arrived to stay for a couple of weeks. It's aimed at babies from 6 - 24 months old (max 15kg).

It has a padded waistband and straps, which were very comfortable. The fabric design was cute and fairly unisex, and I guess could be reversed so the plain side is showing if you wished. 

Smallest boy is now 9 months old and around 21lb and fit in really snug and comfortably - showing his approval by having a nap! The padding on the shoulders meant I could carry him for ages without it getting diggy. 

The only slight negative for me was I had to tie off under his bum when on the front, I'd personally prefer slightly longer straps so I could cross and tie at the back, but that is just a preference, though a couple of ladies who tried it at sling meet mentioned the same. 

We tried a back carry, excuse the face, I always feel a bit odd smiling for selfies when out and about! Again, the padding just made it super comfy and he was very happy.

All in all I enjoyed testing this carrier, it got good feedback from sling meet and if I ever decided to convert to a mei tai Nova Baby would be a big contender! 

Yaro Basket Wrap Review

Yaro is an affordable brand of woven wraps produced in the EU. I actually bought a Blue Ivy when smallest boy was newborn, but it was just a bit too baby blue for us (though wrapped gorgeously!)

So I was keen to test another Yaro, and was sent an Emerald Basket, size 6, 100% cotton wrap. 

When I first opened the Yaro Basket I felt it was a bit too retro looking for me, however, the design grew on me as soon as I wrapped my smallest boy! Here he is enjoying our go-to back carry - the double hammock. 

The wrap felt quite light and thin, nice and easy to wrap with but still supportive, and the thinness makes tying off almost effortless. It wasn't the softest wrap I've tried but being 100% cotton I'd imagine a bit more breaking in would improve that massively. 

Both Yaros I've tried have had a lovely sheen to them, and they come in a range of beautiful designs, blends and colours - definitely worth checking out, I've got a grey La Vita on my wishlist!

A Positive New Year

2015 hasn't been my favourite year, which is a shame because it's the year gorgeous Luke arrived into our world. It just feels that everything has gone wrong recently, but I won't bore you with those details!

So I was on a bit of a downer towards the end of the year and around Christmas, and I'm sure my closest friends were sick of me moaning. Therefore I've decided 2016 is going to be a positive one. After all, I have a happy, healthy family, which is the main thing. 

I want 2016 to be the year of new things. The husband is starting a new job next week which he is looking forward to. It may mean a minor relocation for us, but that will come with its own adventure of exploring a new area with my boys.

I've set up a Facebook page to share this blog, https://www.facebook.com/Heart-full-of-boys-1677669125813520/ which will hopefully encourage me to keep it up this time! (Please visit and give me a like!)

I am also going to be involved in starting a sling library in the very near future, South Cheshire Babywearers is already a popular sling meet and demo library which I have helped to run for a while now, so I am very excited about being able to hire slings out. 

I won't make resolutions as I always break them, but I have lots to look forward to and be positive about and I think that's a good start to a happier me in 2016.

Daiesu Jigsaw Mustard Wrap Review

Towards the end of August 2015 I was lucky enough to try out a Daiesu woven wrap. It was the Jigsaw Mustard design, 100% cotton, size 6.

It arrived with me in a Daiesu branded bag which was a thoughtful touch.

I'd liked the jigsaw pattern since it came out but personally preferred the more vibrant colours, like Chilli or Grape, so wasn't sure this was really my thing. However the colour in real life is lovely, less mustard, more pale golden, nice and neutral and goes with anything!

My first venture out was to a mini sling meet and I actually tandemed my two youngest using Jigsaw with my then 4 month old in a fwcc, and my 2.5 year old in an Indio in a ruck. (Photo credit to my then almost 4 year old!) First thoughts were that the slight texture of the jigsaw design makes it nice and grippy for wrapping securely. It was also a good weight for summer, thin enough to keep us both cool while still offering good support - this is a big plus for me as I get so hot when carrying. Smallest boy certainly approved of this wrap, sleepy snuggles are a thumbs up from him!

Later in the week I tried my 2.5 year old in my favourite back carry, a double hammock. I found this super comfy, not diggy on my shoulders at all, and as you can see, perfectly wide enough for a chunky toddler. 

I loved hosting this wrap and would certainly recommend Daiesu wraps in future! Thank you for the opportunity to test. http://www.daiesu.com/

It's been a while!

