a bit more about me

I thought I’d take this opertunity to introduce myself a bit more.

I’m Philippa, totally blind mum of 3 children, living with them and my husband who is also totally blind. When I was pregnant with my first daughter in 2014 I knew I would have to use a sling of some sort because I would need both my hands free to complete some tasks safely, and a sling would allow me to have a hand free for my white cane and 1 free for my shopping. I had no idea what carriers were available, I think i’d only ever seen the rucksack style carriers where the baby’s legs hang down and expected that was whatI should buy.

However, we went for some antinatal classes with another blind lady and learned all about the frog leg position and how more ergonomic carriers would be more comfortable for us and baby. We were shown and bought a Close Caboo which is a pre-tied wrap with rings to tighten it. This was for newborn stage, and we also bought a Manduka carrier which is a structured buckle carrier for when the baby became heavier.

Once my daughter was born I had some feeding difficulties to over come. I did start waring her in the Close from about 2 weeks old, but something about it felt wrong. in the ennd I decided I needed to talk to a sling consultant, and was put in touch with one. She came to my house and was lovely! she showed me how to use my Close correctly, and showed me many other slings for future reference.

I carried happily for 4 or 5 months, thanks to the confidence the sling consultant had given me. Then my baby wanted to look outwards and I thought of carrying her on my hip. So thinking back to the slings I’d been shown before, I purchased a Marsupi sling. This is a soft carrier which is shaped but not heavily structured. It does up with velcro and was really great and easy to use on front and hip.

When she outgrew this, I used the Manduka on my front but it felt uncomfortable. I was not aware at the time that I could have crossed the straps which I think would have made a big difference. It wasn’t until I learnt to back carry when my baby was just over 1 year old that it got a little more comfortable in this carrier. I was taught back carrying over the phone by a sling consultant who is visually impaired herself. I learned how to get my daughter from my hip to my back. I felt very clever.

I invested in a Connecta solar on holiday and there after kept it in the car. I should add I don’t drive the car, my parents do… just in case you were getting worried then 🤣🤣

fast forward to the birth of my second daughter in 2017. This time I’d bought a 2 way stretch wrap made by Hanababy. I was determined to learn something which I had decided was just way too hard last time. I was again taught over the phone while I was pregnant, and quickly got the hang of it. My newborn and I loved the wrap.

I then had a 20 minute walk each way to take my todler to nursery. I didn’t want to make her walk all that way, and I couldn’t use a buggy all the time. and just in case your wondering, I don’t have some sort of buggy which can detect obsticles or anything, I actually have to pull my buggy, which I’m sure I’ll write about later in another post. I decided the easiest thing to do would be to tandem carry both little ones at once. so off I went with toddler on the back and newborn on the front.

People said, “how do you do that?” “they must be so heavy for you!” “don’t you get tired?” but for me, it was just a very easy way of transporting my children independently and safely.

I carried my first daughter till she was 4.5 and my second daughter still gets a carry sometimes at almost 6. I used to go everywhere with a sling in the bottom of my bag or buggy, or even warn on me for those times when the children were walking and got tired. I discovered ring slings when my second daughter was about 9 months old. I loved the easy way of doing a hip carry and the sling was light weight enough to go with me anywhere.

I now have a 1 year old girl. I have to say she’s probably experienced the largest silection of carriers and slings. I tried most things out on her. She’s been in a stretchy wrap, a Close, a Marsupi, the Manduka, a meh dae, a half buckle, an embrace, a ring sling and several woven wraps. No I don’t have an obsession with slings… ok, well maybe I do! But you see when my 3rd was 9 months or so, I trained to be a sling consultant with Slingababy.

This had been a dream of mine for a very very long time! I felt it would run along nicely with my training as a breastfeeding counceler. I also am a part of the team at Blind Parents UK and slings are a big part of what we talk about because they can prove so helpful when you need 2 hands to do most tasks, or just for soothing a fretful baby.

So I trained remotely on Zoom, and had a lot of 1 to 1 support from our teacher to make sure I got the carries right. The course was a lot of fun as well as hard work! I loved it!

I decided I would like to set up a sling library to run alongside the consultancy part of my services. This was going to be a postal library. I had a small collection of slings by now, so I started the library in January this year.

It has so far mostly been used by visually impaired parents since it is very hard with little or no sight to get an idea of a sling from discriptions or pictures on the internet. Sadly so many sling libraries are closing with lack of funding, most people can’t get to a place to try things on. So the library was born.

The library is for anyone, so even if you do not have a visual impairment, please don’t let that put you off. I give consultations remotely via phone zoom teams etc, and can be on hand to support with the sling or slings you hire. I ern nothing from the library at all, it’s all done by returnable deposits and a non refundable postage charge.

Carrying has been such a vital and integral part of my life as a parent. it’s enabled me to keep my children close and still do every day tasks. it’s made us feel close wheather it’s nap time or awake time. it’s helped me to be their legs when I needed to be. I could not be the parent I am without a sling… or 3, in my house. I would love to help you find the same joy in carrying! If it’s a carrier to do the school run, or something to keep your little one happy while you’ffe doing housework, or assisting tired arms to keep the cuddles coming! I would love to help you and your family! There is no obligation to hire, if you just want a chat that’s fine. please just get in touch with me through the email address or phone number on my website.

I’ll be back soon with another blog post, I hope you found this one insightful and that you now understand why i’m here and what I am doing. well done for getting to the end! Philippa x