Wearing Baby

This is so amazing... a Mommy playing this YangQin-like instrument while slinging baby!


And this Mommy is kneading bread. Reminds me of slinging the boys and swinging them to my back when I prepared food & cooked so that their busy little hands would not be able to reach out so far .

Sling: Hip Carry

The Hip Carry is generally for older babies of at least 5mths or older, when they have better upper body/neck control. We do have pictorial instructions that you can study:
. Step-by-Step Hip-Carry Pictorial Instructions

Do note that the bottom edge of the sling is to be brought all the way over the baby down to behind their knees. The baby would *sit down* over this bottom edge. The upper edge of the sling is wrapped up the baby's upper back. For older babies(as in above pix of the 7month-old baby), this sling edge can be up to the armpits.

And for the shoulder portion - do make sure it is well-spread over the shoulder so that weight is distributed well. Do not have it edged into the crook of your neck for instance. Or have the ring around the neck either. That would be super-painful and tiring!

For Younger babies(as in pix below), the upper edge of the sling should be wrapped all the way over their shoulders.


Babies, or even the Big Ones, will always be happy to be close to you, and at the level where they can talk & communicate more easily with you.

Cool Dads!

Many have the idea that the sling is only a woman-useable item, but hey, look at these cool dads!

In the Snuggle Front-carry:


Kangaroo-Style:



Lying Down:



Piggyback:

Reunion

We succumbed to having dinner out. Had to plan it early in the evening, starting at 530pm so that we could be done and back home while it was not too late. The baby just starts fussing big-time if we are not at home after 7+pm. He just seems to have some internal clock.





I wore baby in a lovely magenta red silk sling (hey, I think it's one of those that one of you customers rejected!), and a Mandy Wrap top in Red.

Waiting Game

As JR doesn't like to take expressed milk, he ends up accompanying everywhere. BB & I have spent much of the holidays shopping (for nothing in particular) and basically "waiting". Here's one of those times, but at least he's asleep here - much to my relief!


I thought it was so cute that he was hugging me as he slept:

I'm using a silk sling here & wearing the Selina Top.

Camera-Action!

It was one of the loooooooooongest photoshoots I've ever done. Little JR refused to be put down, and only wanted me.

(Model wearing Rachel Scrunch Top)

So I had to carry Baby JR while styling the models, ironing, and organising the clothes and taking the photos. Had to balance somewhat with baby on me.

He nursed......


.....and he slept, & he played. Cheeky fella...

And I was super-exhausted after the photoshoot!

Going to Church

As it is every Sunday, we go to Church.

It does tend to be a fairly stressful outing for me as I would always be worrying that the baby might kick up a fuss and cry during service. This is often every new parents' concern. Many new mothers would worry as to whether it is alright to nurse in church too (yeah, it is ok!).

If baby is sleeping and shows any sign of waking, I'd quickly try to nurse him before he starts to cry. On the other hand, if baby is awake and looking around when the service is going on, I'd look out for signs that he is getting tired and needs to nurse to sleep. That's me keeping alert so as not to have baby & me creating a scene in church - baby fussing with his cries and me fussing with trying to latch him on to nurse and quieten him down. Oh well, and there are times when the rocking, swaying, or nursing does not work and baby still wails ..... I'd have no choice but to spend a good part of the service outside pacifying baby JR.

Today, baby was fairly manageable. He was sleeping, waking only to nurse. Whew! (Nursing in my trusty Selina Top and a beautiful silk sling).

Shopping with Baby

Going out to the stores with baby is quite a journey to be planned for. I can't say it's mostly a breeze bc with baby "on" me, usually, I can walk and see the items, but it is rare that I can stand to *study* the items I want to buy. I generally would have to have an idea what I need to get, and then just pluck them off the shelves/racks quickly.