Well it's been 2 years since I last blogged, so much for my resolutions of 2014! I had written a whole introduction post with the aim of starting a new blog but then I rediscovered this one and decided to continue it, so will post it here instead! Need to catch up anyway!

So I have 3 boys. When pregnant with number one in 2011 I was desperate for a boy, I think more for the hubby than anything else as I knew that's what he wanted! Number two arrived in 2013, I really wanted my eldest to have a brother, and that's what we got. With number three I think it was just relief that we'd be having another boy - I felt I knew what I was doing with boys, as much as anyone can with children. He arrived in 2015 and completed our family. 

Three babies within 3.5 years. I think I must be a little crazy but most of the time it's fun, and I love that they will grow up together, enjoying the same things at the same time. But the small gap has necessitated babywearing.

I bought a Babasling for my eldest, Ryan, and regret that I have zero photos of him in it! I used the pushchair a lot but carried the sling with me always, as like most babies he loved to be close and carried. While pregnant with my second, Liam, I knew I'd need a better, more sustainable option, as although I loved my Babasling, it wasn't always the most comfortable for a long amount of time. So I discovered South Cheshire Babywearers, my local group. Fell in love with the cosy comfort of the Moby wrap and purchased a Cadbury purple one from eBay. Needed a bit of tweaking once babe arrived but I proudly wore him everywhere in that snuggly piece of cloth!

Liam was a chunk though, and an April baby so by 12 weeks I was too hot and he was too nosey, so I ordered my first woven wrap. A Lenny Lamb outlet buy, still not exactly sure which colour way it is, Summer maybe, but it was love, and I've been wrapping ever since. 

Smallest boy, Luke, had his first carry in a ring sling, my coveted Natibaby giraffes, and as well as being wrapped in my own humble stash, he has been lucky enough to try a number of tester wraps, as I am now involved in running South Cheshire Babywearers, having been volunteering there since Liam was small really, with a brief break when I returned to work. So I thought I'd start a page where I could share my reviews and love for the art of babywearing. And here it is!

Baby on the cheap

So the news today is that the cost of raising a child to 21 is over £227000! Eek! But it got me thinking of how much stuff we buy for the tiniest of babies these days, and what do they really need. So here is my guide to baby's first year.

Food - breast milk exclusively until 6 months, then they can join in with family meals, and don't eat a lot before one anyway so shouldn't have a great impact on your pocket

Nappies - get reusable! I've spent less than £100 on nappies, wipes, nappy bin and wet bags. It's just an extra couple of washes a week.

Sleep - my youngest baby has shared my bed from newborn. I didn't plan it this way but with a feisty toddler to entertain in the day it was either co sleep or no sleep! I imagine he will be in with us until at least one so no need for a cot yet, even though he has his big brother's waiting for him.

Transport - car seat wise, I feel this is a necessary expense. Get the best you can afford and never buy second hand. But there's no need for a fancy pram/pushchair/travel system. Get a sling! Start with a stretchy wrap for your teeny newborn, then move on to a woven, ring sling or SSC as baby grows. My youngest has barely looked at the pushchair! Though, slings can be an expensive hobby so it's debatable whether it will save you money. But you can get more slings to the pound than pushchairs, and they're prettier!

Bathing - no need for plastic baby baths, babies don't need a daily bath anyway, and when they do it's much lovelier to just climb in with them, easier on the back too! Do invest in a snuggly soft towel though, I can recommend Cuddledry.

Clothing and toys - yes babies need clothes, but avoid tiny outfits. Much comfier for baby to live in a onesie in those early months, and they grow so quick. Buy a few simple vests and onesies, everyone will buy outfits and toys as gifts anyway, and most babies prefer a good old box and a wooden spoon to expensive toys!

I wish I'd thought more about this first time round, but the excitement just catches up with you and you want everything! And the benefit of hindsight is a great thing. Have I missed anything?

Sling meet sadness

A lovely mama took this pic of me at my last sling meet yesterday. 

Feeling a bit sad. I'm due to return to work in Feb, only a few hours, but most of them are on sling meet day. 

I attended my first sling meet back in February last year when heavily pregnant with my second son. I had used a babasling with my eldest, but was thinking I'd like something better so I could avoid a double pushchair! I asked for advice on my local Breastfeeding support group and was pointed in the direction of South Cheshire Baby Wearers. I remember my first meet in our local baby friendly cafe where I was totally clueless, but went home and ordered a Moby wrap from eBay - and the rest is history! 

