One sling for the entire family!

I am a baby wearing sling fanatic. I think they are the one absolutely must needed item on a baby registry as you will use them from the day you bring your baby home until well into the toddler years. The biggest downfall of slings thus far is up till now all the slings I have used are fitted to the user so if there are multiple people who want to use your sling (mom, dad, grandma, grandpa) you may end up having to buy several slings.. or you may find as you loose weight after a pregnancy or become pregnant again your old sling may not fit. My postpartum slings are already starting to have this issue and so far we are dealing with it.. but it's an expensive proposition to have to rebuy my slings in a new size!

The Baby Bee Sling from Honeywear is a new ingenious sling that will adjust to fit just about every user and any sized baby/toddler. You actually end up with three adjustment points to custom fit the sling to your needs. Unlike a traditional sling that just fits over your head and is basicly a large loop of fabric, the Baby Bee Sling has a buckle which makes it a bit more user friendly for those of you that may not be as experienced with a traditional sling as well a large amount of adjustment right at the shoulder to raise or lower the sling. (I prefer a sling to hit me right at the naval for a front or cradle hold, and a bit lower for a hip or back hold, this sling allows me to raise or lower the height depending on how I am using the sling!) The other two adjustment points are on both sides of the sling itself which allows you to loosen or tighten the "cradle" of the sling depending on your needs. I find this particularly helpful to give a bit more support when using a hip or back hold!

Check out the Baby Bee Sling on Honeywear's web site!

I've been looking for something just like this!!!

Is that not just the prettiest Mei Tai you have ever seen? I donno, something about the simple design and those white straps is just stunning. The Picara Baby Mei Tai comes in several color options, but hands down this is my favorite.

Ever since the first time I put one on, Ive been a huge fan of Mei Tai Carriers. There is nothing better for carrying an older baby on your back, and they are a thousand times more comfortable than those mass marketed backpack baby carriers that you see at major stores.

My only complaint to date has been I've never really enjoyed using a Mei Tai in a front hold or with a young baby. Its not that they are not superb its simply a matter of my height verses the carrier. Most Mei Tais have a large padded neck piece, which is great but if your super short like me, it actually becomes a bit of a hindrance when using the carrier in a front position as it interferes with my field of vision and mobility.

With that said the Picara Baby Mei Tai is really unusual in the fact that instead of using padded more rigid areas on the carrier it uses a really fluid one piece design that molds around your baby or toddler making it unnecessary to use extra padding to keep the carrier's shape. That one piece construction makes the carrier one of the most comfortable Mei Tais I have ever worn as it allows the carrier to fit a bit snugger as well as eliminating any extra bulk which in especially a front hold gives a lot more movement without sacrificing function. The back on the Picara Baby Mei Tai comes up high enough that is properly supportive as well on younger babies. For those of you who relish style as much as function, the clean lines give this carrier the most modern look of all the Mei Tai's I have reviewed to date.

If your looking for a Mei Tai especially for a younger baby or to be used a lot as a front carrier I would HIGHLY recommend the Picara Baby Mei Tai. It also tested very well as a back carrier though for super long trips I may still be tempted to use a Mei Tai with a padded neck area encase of sudden naps, but if comfort is a huge priority this one would rank easily in my top 5 most comfortable as well as on my top 5 prettiest carrier list.

Picara Baby also offers a great line of ring slings and wraps.
To get 15% off your next order use this LINK to order.

Picara Baby has donated a carrier of your choice from their collection (minus the organics) to one lucky reader!!

To enter :

• Leave a comment on this post. Check out Picara Baby and let us know which carrier/color is your favorite, as well as what type of carrier is your favorite if you have a preference.
  