I'd need to allow extra time in my shopping trip in case I need to breastfeed the baby or to change baby's diapers. Believe me, after a 9year gap between babies, I do need to get the hang of nursing in public once again too! I had to think through how I could reach in to undo my bra discreetly but quickly, how to pull down and stretch out my nursing top and latch baby on - again, quickly but discreetly. Initially it was fairly nerve-wrecking. It has become easier with practice. So, for new mothers, trust me, you'll get the hang of it. Practise at home first if you need to! (Here in these photos, I am at Ikea with 2-month-old JR in a Navy Sateen Sling and nursing in a Selina Top)

See how I used the upright side-sitting position to carry JR so he can look around. This is very similar to the Hip Carry position. I have the edge of the sling up to his shoulders/neck for greater support since he's such a young baby.



I'm always happy when a much-needed trip out is at it's end, breathing a sigh of relief.

Here I am back from one such trip.

I was glad to be able to finally be able to fit into one of my favourite tops - the Belle Nursing Top , and after a tiring trip out, I was simply glad to crash out at home with baby nursing away.

Sashimi Pig-Out

Public Holiday! Dh & I went to Ikoi and gorged on sashimi and all our other faves. The different types of fish soup, the fish-head, the rolls, and the tempura.

Dh had toyed with the idea of bringing the carseat. Thankfully I decided against it. I was hoping to get a floor-seated table, but alas, being a public holiday, the place was so crowded although we had a nice, albeit small corner table. But it would not make sense to put a carseat on the floor in such a crowded place. Even a stroller would be at risk here!

JR was cosy in his sling, charming those at the next table for a while and fell asleep for the rest of the meal and all the way home, nursing off & on. Whew!!!! We managed to eat. And JR had delicious fishy milk after. *haha*

It's useful to wear nursing clothes with empire-waistline nursing access when nursing baby in the sling. This day, I wore a Liana Top - another of my favourites as this top is shapely and really flatters.

And for all those sashimi lovers out there - yes, it's ok to for breastfeeding mothers. The main danger is mother getting food poisoning from raw fish. If this happens, this usually stays localised in the gastrointestinal tract and does not pass into breastmilk. Mom might feel mighty terrible though! So do keep to established restaurants for clean sashimi.

Dining out with Babe

Certainly we'd like to have baby fit our lifestyle instead of the other way around. The only way to do this is just to bring breastfeeding baby with us. Practice makes perfect.

Here are some moms who show how they've done it! Nursing in public during meals out.

I love this photo. It's so natural.


Claudine with nursing baby at a wedding dinner, no less!


With young baby on a mothers' lunch-out at Thai Express.


Dining at Fish&Co, during a World Breastfeeding Week Event.



And that's me, nursing baby ... in a Selina Top & Sateen Sling .....

.............. while enjoying a refreshing dessert!

New: MIM Baby Pouch

At special introductory price of S$40 for the Month of March 2007 only!

A new way to wear your baby. Our new Baby Pouch keeps you & baby happy, it's comfortable and best of all, it's easy to use!

Use the same Baby Pouch from the Newborn Stage to Toddlerhood ! Carrying positions are the same as for the Sarong-Style Baby Slings: Cradle, Lying-Down, Side-Sitting, Kangaroo, Hip-Carry, Snuggle, Piggy-back.

Visit us at the Baby Pouch product webpage to buy!

BCF: Photos

We've been real busy at the Babycare Festival this weekend. Here's some of the "action":



More photos: Online Album

Keeping up with Baby

Following on with our posts yesterday on being busy with New Year preparations; one great way to keep up with baby is to carry baby in a sling.


With baby in the sling, you can have baby close to you. Baby will fuss less. You can talk about what you are doing and baby will learn more this way by sharing in your duties. You will be less inclined to put off breastfeeding your baby as he is close with you. You will also find it easier to be out & about with baby in a sling.




To learn more about using the sling, do take a look at our Instructional pages:
http://www.momsinmind.com.sg/demo.html

Do also take a look at photos of other parents - Moms & Dads, and even siblings, carrying babies in our sling!
http://www.momsinmind.com.sg/slingphotos.html