cold weather babywearing

Cold weather babywearing

Seeing as the temperatures are dropping lets have a look at babywearing while it's cold. You can wear your baby over your own coat are you can get a special coat for babywearing, there are lots of different brands that sell special jackets for front or back carrying.

I personally like to wrap my baby with only a thin sweater underneath and a babywearing jacket over it. For me it makes it easier to get a nice wrapjob and more important my baby and me are in the same jacket which makes that she is kept warm by my body temperature. If you use a babywearing jacket remember not to dress your baby to warm, your wrap counts as 1 layer of clothing, your jacket is an other warm layer and you give your own body warmth to your baby aswell. So just a longsleeve body and a jumpsuit are ok if temps aren't below 5, ad an other layer or 2 if it get colder then that, no need to put your baby in a ski suit underneath your jacket. Make sure your baby's feet and head are well protected against the cold as they aren't kept warm by your jacket or bodytemprature.
When you wear your baby over your jacket you have to dress your child much warmer as a little one on your back or front is not moving and will cool of much quicker then yourself. make sure his hands and feet are protected from the cold as well as his head and neck, these are the areas that cool of the quickest and make that your child will get cold really quickly. Body, thin jumpsuit, fleece jumpsuit and if it's really cold a skisuit are no luxury, gloves and warm shoes with warm socks and a beanie that protects baby's neck come in handy aswell.
My son and I went visiting his daddy last winter who was working in a ski area in the French alpes, in the pictures you can see how we babywear in temperatures between -5 and 5 degrees. when the sun was out we went for longer walks when it was cloudy, hence colder, we only went out for small periods of time, always dressed accordingly.
Make sure when it's cold outside and you go for longer walks you check regularly if you baby is not getting to cold, as I already said a little higher up your baby on your back or front is not moving as much as you are so they cool of much quicker then you do, especially their hands and feet!
In the pictures you see me with my son on my back under my babywearing jacket when he is in the wrap and over my jacket when he is in the babycarrier.

 

 

Wrap used in this post is pellicano baby zoya philia, carrier used is Madama googoo and the babywearing coat I'm wearing is momawo.

video tutorial for front reinforced torso sling with extra neck pass

Video tutorial for front reinforced torso sling with extra neck pass

This video is a tutorial for the carry, front reinforced torso sling (FRTS) with an extra neck pass for some added head support for smaller babies.
This carry with the extra pass is done with a base or base -1. I like this carry with my little girl as it is very breastfeeding friendly thanks to the slipknot. When I'm running after my toddler or doing housework I ad the extra pass over my little girl's neck to give her head some extra support.
A normal frts is already possible with a base -2 or -3
The wrap used in this video is sensimo slings stamptrian silver apple.

 

 

Here a few pictures of this carry with this wrap. First 2 pictures are of the normal FRTS the last 3 pics are of this carry aith the extra neck pass.

 

 

 

tutorial for anne's frontcarry

Video tutorial for anne's front carry (in English, et en Français)

Here is a video tutorial for Anne's front carry. I do this carry with a base size but it is possible to do with a base -1 aswell.

This carry is my favorite carry at the moment with my 6 week old baby girl. I love it cause it gives great neck support to my baby especially while running after a very active 2.5 year old ;)
I also find it a great front carry to use when you want to tandem wear, it gives your baby on your front enough necksupport to put your other child on your back in a fullbuckle carrier, on the picture you can see my baby in the front in Anne's front carry and my big boy on my back in a soulslings full buckle carrier.
(wrap in these pictures is soulslings flyaway, I use a base size for this carry. Carrier in these pictures is soulslings masquerade full buckle)

First video is in English
Deuxieme video en Français

 

 

review maisaa tri french tester

Review Maisaa tri French tester

This wrap is a size 6, 73% coton, 22% laine, 5% cashmere aproximatly 270g/m

Last week I got this tester of a new brand called Maisaa slings which is an Arabic girls name and means 'walking with pride'

I received this wrap in loomstate (unwashed) and it was pretty stiff to start off. After a gentle handwash and flat towel dry I gave this wrap a cold iron and it made an amazing transformation after it's spa treatment. From being a bit cardboard feeling it got nice and fluffy.
I already told you in previous reviews how important it is to wash new wraps before use, with this wrap it made such a huge difference. So again please wash your new wraps before using them.
Most brands will give you washing instructions for first wash and also instuctions on how to wash your wraps afterwards.

