The microfleece wraps are on the way

Get ready to place your order soon; or contact your local retailer.
The micro fleece wraps will be ready to ship the week of August 18th.
Click here to view the beautiful colours.

Red or Bordeaux for a new Calin Bleu?

Would you like to help us choose the colour of the new Calin Bleu?
Would you prefer the bordeaux (top) or the red (bottom)?
You can email us: colours@calinbleu.com
Or you can vote on The Baby Wearer. You need to be a member but it's free to join and this is no doubt the biggest resource when it comes to carrying your baby. Thousands of parents around the world joined by one passion: carrying their children.

A wearing tip: tighten your wrap

When you tie your wrap sling on, keep it tight from the start. Place the centre of the sling on your tummy and bring the two ends across your back and over your shoulders. Resist the temptation to loosen the belt to slide your baby in, pull the fabric tight instead.
The fabric has enough 'give' for you to wiggle the baby in. Do the tightening test: once the baby is sitting in the 'belt', legs bent and wide apart, can you briefly take your hands off the baby without him or her sliding down? If yes, it's tight enough. If it doesn't feel secure enough, use one hand to lift the baby's weight slightly and use the other hand to pull on one side of the wrap. Do the same thing on the other side.
Then continue as normal!

More out of topic! Baby signing...

Another out of topic post! This might very well become a habit now!

Baby signing.
I'm passionate about baby signing. We started using signs with my daughter when she was 6 months old. It took her a while to respond but when she started, the floodgates open. I realised she could understand quite complex things.
We were away for the weekend when she was about 10 month old. I said to her we were getting ready to get on the plane, and signed plane. She started screaming with joy and signed 'Home' back to me and waived bye bye to everyone straight away. I was amazed that she had linked the concepts of plane/home/bye so quickly! I would have had no idea of what was going on in her little head if it were not for her ability to sign.

She outgrew the signs when as her speech developed but we still used some signs. If we're in a group and she does something she's not supposed to do, I can quietly sign No or Danger in the distance and she knows to stop straight away without having to make a fuss or disrupt the group.

Now that her little brother is here, she's started using signs again with him. She remembers them very well (the Sing and Sign DVD and a couple of books came really handy to refresh our memories!)

Our little guy is nearly 11 months now, he uses a few signs (and has started 'talking' No No No No he says!). The main advantage with this little chap is that he loves the songs around food and they're the only way to keep him from climbing out of his chair at meal times!

Not strictly slings! Reusable shopping bags

Sure this blog is about slings but there are lots of other things we like and you might enjoy too.
Today's find is those lovely reusable organic cotton bags, they will be make an unusual teacher's present.
They're comfortable to wear even when loaded with heavy shopping, and they look fab too! They remind me of the shopping bag my grand mother had back in the 70s and 80s. Back then, they were so un-cool (probably because they were made of polyester string and black!)

The Olive & Cloud wraps are on pre-order

Be among the first to get your Cloud or Olive wraparound sling!
They are now on pre-order. Order yours now and it will be shipped the first week in July!

Enjoy!

New! A size S wraparound sling & baby wearing in the Alps

We have a limited edition of shorter wrap slings. The new size S is 4.30m natural, now why would you need a size S. Let's see:

• Convenient for petite mamas,
  
• Perfect for the simple wrap cross carry
• Use the simple wrap cross carry for breastfeeding on the go
• Also good for the rucksack back carry
• At £28.50 including postage, it's THE wrap of choice for baby wearing on a bugdget!

That's us, baby wearing in the Alps at the Mer de Glace, a gigantic glacier (well, not as gigantic as when I went there as a child. Sadly, it's shrinking fast!) There are hundreds of steep steps to get you from where the train and the cabins leave you to the ice grotto. Way too many for a two-year-old! She was much safer in a wrap and fell asleep before we reached the bottom to wake up just as we got back to the top.
Wrapping a child on your back when you're both wearing warm clothes and standing on some narrow steps with a steep drop under us wasn't something I would recommend to our customers. I was glad that my niece had been worn from birth: she knew she was tired and that the wrap would allow her to catch a nap and cooperated fairly easily.