Liam's first go in the Moby at around 10 days old.

I love my group, I've made some lovely friends and it's led to me being even more of a natural parent than I was. 

Looking around the hall yesterday, we had seasoned baby wearers trying out other people's wraps, newbies with teeny squishes being welcomed into our world, big kids happily playing together and, at least in my toddler's case - stealing all the cake and biscuits! I will miss being a part of it every month, but hope I can continue to spread the baby wearing love, join my group on our slingy socials, and maybe one day I'll be back on another maternity leave! 😉

Resolutions

Happy New Year! 

So I think for the first time I have resolutions I actually intend to stick to, so here they are:

1. Do more craft activities with my toddler. And baby once he's old enough. 

2. Work on my patience. Most of the time we really do have all day so there's no point stressing about how slow my babies can be at doing things.

3. Encourage independence. Linked in with the above, I need to stop stepping in and rushing my toddler and just let him do things himself sometimes - we are starting with potty training!

4. Be a better housewife. By staying on top of cleaning and budgeting and cooking proper meals more regularly.

5. Be more frugal. In the hope of saving some money so we can enjoy doing some exciting family trips.

6. Take some time to become 'me' again. Instead of being only wife and mummy. Plans include joining the WI and learning to knit!

7. Keep up with this blog! 

So join me here in 2014 on my journey to be a better person all round! 

Two's trouble!

Soooo...it's been a while! Last time I posted I was about 6 weeks pregnant with our second beautiful boy, Liam, who arrived with a bit of a bang on April Fool's Day 2013!

Since then I have been adjusting to having 2 under 2 (though not any more as my biggest baby turned 2 in September) and generally living a bit of a hectic lifestyle.

Things have been a bit different this time around, I feel more confident with babies and have become a bit of a hippy! We co-sleep, cloth nappy, baby wear. I am lucky that I had an easier time breast feeding this one too. I did feed Ryan til he was one but it was rough at the start whereas Liam has just been a pro.

So that's a bit of an update, and I will endeavor to get back on the blogging, mostly working around nap and bedtimes! 😊

Lunch Date

At almost 11 months my little monkey is a complete chatterbox and now crawling he never sits still! He's completely exhausting but I am loving every minute. Yesterday we took ourselves out to Bridgemere Garden World. 

It's much more than a garden centre, with other shops attached such as Lakeland and Hobbycraft (two of my favourites!) and lots of lovely gardens to stroll round and check out. They also have a lovely little cafe with a soft play area for the little ones.

Ryan's really good at eating out (he's such an angel that nothing fazes him) and did his best flirting with all the old ladies who stopped to say hello as they passed. I enjoyed a lovely tuna melt toastie and a glass of homemade lemonade, which was delicious, and then we lost our shoes and got into the play area.

It was great to just let him roam around without the worry of him crashing into anything hard, and he loved watching all the other children. Later we strolled around the gardens and he was nice and tired out by the time we got home, all ready for a nap.

I'd definitely recommend Bridgemere for a day out. I'm especially looking forward to their spectacular Christmas event, now that Ryan will understand what's going on this year!

Time off!

The cake I decorated for my folks

Eeeeek! Can't believe I've not blogged for 13 days! Been busy busy busy. Had some amazing news (watch this space) and spent nearly a week down in very sunny Somerset with my family.

My amazing parents celebrated their Ruby Wedding Anniversary (40 years!) at the weekend so we all got together for that. It's lovely to spend time with my family, especially my niece and nephews who I don't get to see as often as I'd like, and Ryan loves seeing them too, and is the complete centre of attention at all times! His only gripe was the constant suncream I had to apply as it's been hot hot hot.

I'm in a glorious mood thanks to the weather and my news, and promise to catch up with some posts soon!

Safety in the sun

So we recently took Ryan on his first holiday, much needed after the dire British summer we've been having! Off we popped to Spain to stay in a lovely villa belonging to the in-laws. At 9 months old we were quite easily able to keep him in one place, so although he was suncreamed up whenever we went for a walk with the pushchair, or in the pool, the rest of the time he was safely tucked away in the shade with his toys.

Next year however, I am envisioning having a nightmare time where he races around in the sun while I fight trying to get cream on him! Luckily I will have a bit of help from good old Cuddledry, as I fully intend to purchase one of these fab Sun Protection Ponchos, as modelled here by Timmy the sheep off Timmy Time!

Obviously I will still have to win the war of the suncream, but this award winning poncho towel will give me that extra reassurance that my little man is as protected as he can be from the sun's harmful rays. This is because the towel cleverly deflects UVA and UVB rays and has an SPF of 50+, which is not depleted by washing or use! Plus with every purchase you get 2-4-1 entry into UK Sea Life Centres, and we love a good day out!

Invisible Children

It's been said in the past and I'm sure it will continue to remain a subject of much discussion, but where have all these invisible children come from?

I'm talking of course about the ones whose parents park in the parent and child spaces at the supermarkets. So many times I have had my eye on one of these spaces when someone whizzes in and dashes out of their car, dragging their invisible child along with them.

The thing about invisible children is that their parents don't really need the wide space that real parents require. I wonder if they've ever tried maneuvering a car seat containing a 9lb 12oz baby out the back of a 3 door car, following the major surgery that is a caesarian? Of course not, because they don't actually have children!

Parent and child spaces are wider to give parents that bit of extra space we need to get our children safely out the car without crashing the doors into another car. They tend to be nearer the shop, but to be fair, I wouldn't mind if they were a bit further away to avoid people parking in them. It's about time something was done about this. Tesco hand out parking passes to members of their baby club, but what's the point of this if they don't police it?

Before I end my rant, I think to top it off, the worst people are the ones who think an empty car seat counts as a child. These are the people who should know better.

Osgood Shclatters

I was really interested to read this blog post by IQ Therapies who provide physio support for my netball club.

I was still in primary school when I was diagnosed with Osgood Shclatters Disease, which I was told at the time was quite young really as it usually affects children in their teens.

I'd always been very active, always outside running around, riding my bike, swimming, and playing netball in my school team. I can't remember now if I did get any aching before the lump appeared on my knee, but as soon as it appeared my parents whisked me off to the doctors. They didn't really give us much information at the time. I was told to rest for six weeks, although I could still swim, and was prescribed Ibuprofen, which I actually found quite exciting as I had to have special permission to take it into school with me to have with my lunch!

I've never read up on it before, but this article was very interesting. I still get flair ups now and again where my knee aches, and will always have the lump, and I do wonder if I had taken the slow route back into activity maybe I wouldn't still suffer now. From what I remember I just went back to my normal boisterous self once I'd had my six weeks off, as I wasn't given any other advice.

I'd love for my son, and any other children I may have to be sporty and full of life as I always was, but this is something I'd look out for now, which I think a lot of parents wouldn't always think of. We're always encouraged to get active but not often warned about overuse.

Flying economy with a baby

We planned Ryan's first holiday back in February. Hubby's parents have a holiday home in Spain where we tend to join them every year. Ryan actually came with us last year when he was just a bump!

Passport sorted we booked some cheap flights with a famous economy airline. Under 2s don't get their own seat, so I knew it would be a bit of a squeeze.

The flight out was booked for the evening, 6.35, which is bedtime. We thought this would be ideal as we could all have tea in the airport and then have a sleep on the plane!

Easyjet allow you to bring two items for your child (for the £20 each way fee). The choice is between a travel cot, car seat and pushchair. Thankfully we could hire a cot in Spain, so just wanted our car seat and pushchair. My parents managed to find me a £10 MaClaren pushchair at a car boot sale so I didn't have to worry about my £500 travel system getting damaged in the hold, and I also have a second hand car seat that was living in my sister's loft from her babies. Having items that I wasn't worried about took some stress off, as my sister in law does a lot of travelling with her baby and has managed to get her car seat lost, delayed and damaged on numerous occasions in the past year!
Boarding all went well, as we had a child we got priority boarding so just walked straight up to the gate and got straight on, leaving the pushchair at the door.

I fed Ryan as we took off to help protect his ears, and then he fell asleep for an hour. Although there's not much room, and I couldn't do it if he was much bigger, it was easy to get him in the right position for breastfeeding, and on the way down I just gave him a bottle of water to suck on. He had no problems, and it was a very peaceful flight. The way back was just as easy. Alicante airport gives special assistance to families with babies, and this time Ryan fell asleep before we even took off.

All in all I found the whole experience quite stress free and would happily do it again!