I usually love colorful wraps more than neutral wraps but this one changes in whatever light you are from black to blue and it's completely reversible which I love in a wrap! The design is very geometric which I'm really starting to like in my wraps, it makes a wrap simple and sophisticated at the same time, and it's easier to combine with your clothes. And well, I think we all like our wraps to match our clothes a little don't we?

Over to the wrapping qualities of this wrap. As this is a wrap with wool it is kind of a warm wrap, not really suitable for the summers we have here in the south of France, but I would love this wrap to wrap with in the winter for a nice walk on the beach or in the forest. It's very soft and feels really nice on my shoulders even with my 2.5 year old I didn't feel any digging after an hour of carrying him.
What I noticed as soon as this wrap was washed and ironed was the stretch it has, it is a lovely wrap to make a nice double hammock as you can really use the stretch to make a nice chestpass. I didn't have a problem getting all passes nicely in place and make a firm carry that wasn't saggy after a little bit of moving around. The wrap stayed in place and has a little bit of bounce while walking (which my son loves in a wrap)
The wrap is a little bulky and might be more suitable for more experienced wrappers, I would advice a thinner, wrap to a new wearer. But think a more experienced wrapper would have lots of fun with this wrap, I know I did.
I do think with the wool this wrap is not really suitable for wearers that are sensitive to wool itching, after a while wearing this wrap in the heat I started feeling a small itch on my bare shoulders so I can imagine that babywearers that are sensitive to wool-itching would not really like the feel of this wrap.
To conclude the wrapping qualities, I would say this wrap is perfect for bigger babies and toddlers and not really a wrap for a first time wrapper.

Maisaa Slings is founded by a Dutch mom living in Germany. Wraps are released in limited qualities and can be purchased via draw to purchase on their facebookpage https://www.facebook.com/maisaaslings/?fref=ts
Here is also the link to their fangroup on facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/770946986368582/
And you can also have a look at their website for more info about the brand. http://maisaaslings.com/index.html



And then the most important piece of this review, picture time. There are not that many babywearing pics this time, as my back was blocked a few days after receiving this wrap but we did manage to get some nice belly wrapping pics for this review.
Bellywrapping is fantastic to give your babybump a little bit of extra support, just make sure you don't wrap up your belly for to long stretches of time. and don't wrap your belly to firmly either. For small amounts of time it can relieve your back a little by lifting your belly a little especially if your baby is very low and you can get some really nice memories of that babybump with your wrap.

 

belly wrap video tutorial with a rs

Belly wrap video tutorial with poewovens herringbone river ringsling.
This belly wrap is perfect for when you just need a little bit of support it's easy and fast to put on and easy to adjust. Perfect for when your baby is low to give you a little bit of support when you need it.
Hope you enjoy this belly wrap as much as I do. and don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments :)

Review pellicano baby heartweave wraps

Review pellicano baby heartweave wraps

100% coton, approx. 280 gr/m

After being a huge fan of pellicano since the beginning I though it would finally be time to get a review of 2 of the wraps I own from this brand that I love so so much.
Pellicano baby released it's first heartweave machinewoven wrap at the end of 2015 since then a couple more have been released, I own a size 6 sunsubiro and a size 4 marinea. both wraps are 'wrap quality'-wise almost the same, that's why I'm making one review for both of them.

The reason Pellicano baby is my favorite brand, is the bright and happy colors, as you know from my previous reviews on other wraps and brands I love colors in my wraps. If you look in my dresser you can see my clothes are very boring, lots of white and black and sometimes some yellow or red never anything to flashy. Well my wraps are something different, I always loved color but am to shy to wear flashy shirts or trousers and get to much attention, but when I'm babywearing I feel confident and I like to show that through the wraps I use.