• No "i want to win" stuff without a little effort (and I do mean little!)
• Make sure there is a way for me to contact you - if your email address is not on your profile or you are not a blogger you may leave it in your comment or email it to me directly (angelaandconnor at gmail dot com) We have had to disqualify a lot of potential winners as of late as many people do not have emails available in their profiles or leave anonymous posts without any way to contact you.
• Please US entries only.
• To get extra credit :
• For an extra entry :
• Bloggers - Blog about this contest and leave me the link on your comment, or add me to your sidebar and let me know its there.
• Non Bloggers (or bloggers) subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed and earn another entry!
• One extra credit per person. Please post your extra credit in a separate post.
• This contest will end May 10th at midnight!

Babywearing eyecandy!

For those of you that have not seen Bronwen Handcrafted's wares before now when it comes to babywearing chic she has you covered!

Modern, Chic, and Tastefully designed all of the baby products at Bronwen Handcrafted leave you drooling on your computer monitor. Ive been staring at this ring sling made from the most beautiful Marimekko fabric for weeks. Have you seen anything more beautiful? Hmm.. This Marimekko sling also by Bronwen Handcrafted is a pretty close runner up!

Along with Ring Slings, Bronwen Handcrafted offers a amazing selection of gorgeous baby products including mei tai's, podaegis, pouch slings, adorable baby shoes, stunningly gorgeous quilts, and fabulous jewelry. All made from top quality designer fabrics all those fashion goddesses out there will highly appreciate.

I ended up going with the black silk Mei Tai, though that Marimekko black and white ring sling was awfully tempting. I am most comfortable carrying Connor on my back at this point and I love the security a mei tai and the simplicity of the black silk combined with the ability to actually accomplish my chores on one of Connor's super cranky days, makes this one a winner in my book.

For all of those dad's out there looking for that perfect mother's day gift for their beautiful wives, girlfriends, mothers.. May I highly suggest you check out the Amphrities necklace in the Bronwen Handcrafted Etsy shop. Its personally on high on my mother's day gift wishlist!

You can visit Bronwen on her webpage as well as her Etsy shop!

OOO. You seriously cannot have just one!

I love slings, but for me to say I would like one of EVERY sling a vendor is selling is downright absurd.. but in this case I really would like to have one of each. I must have spent an hour trying to decide which one I had to have... and the choice was hard.

Polkadot Papoose sells the most scrumptious slings I have seen, they are so downright yummy I guarantee you will have the same problems as I did when it comes to picking out which one you want. All of her slings are made from very high quality cotton fabric, are fully reversible, and each side is just as pretty as the last. I ended up going with the Melanie sling I'm showing here but I really was torn between Melanie, Elizabeth, Cosette, and Sayuri. Melanie won out as I had a cousin named Melanie who passed away a few years ago, so not only was the design gorgeous but I just happend to love the name as well.

Baby wearing makes you the odd man out in Alabama, but the first day out in my new Polkadot Papoose sling I ended up getting a lot less weird looks and a lot more people coming up to me asking me about my sling, and even wanting to touch it. Normally I get some strange looks, hippy comments, and the occasional "OMG I have one of those but I never wear it in public" remarks. The reversible aspect is super nice as I can just flip it over if I get tired of the flowers and vice versa. Connor likes to use the little pouch on the side to hide the pacifiers from me that I am always attempting to steal from him.

I am so tempted to ask for the Elizabeth sling for mother's day. Yum.

You must go over and see all the slings at Polkadot Papoose for yourself. If your looking for your first sling or a "dressy" sling, its a must see!

A new adventure in baby wearing - Mei Tais!

I was late in the game for a baby wearer and I highly regret not jumping on the band wagon earlier, but honestly carriers look scary and as much as I adore my wraps there is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to getting them adjusted just right. Not that I am nit picking wraps at all, oh no, but when it comes to wearing a baby on your back especially for long periods of time there is nothing that can beat a Mei Tai!!! (at least that I have found so far.. feel free to prove me wrong)

