When it comes to the Australian heat, baby sling fabrics are important

Australia is one really big spread of land.

There are climatic differences around the country, generally though, when our great Aussie summer hits, like it actually did this year....it's hot no matter where you live.


It's easy to add layers & rug up for the cold, but when you're down to just underwear, not much more can come off. It's important to keep baby & you cool too, especially when you're carrying them.


Bubba Moe Slings have always been very mindful of the heat factor, that's why we are so strict about the fabric we use.

The big difference between us and other brands is the fabric. Every print we use is specially selected to cater for the Aussie  heat, especially the top north end of Australia, where it's the hottest.

When it comes to searching for a baby carrier, the material it is made from is something that is often overlooked on the check list, unless you've had the previous unpleasant experience of a baby that has reacted to the synthetic carriers or overheated because the fabric was far too thick.

Really important to remember that when it comes to baby carriers & slings, they are like another layer of clothing on your baby.

100% cotton is always the best choice, but not all cottons are the best choice to use.
Many companies use Cotton Drill, which might be great for Europe, but far too thick for the Australian climate. A bit like wearing jeans on a summer's day, a bit sticky & sweaty.

We only use 100% lightweight aerated,  yet strong,  Supercale or Max cotton.

Supercale & Max cotton are like the Percale cotton used in good quality sheets, except it's a grade better; softer & cooler.

A set of real Supercale cotton sheets might cost you an arm, a leg & a small mortgage perhaps, but it's so worth the 'ahhhh' factor of bliss & comfort and the money invested.
There is nothing more heavenly than sliding into bed that has luxuriously soft sheets, and with Bubba Moe slings, baby gets that too.

Plus with these types of cottons, not only are they soft on baby's skin, they allow the air to move freely, which stops stale air from developing around baby.
Its a healthy mix all-round.

So when it comes to hot summer days, baby can be down to just wearing a nappy, when carrying them in the sling.

Enjoy wearing your baby this summer!

Co-Sleeping - It's official, It's healthy as researchers say to do it

Well in this weeks newspaper that is, researchers are stating it’s healthy and promotes emotional intelligence. Not that it comes as a surprise to those who do so, either voluntarily or by default.

We all know that sleeping with someone makes you feel more close to him or her, more attached, more loved and more capable of loving in return. This is especially true with our children, as it extends bonding opportunities, especially for working parents who feel time deprived and quilt ridden. It’s a super bonding time without the effort. How easy is that? A parent doesn’t even have to think.

Co-Sleeping provides more comfortable, efficient and cosier environment for night feeding especially in winter when its too ‘friggin’ cold to traipse the long cold hall down to the other side of the house where you have delegated baby to sleep. Ok so you’ve done a fantastic job with decorating your baby’s room in the months waiting for your precious bundle to arrive, it doesn’t mean it’s going to waste; there are plenty of years yet where it will get trashed by growing bub.

For those who deprive themselves of even further sleep by doing the nightly bed hopping yo –yo routine, simply stop killing yourself and get on with some sleep.

I’ll guarantee my life that one morning you’ll wake up and they wont be there. I’ll also guarantee that the first response you’ll get before the rejoicing hits; is a disappointed “oh”.

I’ll also guarantee that you will sneak into their bedroom just to make sure everything is ok. You’ll know in that instant as you see your precious child still in a snuggled sleep, as your heart pangs and the lower lip will drop ever so slightly, that your child is growing up. The drawing close of an era is at hand

He or she, who would steal into your room in the dead of night with stealth, yet launch onto the bed with the diplomacy and grace of a over zealous bouncing chimpanzee as they wedge their way in between you and your partner to get prime position and double-sided cuddles is now quite happy in their own bed.

As you remind yourself of the many mornings waking up cold, greeted by a blanket of tickly hair splayed across your face, an arm draped over your chest and the blankets kicked off by the intrepid mite; one leg in and one leg out, as the sounds of gentle snoring and their mouth open & drooling as you hang on the very edge of the bed by a smidgeon, how can such a little person take up so much room?

How can you protest when hours earlier, they’ve cuddled up to you, planting their cold foot on your warm leg, “I wuv you mummy”.

I’m often asked from parents “Should I take my child back to their own bed and force them to stay there?”

I used to answer why? Why do such as thing, but now I ask them “what do you think is the right thing to do, don’t answer me with what you think is the ‘right’ answer or what you think I want to hear, but what do you think, what do you feel?”

It’s funny how most times the answer is roughly the same. When parents feel unburdened by judgement or acceptance but answer with their own thoughts & feelings.

“Actually I like it, I feel so much closer to my child, I feel its wrong to force them to sleep by themselves when they are scared or needing me” Is the usual response, so there’s your answer.

I remember my hairdresser telling me her daughter’s response, when she told her daughter that she was a big girl now and she should sleep on her own “How come if I’m a big girl and have to sleep on my own, you still sleep with daddy and you’re bigger!”

After 4 months of this nightly battle with her daughter at the insistence of her cousin (telling her that she posed irreversible damage to her daughter if she allowed her to sleep with them), she couldn’t answer the most logical argument presented. My hairdresser picked her daughter up, hopped into bed and snuggled up tight.

“I never stopped her from coming in again, wasting 4 months of sleep & sanity on trying to appease my cousin, whom I have to add has a lousy relationship with her own kids anyway. My husband enjoys her being there as he is a shift worker and doesn’t get a lot of time with her”.

If you are still worried then look at it logically

1)   How many 25 yr olds do you know still sleeping with their parents? – None hey?

2)   How many 18 yr olds do you find sleeping with their parents – I don’t think so

3)   How many 15 yr olds do you find sleeping with their parents?  Not on your nelly!

4)   How many 12 yr olds do you find sleeping with their parents? Maybe on the rare occasion if they are very sick

5)   5)How many 10 yr olds do you find sleeping with their parents? Maybe on the rare occasion after a nightmare or sick

6)   6)How many 8 yr olds do you find sleeping with their parents? Maybe a tad more than 10 yr olds, after a nightmare, sick or watching a scary movie they thought they were up for.

7)   7)5 yr olds and under – definitely a lot more because they know only mummies & daddies can keep the wardrobe monsters away.

Can you see the pattern? There’s no need to worry but a couple of tips though

1)   Get a really good bed! and 2)   In times when your child or children has a severe case of bed hog, make sure you have a comfy couch that’s long enough to sleep on.

ENJOY!

Good Sleeping Habits starts by not being conned by controlled crying.

On any night, anywhere around the world, you're guaranteed to find an adult grappling with insomnia. Find a Doctor, a  Chemist, a herbalist, a naturopath and you'll also find a patient desperately seeking sleep.
Each will ask the same uniform question, "Are you stressed? anxious? are there worries and concerns that need to be addressed?"or the likes there of.
A person doesn't even need to be the brightest candle on the chandelier to know that a troubled anxious mind scares away sleep, that a mind needs to be calm & relaxed to have healthy sleep.



So why the heck would anyone think letting a baby scream itself into exhaustion is a good thing?
If it doesn't work for the adults, how the hell will it work for babies.......

Oh! the celebrity 'baby whisperer' said so and she has sold millions of books, appeared on Oprah, GMA and such other programs. But doesn't the fact that she, has never had a baby herself or has even been in charge of a baby overnight, worry anyone just a little bit?

In all truth be told I can get your baby off to sleep within 5 minutes flat, if sleep is what your babe needs. I use a sling but you can do that too.
A sling is a great tool for effective sleep settling in a far more gentle, emotionally rich manner, but a parent needs to know why a baby cries first.
It sounds a bit absurd needing to know why a baby cries, but people that use the controlled crying technique, really don't know why a baby cries or they wouldn't use it.

Its all about language and communication.