So, let's talk about the wrapping qualities of these heartweave pellicano baby wraps.
What you notice even before washing them for the fist time is how unbelievable soft they are, like a soft blanket. The 2, 100% coton ones I have don't need any breaking in time, you wash them, iron them and they are soft straight away. I wrapped a 3 month old aswell as my son in marinea and my son of 2.5 years old with sunsubiro and these wraps are perfect for both toddlers and newborns, I have used both wraps a lot since they came to live with me, so I tried a lot of carries with both by now, both are great and very supportive with my todder in single as well as multi-layered carries. The wraps are very mouldable so perfect for nice chestpasses in backcarries and also great to put around a newborn to get a cosy cocoon around them. They have a nice amount of stretch and a little bounce when wrapping. I also really like that the wraps aren't to slippery, thanks to the texture of this weave all passes stay in place and are great to use with slingrings as you don't have to retighten them every few minutes. I like to use rings to finish my carries lately, and with these heartweaves I like them even more, as the finish is much smaller with a slingring then with a knot. When making a knot you easily have a bulky knot and especially when your wrap is a bit heavier or blanket like. A slingring is then perfect to get a nice finish.
These wraps I think are perfect for every time a year except for our hot summer months here in the south-west of France, as they feel a bit blanket like they are a little to hot for me to wrap with when the temperature goes above 30 degrees. I like a thinner coton or even better a linen, or hemp blend more when it's to hot, or I use a ssc or onbu when it's really really hot.

Pellicano baby is a Polish brand, wraps are released through there site with timed releases where fastest fingers are very usefull. All wraps are machine woven in very limited amounts.
Here is the link to their site on internet:  http://pellicanobaby.com/
Pellicano baby also has a facebook page where they announce all the releases. https://www.facebook.com/Pellicanobaby/?fref=ts
If you want to know more and love to see pictures of more of their wraps you can also go have a look at their fanpage, there is one for only spam and one for bst purposes here are the links to both.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PellicanoBabySpam/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/pellicanobaby/


Enough said now let's check out these lovely wraps in the pictures below.

first up is sunsubiro:

 

 

 

followed by the lovely marinea

Review Poewovens herringbone river ringsling

Review Poewovens herringbone river ringsling

100% Tencel® Light Green & Bright Blue, Approx 300 g/m2

This Poewovens ringsling came to me all the way from the united states and when Poewovens send you something it comes with a fantastic gift! Maple sugar candy, the most delicious candy I've ever tried! Such a shame I can't buy those here in France.
The ringsling arrived super soft and the color is just so pretty and basic at the same time. Tencel is such a lovely blend to have in a wrap as it's so soft and yet very supportive and also very breathable and airy to use here in France where I live where the summer can be really really hot.

I've been using this ringsling now for about a month or 2,3 and it has become my favorite ringsling, and with that also my sons favorite, he constantly asks to be carried in it, which, I'm not going to deny, I love very much. Which babywearing mom wouldn't love it when her 2.5 year old just comes over and 'asks' to be wrapped!
I have only tried this sling with my 2.5 year old but it's so so soft that I'm 100% sure this will be a perfect newborn sling. This one is without a doubt coming with me to the hospital in 3 months when our second baby is born, yay for a little squich close to mommy the first day of his/her life, right?

The fabric of this sling is like I already mentioned very soft and floppy, but at the same time very supportive, it is very mouldable to your baby's body whitout getting saggy to quickly, which I like a lot.
I have tried a lot of ringslings and some wraps are just not suitable to be used as a ringsling because the fabric just doesn't slide easily through the rings which makes it difficult to quickly tighten and loosen your sling, or just the other way around, the fabric is to slippery and doesn't stay in place, and who wants a sling you have to tighten every 2 minutes, not me that's for sure!
This herringbone wrap is to me the perfect ringsling, it is easy to pull through the rings and has the right amount of grip to keep the fabric from slipping back again.
I know, I'm bragging about this sling now, but well I just love it and it's the sling my son keeps getting of of the shelf so I'm pretty sure he loves it to, I just hope he is up to sharing when he becomes a big brother.

