Welcome

[Aquila]

Welcome to the Isle of Wight section of Sling Meet.
The aim is to give us an area to arrange meet-ups and babywearing events, or to find someone near you who can help if you need a real life assistant!
Looking forward to getting to know other babywearing islanders :-)
Dont forget this is a public board so please dont post any personal details (phone no/addys) on here.

[lottieu]

Hello from all the way in ryde!!!

[mummysaz]

Hello
I grew up on the island and often visit my parents in Newport. It is great to escape with my daughters and go to the beach or the forest or Brading Downs for a Minghella ice cream! Argh - I am starting to get homesick!

[Sailorgirl]

Hello,

I am really glad to have found this! How are all you Island babywearers? How many of us are there? I live in Cowes and have recently purchased my fourth sling (an ella roo wrap) and have finally admited that I am addicted to them!

It's a gorgeous day today so going to pop my LO in his sling and go out to buy some grogeries in Farmers fayre, NEwport.

C

[mummysaz]

Hello!
I love the Newport Farmers Market...and personally I could not IMAGINE trying to push through there with a buggy! OMG!

[Aquila]

Hello! I am in East Cowes, so just across the water from you sailorgirl, good to see you here:) and hope to meet irl before too long!
mummysaz, I think I would get a tad homesick if I had grown up here and moved away, let us know when you come over for a visit, and if you have time come on over for a cuppa and a chinwag!

[em_ringer]

Hello from Sandown
My baby is due in July and I am looking forward to wearing her as much of the day as I can!
Would love to know your advise on which slings have been best for you.
Em
x

[Aquila]

Hi Em and welcome :)
Congrats on your pending new arrival, not long now....!
Do you have any slings already, or are you still at the looking stage?
I started out with a MC carrier which I rapidly decided was a disasterous buy....spent some time playing around with trying to make it more comfy but gave it up as a bad job pretty rapidly! Then, I tried yet another, more expensive MC carrier which was horrific too; I also at one stage had a nice, if cumbersome, framed backpack carrier which F1 loved!

When I had F2 I had a Huggababy ring sling which was ok, way way better than the MC ones....trouble was I had SPD which meant that anything which didnt spread the weight evenly over me made that more uncomfortable...I think I blamed the sling at the time as the SPD was undiagnosed, but on reflection I think it was probably more the unknown problem. When F2 was about a yr old I had finally discovered that there were some fantastic slings around, hired an Ergo for a week, and bought it within a day! Loved it, we even hired a 2nd one so we could take both kids away on our hols without need of a pushchair - F1 was 3 at that stage and not the worlds best walker!

When PG with F3 I asked Phil (www.littlepossums.co.uk) for some advice and got a stretchy wrap, which was fantastic when he was little, but as I was still occassionally carrying the other 2 (not at the same time lol) I needed something that I could easily use with them all at their different stages....back to an Ergo - this time the New Generation one; then after having tried a Cwtshi Mei Tai carrier I decided I might just have a go at making some myself....so am now using a home made sling! In amongst all that I have also got a Calin Bleu gauze wrap - didnt have it from when F3 was tiny, but have found it nice when I wanted a change from the Ergo/MT! I have also got a Kimmer Pouch from www.brightsparkslings.co.uk which is really great for short trips round the shops, if doing a lot of hoiking in and out of the car to go in different places for short times - I have decided that I am not very good with side slings for longer term wearing as for me they just dont give me the support I need.

It is very very hard to recommend any one sling as I guess it really depends what sort of thing you like, and how you want to use it.....but, I have a few slings here (I think...some out on loan, and sold a number sometime back) so if you wanted to see some in real life we could arrange to meet up sometime.

Bet you wish you hadnt asked now! lol!
Look forward to hopefully meeting you sometime, take care
Bex

[em_ringer]

Wow Bex!
Thanks for all that. I am considering a Hotsling ( http://www.hotslings.com ) which my friend in America uses but am open to any and all ideas.
Thanks again
Em
x

[Aquila]

The other thought is to try a few slings by hiring them from somewhere like http://www.bigmamaslings.co.uk/~vpsbigma/zen-cart/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=30
that can be one way to find out what might work best for you before commiting to any one single sling.

[mrs_k]

Hi I'm another babywearer from the Isle of Wight! I'm in Carisbrooke.

[Aquila]

Hello Mrs_K, good to see you here :)

[em_ringer]

Well guys I have bought my first sling! After trying out a friends one with her baby in it I decided on a Hotsling. All I need now is my baby to arrive! Have any of you read the thread on I.o.W about possible meets in Portsmouth? I would love to have a day out with baby and some like minded Mums - how about you all?

[Holly]

:hello:

I'm Holly, 22 years old and live in Ryde with my fiance, Danny. Although I've always been a Cowes girl up until last summer! We're expecting our 1st baby around September 3rd.

I saw this site mentioned on Babyworld and so pleased to have found it! I/we can't wait to be slinging but I was a little overwhelmed by the choice of slings available!

Look forward to getting to know you all.

H xx

[Aquila]

Hi Holly,
Welcome to Slingmeet. I have to confess that I havent been on here in a while now. My youngest is now a whopping 2.5yrs, and since having had to have treatment for thyroid cancer I havent felt up to continuing with his back-carries in a sling - which is a shame, and have recently resorted to a buggy which I have never done with any of my kids... but, needs must and all that!
I dont have a massive collection of slings any more, but, if you would like any help working out what might be good for you, drop me a pm and we could meet up sometime if you like, you only have to ask :)
All the best with everything,
Bex