What to wear!

[natcat007]

Hi,

As a relative newbie (DD 1 week old!) I was wondering if anyone had any tips on what to wear when carrying baby in a sling.

So far I have a dulce & zoet pouch sling, a Hug a Bug and a Babyhawk mei tai in my collection but have only tried the pouch so far as she's so small. But I'm keen to get out and about and show off my wee girl asap and was wondering if anyone had any tips for beating the winter weather?

Sarah

[Becklesfield]

Hi Sarah

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Wow, only one week old!

I hope the birth went well and you're settling into motherhood smoothly :D

I had a Hug a Bub when Mila was born and I basically just wore oversized cardigans (or actually, my normal cardigans that were very stretchy) to wrap around her and then a normal jacket. She was born in March and it was still pretty chilly for a while. I guess for when it's horrid you could still wear a maternity coat for an extra layer. I found that the Hug a Bub had enough layers plus the cardigan that it worked well. Although I now recall that when it was raining and windy I did take my jacket off and drape it over her so you could think about a MaM Coat or a MaM Babywearing Cover. www.naturalmothering.co.uk does the covers, though I see they're run out of the Duluxe version, but you can get that on http://www.cwtshi.com/Products/meitaiinstock.htm (and they also have a blue version of the cover). They're really reasonable at under £30.

I'm sure someone else can let you know where to find the coats, as I'm struggling to find a URL at the mo and Mila is wanting me to finish this post!!!

Good luck!

xx

[KNorman]

I have a mamajacket http://www.mamajacket.com/ beautiful but expensive! - works back and front and makes a nice coat without baby so should last years.

The basic idea is a zip in insert that goes in the front or back of the jacket and gives the extra space for the baby.

A maternity coat should do the job for a little one on the front - or a a piece of material with zips up the side that could zip into an existing coat would work.

[Mia]

Hug-aBub, Mam-cover (vinter is enough!) and a hat on your baby and your normal coat is perfect! If you do have these "mittensclips" it is perfect to help your jacket to stay together on front! It is like a stretchy string with one clip in each end if you know what i mean... !

[rachel]

Wow, you're organized on the sling-front, and congrats on the new arrival!

I can add that I've found very long tops are best under the sling - my ones that would normally come down to my waist ride up under the kari-me (like hug-a-bub) and get me draughty (also revealed ze jelly-belly after birth!).

Also, tops that allow access to boobs from the top are handy if you're breastfeeding. Pulling up your t-shirt from the bottom is more discreet, but a bit fiddly with sling on (although perfectly possible).

Don't forget to get pattered tops to hide puke, dribble n snot! I got a nice long black top with buttoned front especially - soon discovered my error! :P

Enjoy.