Adults have the advantage of many things, a vocabulary.
Talking through their problems, seeking advice, reading, yoga, meditation, counselor etc. Babies just don't have that luxury, but they do have the best thing possible; their parents, parent or carer.
Babies don't have an established vocabulary so they need to use what they do have, a voice.

Since Newbie parents enter the world of deciphering baby without an instruction manual, they will have to quickly learn a new skill set and take on the role of artful detective. The job could be a lot simpler if they understand what they use their own voice for - to communicate. Uncannily so does a baby.

Babies cry for many reasons, they are always bonafide, because they haven't learned to lie yet. If we could put words to what babies are trying to tell their parents through their cries, they might sound like
1) I am hungry.......feed me
2) I am wet............change me
3) I am cold..........warm me up please
4) I am hot...........take a few layers off
5) nappy wedgie.......quick, its riding up my Khyber pass, please its annoying, irritable
6) Clothing tags are irritating my skin........ouch ouch ouch, its a stinging itchy pain that I cant reach, please take it off
7) I have a wind bubble in my stomach and its so painful but I am flat on my back, you left the room, please pick me up, it hurts, it hurts, pain pain, please come back
8) I have a nose full of bogeys please take them out......please its irritating,
9) my jumpsuit is pinching my toes
10) the elastic around my ankles, waist is digging in
11) Lynx might attract fallen angels dad, but it gives me a headache, I don't like headaches! it hurts my head.
12) Hey don't leave me here by myself, I thought we were just having a good time, snuggled up against you felt really great.
13) hello, hello is anyone there? anyone, anyone at all? someone talk to me, I'm all alone in the world.......
14) I don't feel so good...
15) my ear is really sore. I don't feel so good.
16) My botty is stingy sore
17) I'm lonely, I feel that you aren't around
18) I just slept! you want me to sleep again...... oh come on, I just got here, I'd like to have a look around.
19) Its too quiet here.
20) there's just too much noise around here
21) I want my bath, my nice warm bath

You can add your own reasons, I'm sure there's plenty that I have left out.

When a baby cries they are trying to tell you something, they are not being nasty, vindictive or naughty. They are communicating with you that something is wrong.
Basically a tired happy baby will go to sleep, just not necessarily the time you want them to sleep. The younger the baby is, the more hours of the day the baby sleeps, as they get older it diminishes naturally.

The fact that baby is communicating with you is one thing, but what sort of message do you create when you leave your baby to 'cry it out'. The message is "I am not going to solve your problems, you're on your own here baby. I am not listening, you cant rely on me, I am not here for you".

Eventually the baby starts to figure this out and the first chink in the chain starts to appear. Specialists with years of research have proven that this is how relationships between child & parent break down as early as preschool years, with toddlers becoming unruly and unmanageable or ending with teenagers going on 'benders' becoming authority deviant. When a parent attends to their infants needs the relationship becomes far more stronger with less behavioural problems especially in the teenage years.

There is also the devastating nasty side of SIDS. With some deaths directly attributed to the controlled crying strategy. Babies that get overworked and overstressed by intense crying, tend to vomit. Vomiting is a concern with babies lying on their backs which has become the trend over the last few years instead of on the side.
A friend of mine lost her 8 week old son this way.

Sleep is important not only for baby put for parents too. A safe and sensible approach does take more time & discipline, and far more sacrifice, but the benefits will last a lifetime.

When it comes to helping a baby settle into sleep, one great asset is using a proper baby carrier such as a sling, as they have a sleep inducing reclining position will help with sleep or night settling.
Unfortunately any upright or parachute style carriers are not recommended for good sleep practices because of the absence of this position, actually most specialists recommend that parents not allow their baby to sleep at all in any of these types of carriers due to the lack of support. These carriers are only good for wake time.

A baby can be laid down to sleep within the sling, as the parents 'smell' has bonded on the fabric, giving baby the security to stay asleep longer. Though it is not recommended using ring slings for this purpose as there is far too much fabric around baby, and babies fingers can get entangled in the rings, so a closed end sling like the Bubba Moe is a much safer option as they are lighter and have less fabric.