Drawings

When not wrapping (or when wrapping and the wee one sleeps) I often feel the need to be creative. The last few days while staying home with feverish kids I have drawn some pictures.

Review Oscha Tian Ma Kai 3

I love linen. I love the strength in the fabric and I love the lightweight. And with my background, being a former horse groom I found myself ISO OschaTian Ma Kai. A lovely woman sold me hers, fully Broken in and in perfect condition. It is a size 3 and I discovered I can't tie as many carries as I could with a longer wrap. However, challenge accepted, and today I learnt how to do a double hammock with ring finish. With this nice shorty.

I find the wrap a bit too soft for my toddler, which might as well be because of my inexperience as a shorty wearer. If he had been still I'm sure I had been able to tighten with more patience...

Tian Ma Kai is soft and with little stretch. I thinu it suits younger babies better than my toddler.

Some thoughts

I've had trouble sleeping these past few weeks, due to disease and stress. When I got home from work today I wrapped my youngest and hoped to calm us down, but didn't succeed. I know wrapping needs to be Done when needed, but I had hoped for a better result, without popping seats and loud weeping. Yet, some days only the mother wants to babywear whereas the child does not.

I don't know where I'm going with this post, just discussing without aim... Probably too tired to think straight.

Is it addictive to babywear?

I'm not sure whether babywearing is addictive, but I've discovered there is more to it than just carrying a child. The closeness and the attachment, the comfort and the health benefits. I don't care how everyone else carries their child, the importance is that they do whatever is best for them.

I have several dream wraps, one of them is a Danu. I would love to try an Irish wrap with poetry woven into it... The only wraps I don't dare trying are wool blend wraps, as I know I'm too careless to handle wool. I want to test wraps and as you can see, I take crappy selfies, because that is all I can do on my own... And I'm sure I'm not alone in that respect. However, this testing of wraps could be seen as an addiction to some. To me it is about perfection. I have my Girasol which will follow me to the end of days, perfect as a squish wrap, and I have a toddlerproof wrap. But I want to try out if there is something better than the toddler wrap...

I want to tell parents to try babywearing, if only for cuddles. I don't think there are any negative side effects of babywearing.

You don't need twenty wraps in your stash, you don't need to join in every draw to purchase the newest fanciest high end wrap. You could get along with only one wrap. ❤️

Review Wauggl Bauggl Pearls Proto sz4

I won this pink dream in one of Wauggl Bauggl hosted giveaway and I am still amazed by its strength. It is a thick and heavy wrap, and it took quite some time to break it in. I've been working hard with it, and now it is soft and cuddly. It is a perfect size 4 and I use it for my favorite carries, kangaroo and simple rucksack. It is grippy enough to carry with a simple knot but feels a bit "shiny" because of the combed Cotton. These Pearls are very strong because of the thickness, but I have discovered two pulls that need to be fixed. This is my first Wrap to get pulls so I need to learn how to fix them...

As for facts - I don't have a clue about gsm but it feels thick... Over 300 I'm sure...😊 it is woven with combed Cotton and another kind of Cotton, (sorry my brains aren't with me... Nor are my Google skills...) and it is a happy wrap! Noone could resist a smile when seeing it...😊

It is a true toddler wrap and I think it could easily carry up to 18-20kilos without too much effort. It is not too forgiving though, so experience and patience are useful skills in this department.

I love my Pearls and as this wrap has triggered my son to say his first word: "åka!" (The Swedish equivalent of Up!) I will keep it forever.

Better late than never.

Yesterday I traded my BabyBjörn One for an Ergobaby and that might be the best trade ever. At least for me 😊. My lo was very happy this morning while trying it for the first time, but it sure is no quick-up carrier, that is for sure... Lots of adjustments and fixing and wearing it outside the winter jacket was almost impossible. There the Ergo can't compete with the mt...

Review - Pollora Jolly van Orange

Review Pollora Jolly van Orange size 4.

72% linen, 28% Cotton

Gsm: 220

I have a secret fascination for linen and therefore I want to try linen blends, when it comes to babywearing. I won a giveaway at Pollora and the choice was easy: linen it is! And although I'm not a skull and skeleton fan, this pirate wrap makes me happy with its Halloween-like colors and the shimmering in both the Brown and the orange. The high percentage of linen makes the gsm quite low, and therefore the wrapping qualities surprised me!

Here are my comments - uncensored:

I find it easy to get a tight wrap, thin yet with surprisingly good grip. Carries 11kgs as weightless. A bit tricky to tighten the carry if there are slacks, but I find the wrap almost rock solid when tying the knot. Feels a lot easier than my all-Cotton wraps both when it comes to wrapping and weightwise. The only problem I had was how to wash it properly, but I think I succeeded with a delicate low-temp wash.

All in all, Jolly van Orange has proven itself a very nice linen wrap and I am even more convinced that linen is the thing for me. The pricing of Jolly van Orange also makes it a very valuable wrap, and I think it is rather luxurious for its cost.

Everyday babywearing.

What is most important to me is to have a functional way of dealing with the everyday stuff, like laundry, cooking, cleaning, shopping and nursing. Being a mother of two means lots and lots of laundry... My fiancé is very helpful and we share the work quite equally, but there are always new things to fix around the house. Hence babywearing functions as a convenient way of babysitting. Someone has stated that cleaning with toddlers is like removing snow in a blizzard (yes, the idiomatic expression is directly translated...😁) but with the little one on my back I can get things done...

Choosing my first wrap.

The advice I got when searching for a woven wrap was to find a wrap I found pretty, because a pretty wrap meant I'd probably use it more often than if I stared at the costs. I consulted Linda, whom I've presented briefly in a previous post, and asked a thousand questions about which brands to choose and avoid, and I spent a lot of time hanging on the Swedish Facebook group/forum Bärsjalar. A happy coincidence made me see a Girasol Metamorphosis in my Instagram feed, and I followed the hashtag. It was as surreal as looking into the wardrobe in Narnia. Wraps everywhere, blurry selfies mixed with stylistic pro pictures, and all colors possible. And there it was. The WRAP. I just knew it. A Girasol Firework. I fell in love.

But the problem was that the wrap was sold out in the German store and the Swedish store KnytAn didn't have it at all. I longed for it and when I happened to find it at Wearababy - you know, the maker of Wompat carriers - I co-ordered it with the excellent Mama Bear's (Swedish online shop) and then I waited another month...

I got the Girasol and was amazed by its softness. As I had read it is important to wash the wrap before using it (if not, the weave might not be fixed) I threw the wrap in the Washing machine and the next day I planned to try it on. I studied videos on how to wrap and tried and tried. The wrap was a perfect beginner's wrap, forgiving and loving. It helped me get my little one close and it was like carrying a cloud on my shoulders. I carried for hours and hours and we both loved it. And there we are now. My Girasol is my very best friend and it will stay regardless what happens.

Why I wear my children

I told you my story in the very first post, so I won't go on nagging about that, although the pna (post natal anxiety) is present every now and then, and it has become part of who I am.

I find attachment parenting interesting and for me it is important to bond with my children the best way I can. Through babywearing I can keep my children close and yet get things done in the house. I can please their needs and while the younger one sleeps on my back I can play with the four-year-old. I can go grocery shopping and I can sneak a snuggle if I need.

This wrap is a Pollora Jolly van Orange and the carry is a FWCC tied under bum. Review to be written later on.

Welcome to my new blog about babywearing and wraps!

I'd like to give you all a warm Welcome to this blog! My name is Towe and I am a proud mother of two sons. My journey to babywearing started when expecting my youngest. I had carried my older child in a BabyBjörn carrier and knew that I wanted to try wraps, but by then I didn't know what part of importance babywearing would play in my life. I borrowed a homemade stretchy wrap from a dear friend and wrapped my little one from day three. When he was about two months old I broke down and literally wept uncontrollably for two weeks without knowing the reason. Sus and Linda, who are one of the wisest friends I have, told me to see a therapist, and I did. 

Half a year with regular therapist sessions followed and I got help and methods for dealing with this post natal anxiety. I had no psychological strength to babywear in the beginning after the breakdown, but my son refused to be pushed in a stroller, so after a few weeks I gave the stretchy another go. And when feeling how the attachment and bond grew stronger I decided to go all in wrapping. I bought a cheap ring sling and ordered my first woven wrap, a Girasol Firework. And now, a year of babywearing has passed and I can tell you that choosing to wear my children is the best choice I have ever made.