As Connor has gotten older and much squirmier wearing him on my front is just not comfortable anymore, seeing as I am 4'10 and though he is tiny as well his length is already longer than my torso so when I have him up front its like walking around with another whole person constantly in your way and its impossible for me to get anything done now. I miss being able to snuggle him and have him wrapped to my chest, but such is the life of a growing soon to be toddler. Though we still use our other carriers very regularly I realized a month or two ago that it was time to start researching a mei tai for our long walks, shopping, and routine chores. Ive been drooling over BabyHawk Mei Tais since before Connor was born and honestly I wish I would have just ponied up and bought one from the beginning. Mei Tai are SOO much easier to tie than a traditional wrap and though the options on wrap methods may be a little more limited, if your in a hurry and your child is attempting to climb up your back and/or bounce his way to freedom much like Connor does, the last thing you want to worry about in the parking lot of Target is trying to remember the wrap method you want to use, or trying to adjust all that fabric.

Though I don't know If I will ever been comfortable enough to put Connor on my back by myself, my carrier illiterate mom can easily help me get Connor on my back and tied in with our BabyHawk in under thirty seconds. Not to mention with the padded shoulders and padded neck rest the BabyHawk Mei Tai is SUPER comfortable even on long trips and Connor can easily fall asleep in the carrier without looking horribly uncomfortable or slumping over on my back. I think what has been holding me back for so long in using a Mei Tai is in the pictures they look so stiff and bulky, I am so happy to report that is just not the case, though the Baby Hawk Mei Tai has a bit more padding and substance than some of the other Mei Tais I have for review I do not feel overwhelmed even with my small stature by the BabyHawk Mei Tai's shape at all, nor do I find them at all stiff, if anything its by far the most secure carrier I have used to date (that includes those structured carriers as I always had the worst time adjusting!) .

If your looking for a carrier that will comfortably take you from newborn to toddlerville the BabyHawk is an excellent choice. Its also one size fits all so if you have more than one wearer in the household it can go from Mom to Grandma to Daddy without a blink. Its also by far the most customizable of all the carriers that I have seen to date on the market with a huge choices of patterns, strap colors, and even the option of sending in your own fabric so you can truely get exactly what your looking for!

If you'd like to try out a BabyHawk go visit their online store, as well its always fun to play with their design center and pick and choose diffrent fabrics to find something thats is uniquely you!

Sleepy Wrap as comfy as your favorite tshirt!

I'm not sure how you guys feel about wearing your carriers all day.. but this one may just change your mind if your on the fence about baby wearing.

Though I find pouch slings easy to just throw on there is no denying that the Sleepy Wrap is by far the most comfortable and secure carrier we have tested to date. So comfortable in fact that I don't mind wearing it all day even when Connor is not in it! The fabric reminds me of a favorite t shirt, soft, stretchy, and I do not find it hot even in warm weather.

The thing I've always found tricky for me in baby wearing is I am VERY short with an overly large chest area... so some carriers just do not fit me as well as they should so I always have to find creative ways to compensate. With a wrap thats not an issue as I can tighten it as tight or as loose as I need to just with an extra wrap around my waist. The stretchiness of this wrap makes that extra wrapping no sweat as regardless of how many times I have to tighten it or loosen it, the wrap itself always stays comfortable for me and Connor.

We are still really new to wraps but we had no problems figuring out the front hold positions and I love the fact that I can tuck Connor's head inside even while he is sitting upright if he falls asleep not to mention basically being able to cover him completely if its cold .. who needs a jacket when you have a wrap? Even at 10 months he is still VERY comfortable facing in or out in a front wrap. Though we are still working on the back wrap with some help I can get him in one fairly easily and I LOVE wearing Connor on my back. Talk about being able to get some stuff done without having the munchkin crawling after you at high speeds. I highly recommend it on those cranky days too!

Sleepy Wrap comes in an assortment of solid colors I personally LOVE the light blue and green!

Want one?

Go on over to Sleepy Wrap and get one for yourself!

Baby Carrier Review : Pippalily Slings + GIVEAWAY!!

For the first time EVER when I went to pick out a sling from Pippalily I just could not choose.. they are all equally gorgous!!

If a sling could truely be "going out worthy" the silk brocade slings from Pippalily are as beautiful as they are functional. When I put mine on with no matter what Im wearing its like wearing a pair of fancy shoes, you just feel better.

One feature I will note about this pouch slings is the section where the seams meet (in a hip or back hold this is the "seat" area) is a bit deeper than my other pouch slings, personally I feel this gives the baby a bit more security as its a lot easier to get the baby deeper in the sling. When using these slings in a back hold especially I feel SOO much more secure as Connor sits deeper into the pouch than he does in his other slings. The silk also seems so much lighter and cooler than my cotton slings which is great with the upcoming summer weather in Alabama and Florida, I'm sure Connor will appreciate that on our long evening walks. I also appreciate the fact that I actually feel pretty in my workout clothes thanks to these slings. That alone is a miracle in itself.

I picked out the blue dragonfly fabric but I have to say I'm pretty partial to the chocolate dragon as well. I just had such a problem picking I told Victoria over at Pippalily to choose for me!

Want one?

Head on over to Pippalily and check out their slings for yourself. I promise you will have as hard of a time as I did picking out the one for you as you will want them all!!!

Win one!!

Pippalily is offering a sling to one winner in their choice of color/patterns.

To enter :

• Leave a comment on this post. Go check out Pippalily and look through their entire collection. Come back and let me know which sling and size you would choose if you won!! No "i want to win" stuff without a little effort (and I do mean little!)
• Make sure there is a way for me to contact you - if your email address is not on your profile or you are not a blogger you may leave it in your comment or email it to me directly (angelaandconnor at gmail dot com) We have had to disqualify a lot of potential winners as of late as many people do not have emails available in their profiles or leave anonymous posts without any way to contact you.
• Please US entries only.
• To get extra credit :
• For an extra entry :
• Bloggers - Blog about this contest and leave me the link on your comment, or add me to your sidebar and let me know its there.
• Non Bloggers (or bloggers) subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed and earn another entry!
• One extra credit per person. Please post your extra credit in a separate post.
• This contest will end March 2nd at midnight!

Carrier Review : Chic Papoose

Gone are the days of ugly nylon baby carriers (at least for the moms in the know!)

I have been wearing my Chic Papoose baby sling all week and I have had nothing but complements on it! We actually went to the doctors office several times this week sporting our sling (ok I would have rather not gone to the doctor's office) and it was a relief to not have to drag in a huge stroller while I was not feeling so great and Connor loved to be able to lay his head on my shoulder as I'm sure he was feeling about as great as I was! ugg.

The best part about this sling though is its fabric. Most slings are made out of a plane cotton, or a plain silky type material, but not this sling. Depending on which sling you buy the sling is fully reversible and Chic Papoose uses a bold blend of fabric that I have yet to see in another sling company. Mine is similar to this one (the Riley) with a stripped cotton twill on the outside and a soft solid color very soft solid material on the inside. Though I usually wear mine striped side out I usually have to do a flip at the shoulder to tighten up my sling (as I'm super short) and you end up seeing both sides which gives the sling a little extra flair. We actually had another mom run us down in Target to ask us about the sling as its so unusual.

I actually feel fashionable wearing this sling around and it tends to dress up whatever your wearing.. the sling itself ends up becoming a important part of your outfit and seeing as I'm the Queen of solid colored clothing, the Chic Papoose is usually my fanciest accessory. If you haven't tried a sling carrier yet, this particular one is good from newborns up to toddlers, and there is not a huge amount of stretch in this pouch sling which is great for when your carrying an older heavier child in the hip hold.

We actually tried a pouch sling back when Connor was first born and he hated it.. well now I know why.. it didn't fit nor did it hang well.. I'm not going to name names but my faith in pouch slings has defently been restored after wearing this one around all week. I only wish we would have tried them again sooner!! We actually accomplished our first 5 block walk yesterday thanks to the Chic Papoose since Connor was born!

Want one?
Browse through Chic Papoose's current selection of slings. I really love the Riley but all of them are wonderful, you can purchase them directly from their web page.