Grab a bargain on twitter!

Came back from my holiday (more about that later!) to some exciting news from one of my favourite baby brands. Cuddledry are having a half price twitter sale of their ex-display stock, all good as new just without packaging!

Log on to twitter next Tuesday, 3rd July at 8pm to grab a bargain. Follow the link above for instructions on how it all works - I won't try and write them here because I'm not really a big twitterer (as you can see I don't even know the correct term for that) but I plan to figure it all out before Tuesday as would love to get my hands on some more Cuddledry items for my little monkey.

If you haven't got one already, trust me, the apron towel is the BEST baby towel and should be a fixture in every newborn's bathroom. They've also got loads of other great stuff so I can't wait until Tuesday!

Mummy's Day Off!

One of my hubby's many talents is his ability to buy awesome gifts, and it seems Ryan has inherited this talent! On my birthday earlier in the year I got an email from Ryan saying 'as I've been making you really tired lately I thought this might make you feel better' with a voucher for a spa day with full body massage thrown in! (this was a few months back when he was going through his 'I'm going to wake up every 2 hours overnight' phase.)

So last week I decided it was time to redeem my voucher. Leaving hubby with Ryan (and his schedule!) I toddled off to Rookery Hall Hotel and Spa. My massage was booked first thing, so once I'd signed in and had a quick tour I was given a towel, robe and slippers and left to change and asked to wait in the Amber Lounge, where there was free iced water, juice, and herbal teas for guests to enjoy throughout the day.

The massage was amazing. I've never had a professional massage before, and it was heaven to just lie there daydreaming while the therapist worked away my knots! It was 55 minutes in total, and afterwards I was shown to the relaxation room, which is for the use of guests after they've had a treatment. This was very relaxing! It was dimmed lighting, with about 6 beds, and water running down one of the walls. I'd been told to take it easy and drink lots of water for a while after the massage, so I lay in here for nearly an hour reading my book.

The spa day includes full use of the health club facilities, the exercise room, swimming pool, hydrotherapy pool, sauna and steam room. I love swimming, but haven't been on my own since Ryan arrived, so I spent some time in the pool. It is a lovely area, very quiet and clean, and I was able to claim a lounger by the pool side whenever I wanted one. 

I tried out both the sauna and steam room, neither of which I have ever used before. The sauna was way too hot, and I didn't really enjoy it. The steam room overwhelmed me at first as I didn't know what to expect, and struggled to breathe for a minute, but once I got used to it it was lovely, and made me feel really cleansed afterwards. And the hydrotherapy pool was just lovely to lie in amongst the bubbles!

At lunchtime I enjoyed a tuna panini, with a glass of champagne that was included in my voucher, and then went back to chill out by the pool with my book! 

I spent 6 hours there altogether, felt very relaxed, read loads of my book, which I never get to do anymore, and just had a lovely day. The facilities are great, the food was delicious, and I would recommend it to anyone. I'm secretly hoping one of my friends gets married soon so I can suggest a hen do there!

The Olympic Torch

So here's the view I had last Thursday!

To be honest, I'm not really a fan of the Olympics. The only sports I'm really interested in are football, netball and F1. But when I heard the Torch was coming through nearby Crewe, I decided it was a once in a lifetime thing, so I'd get Ryan and I up at the crack of dawn to go and see what all the fuss was about.

The big issue for me was it was travelling through between 8 and 8.30am, which seemed ridiculous - unfair on commuters and just generally difficult for anyone to get there. The trains aren't very regular but that was the only way, so Ryan and I arrived at our local (small) train station at 7am, to find it packed with fellow Torch spotters! There were maybe 150-200 people waiting for a 3 coach train, and with Ryan in a pushchair I wasn't holding out much hope that we'd all fit on. But we did, and once again I was warmed by how helpful random strangers were in helping us get on and off the train, even one previously mentioned commuter, who must have been a bit flummoxed to find his usual quiet journey to work a noisy squashed one! Thankfully it was only a 7 minute trip!

We arrived and found ourselves a spot outside Crewe station, fed my little monkey an al fresco breakfast (we rarely get up before 8am so he'd only had his milk at home) and proceeded to wait for possibly the most anticlimatic thing ever - a man who no one knew running past holding a torch aloft. A postman trundling down the road with his post truck got more cheers! Oh well, it was a morning out, and like I said, at least I can say we were there!