Now let me tell you a little bit about ringslings in general. (And this is my personal opinion about ringslings).
I love ringslings with older babies and toddlers for quick ups, it's so easy when you have a baby that is already walking or running around. They constantly want up/down/up/down/up/down, well you know how it is ;) A ringsling is very easy to just keep around you while on a walk to put your baby in, adjust the rings a little and there you go, if they want to walk again, just pull the rings down a little get baby out and off they go again. I also use my ringslings a lot to quickly go in to a store when I only need a few things and am not using a cart, it's just so easy and fast to put your baby in for those quick ups. You still have your hands free to carry what you need and don't have meters of fabric to knot for those 5 minutes you have to carry your baby.
But, I never really use a ringsling for longer then 15/20 min as it quickly hurts my shoulders, I have tried lots of different blends and brands of ringslings and they are just not for me for long walks. The most supportive ringsling I tried up till today is this poewoven one, thank you tencel!
I started using ringslings when my son was about 1 year old so I can't say yet if I like it with a newborn as I haven't used it often enough with a newborn, only a few quick ups with my friend's baby's. I will let you know in a few months if I like it or not.

If you want more info about how to use a ringsling, you can have a look at this great tutorial video from poewovens on 'how to use a ringsling', it gives you a great visual and step by step guide on how to use your ringsling. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0dAJeOEll8



Ok back to poewovens now.
Poewovens is an American based and machine woven brand. Poewovens was founded in 2013 by Nancy Sunderland who is still the sole owner of this lovely brand. You can go have a look at their site http://www.poewovens.com/ wraps and ringslings are sold here.

Also check out their official facebook page and facebook fangroup 'poe precinct', for more info and to stay informed about sales and new releases.

https://www.facebook.com/PoesieTissee/?fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PoePrecinct/

And off course, I have loads of pictures of this lovely poewoven herringbone river ringsling that lives with me here in France.


Detailed pic of the herringbone patern with the poewoven label.

And yes like I said a ringsling is perfect for when your baby is not being wrapped to keep yourself warm or just to have a a nice scarf ;)

 

 And yes this sling is very daddy approved here at my house. My husband doesn't really like using wraps as it is to much of a hassle for him, but he does use a ssc a lot and from time to time he uses a sling. I love how my 2 boys look together, all the love for daddy babywearing!!

Review Madalo mini diamond acuario blanco

Review Madalo mini diamond acuario blanco

This wrap was approximatly 4,70m, 100% coton approx. 360 gr/m

I had the chance to test out my first madalo wrap, when I first saw it I was stunned to see how amazingly beautiful the colors where. It makes me think of a cotton candy rainbow, and I looooove cotton candy, a cloud of pure sugar delight.

This wrap is a 100% coton handwoven, pretty heavy wrap, but feels not as heavy in hand as you would expect of this m/gr

I had a very busy week when I had this wrap at the house so we didn't have the chance to go out and get some nice pictures but we did get to use it on a few walks. I loved how supportive, soft and mouldable this wrap is, a real joy to wrap with. My 2.5 year old was weightless and the cush on my shoulders was just heaven! This wrap is very mouldable and has a lot of stretch which makes it an easy wrap to wrap with despite it's thickness, I tried single and double layered carries with it and all the passes slip so easily in place and don't move thanks to the texture of the wrap.
I think this is a lovely wrap for all seasons except high summer (here in the south west of France) the wrap has a blanket like feel to it which is great but to heavy to wrap with in our (usually) hot summer season.
I would recommend this wrap for toddlers and babies but think it would be a little to heavy and thick to use easily with a newborn.

All Madalo's wraps are 100% cotton, handwoven in Mexico and then shipped to the main office in Germany. All wraps are released in limited amounts and released on their facebookpage by draw to purchase and on the fanpages through fastest fingers.
Here the link to the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MADALOhandmade/?fref=ts
They also have a site where you can go have a look if you want to know more about the weaving process and for more info about babywearing http://www.madalo.de/English

And off course here a few pictures from madalo mini diamond acuario blanco, I also added few pictures of an other of their wraps which is named frida rosa, Frida rosa is also an amazingly soft and supportive wraps.

                                                                            acuario blanco:

 

 

frida rosa: