Tag: slings

Consultations packages – what is available?

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What is a sling consultation?

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Babywearing is an art which has been traditionally passed down from generation to generation, and friend to friend. However, in the UK the skills are less well known. In July 2011 I decided that I wanted to do something about this and so established the NE Sling Library using the knowledge I had gained since I learnt to carry my son. Very quickly I decided that I wanted to increase my professional knowledge and undertake further training. There are so many different baby carriers on the market that choosing one can be quite confusing.DSCF2830

I have trained with three different UK babywearing schools; including Trageschule, School of Babywearing and Slingababy. I am also a Born to Carry Tutor. These course have given me a detailed and indepth understanding of the different slings and carriers on the market, and the skills to be able to help you on your carrying journey. As a babywearing consultant it is my aim to help you find the best way to carry your baby. I use the knowledge I have about your baby’s anatomy and different carriers to help you find the best solution. I have a variety of different carriers to choose from. Standard (90 and 60 minute) consultations include the hire of one sling for a minimum of two weeks. I have professional, product and public liability insurance and am fully trained to offer consultations. For your peace of mind I am also a member of the British Association of Babywearing Instructors and Baby Carrier Industry Alliance.

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I serve the whole north east – County Durham, Sunderland, Newcastle, Northumberland, Teeside, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and beyond. I offer consultations from my designated consultation room at 13 Brecken Way, Meadowfield, Durham, DH7 8UZ. Price can include travel within DH1 AND DH7 postcodes but if I travel to you, (I can travel further afield I simply ask that my expenses are covered) this limits what I can bring. Also please check before booking that the appointment you wish to select is suitable for an at home visit in case I already have appointments booked at home.  Consultations are held on Wednesdays and Thursday’s. Other days available by request but are subject to convenience fees.  To book simply visit our online booking system.

What packages are available?

It is my aim to find the type of consultation space 1appointment suitable for you and your babies needs, and as such offer a variety of different types. Standard, follow up and paired consultations include sling hire for a minimum of 2 weeks. I have an online booking system which allows you to choose and book your own appointment at a time and date that is convenient for you.

Standard Consultation– £30 for 90 minute appointment (£25.00 for 1hour). This is designed for one baby and their parents. I discuss with you your requirements, benefits of babywearing etc, before offering demos of different types of slings/carriers. You then get the chance to practise using either your baby if you wish or a weighted demo doll. At the end of the appointment you are able to select one sling from the NE Sling Library to take home for a 2 week complimentary period (usual deposit fees remain although these are refundable). If during this period you find the sling isn’t right for you it is possible to swap it for a different carrier (subject to it being in stock).

Paired and Group Consultations  – £45 for 90 minutes (2 babies). This type of consultation is designed for groups of similar aged babies. The price includes sling hire fo up to 2 babies and additional hire can be arranged for groups up to a maximum of 4 at the additional rate of £5 per sling. Context of consultation remains as close to the standard consultation as possible.

Follow up Consultation – £18 for up to an hour. This appointment is for people who have previously had a Standard Consultation but want more advice, support, practise etc. Again it includes a 2 week hire from the NE Sling Library at the end of the appointment.

Sling demo –   £15 for 45 minutes. This is package is aimed at expectant parents who want to be introduced to different slings before their baby is born. During this appointment I briefly explain the benefits of Babywearing before showing you the different styles of carriers on the market and how they work.

Sling Clinic Slots – £18 for 60 minutes. If you already own a specific sling and want to learn how to use it this is the appointment for you. Or finding something isn’t quite working for you and want to solve it. Does not include sling hire although this can be arranged at normal hire rate.

Workshop Wednesday’s – £10 per person (56p booking fee if paying by card). Workshop Wednesdays are a small group workshop held on 1st Wednesday of each month and focus on a specific sling or skill. They are advertised on our Facebook page.

Born to Carry Peer Support Courses – Although I arrange courses myself, if you have a group of friends or colleagues who would like to undertake a Babywearing Peer Support Course these can be arranged privately.Born to Carry are a UK network of highly trained, qualified and insured tutors. We have a variety of backgrounds from teaching to medicine. These courses cover safety, benefits of babywearing and practical sessions on using and optimising carriers.  A minimum of 2 participants to ensure course runs with a maximum of 8.

Bump to Baby Package – £50. This package is designed in 3 parts and would be ideal as a gift to expectant parents or for parents wanting to get to grips with slings from the start.  It includes a 30 minute antenatal sling demo. When baby is here I can either come to you (although this limits how many slings I can bring) or you can come to me for a full 90 minute Standard Consultation (this allows for baby to be fed, changed etc and refreshments for parents). You will then get to select the sling you feel most comfortable with or that you feel is right for you from the NE Sling Library to take for an extended 4 week hire period. If during this time you feel this isn’t the sling for you it is possible to swap it for one of the others you tried during the consultation. The final part of the package is a Follow up consultation. This can be immediately after the 4week hire period or at any point in the next 6 months, and again includes a complimentary hire from the NE Sling library (2week period).

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Please stop with the froggy legs

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Please can we stop using the term “froggy legs”

This is going to be controversial but please, can we stop using the term “froggy legs”. That’s right, stop using the term which so many people use when discussing carrying babies in slings. My reasoning; it simply is not accurate and is used to describe so many different things that the meaning which it was initially designed for has been lost.

Ways the term “froggy legs” is used:

  • legs in for a newborn
  • knees above bottom or ‘m’ shape for a newborn
  • knees above bottom or ‘m’ shape for an older baby
  • even in a Buddha carry with ankles together

Times when term ‘froggy legs’ could be used accurately?

Well knees above bottom or ‘m’ shape with an older baby in a spread squat.

This is because a frogs legs are not in front of them; as you can see from the image above they are opened out to the side, ‘knees’ above their ‘bottom’ in an ‘M’ shape.  A baby does not open their hips into this position until they are around the 4 month mark. The key visual clue being when they start to put their feet in their mouth. Until  this point the position baby’s are actually adopting is a foetal position. But because baby isn’t lying on their side for us to see a traditional foetal position it gets missed. The two photos below show a newborn in the foetal position but only the image where the baby is lying on their side is a ‘classic’ foetal position. But in both they have brought their knees above their bottom, hands drawn near their faces and feet turned towards each other. This foetal position is probably the most commonly called “froggy legs”, when it is inaccurately used to describe the act of having baby “legs in” as opposed to  “legs out”. Legs in positions are generally no longer taught or advised by most UK consultants as it can make positioning them in the sling harder. When babies are still very curled up positions such as the Front Double Hammock, Kangaroo and Pocket Wrap Double Hammock work very well as baby is hammocked in sling rather than sitting on the crosses with lots of fabric bunched in little knee pits.

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The ‘froggy leg’ position should more accurately be described as a spread squat. Their pelvis has opened, their knees above bottom (flexed and abducted) in exactly the same way we as adults do when we do squats and even sit down. Baby is now able to bring their legs around their caregivers waist.

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This position  in a sling is illustrated in the following images.

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The issue with using the term “froggy legs” is that it means so many different positions to so many different people; no wonder those starting their babywearing journey can be confused by what is best for their baby. Let’s try to regain the true meaning of “froggy legs” and work on how we describe baby’s position. Inaccurate use of terminology is only ever going to cause confusion.

Blogs, public hysteria and why they don’t help babywearing educators

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Firstly, I get the irony. I am about to say I don’t really like blogs and how they can cause hysteria when it comes to slings. But, I also realise how blogs can be educational and beneficial. They have a place but it is our job as a reader, and in the case of me and other babywearing educators to point out their flaws and often fire fight the consequences of their publication.

The sling world can be highly opinionated. The launch of the Ergo 360 for example was a prime example. Babywearing enthusiasts from around the world were up in arms after the company who had advocated Forward Facing In for so long had ‘given in’ to mass market pressures and made a carrier that allowed baby to Forward Face Out. The Ergo 360 has turned out to be one of their greatest successes: an ergonomically designed carrier with the ability to forward face out but with clear advice on time, age and the issue of sleep. Other blogs like those written by Rosie of Sheffield Sling Surgery use detailed medical knowledge and training as a babywearing consultant and busy sling librarian to provide clear and fact based articles. I too like to ensure that if I am stating something as ‘fact’ that I have the links to evidence to back it up.

So you can imagine how I feel when I logged on the computer this morning to find an article stating that forward facing carriers should be burned because they ’cause hip dysplasia’. This said article has been floating around on the internet for at least a year (and I will not link to it here for fear of stoking the fire) and each time it is posted it causes controversy. It is a sad story of one mums experiences but that it. One mum, one baby, one sling. It is not a medical research paper, its not really a case study. It is one mum angry at professionals who worked with or came into contact with her baby. It does not make it right. The fact it was shared on a Facebook page by a well respected Attachment Parenting focused organisation was even more worrying. 1) Forward Facing out cannot cause hip dysplasia in babies with normal development of hip joints and 2) surely any carried baby is something to celebrate. We should not criticise or disown those who chose to use high street style front packs and we should definitely not say that they are going to ‘harm’ their babies. There is simply no proof. Not until the judgements stop will those of us who advocate ergonomic carriers be seen as a mainstream choice. If people continue to jump on Facebook threads where a new mum posts a photo of their little one facing out, we will be forever viewed as judgemental and hippy. Lets celebrate all carried babies and stop the berating of parent and remember most of us will have started our carrying journeys with high street carriers.