Slings & Sleepy Dust

Baby wearing is a concept I became familiar with during my first pregnancy.  I loved the idea of continuing to keep my baby close after birth as we learned to navigate this new life together.  It turns out I had much to learn.  This week I sat down with mum of three, breastfeeding counsellor, baby wearing consultant and owner of local business Sleepydust Sling’s, Rachel Keena, to learn more.

Like me, Rachel says it was love at first sight when she was introduced to the world of slings at a local breastfeeding group.  When her last little baba, Charlie was born, he was popped into a stretchy wrap and a total addiction developed, ultimately inspiring her to train as a baby wearing consultant - someone who is trained to teach caregivers how to safely wear/carry their babies and help them chose the sling that best suits their needs.

Can you outline some of the benefits of Baby Wearing?
- Babies who are carried statistically cry less.
- Carrying regulates baby's heart rate and oxygen levels, improves circulation and aids in digestion.
- Decreases the stress hormone levels in baby's blood stream resulting in a calm, relaxed, happy baby.
- Develops and strengthens all the muscles needed for sitting, standing and walking.
- Offers easy access to baby's food source when breastfeeding without needing to stop or sit down and offers privacy , if desired, when doing so.
- Promotes optimum hip development.
- Babies who are often carried fall asleep quickly in their sling and usually sleep deeper and for longer periods of time. It's often said slings come with Sleepydust, hence my name.

What are the most popular types of carrier?
The most popular types of carriers I have found through our sling meets and consultations are soft structured carrier's (SSC’s) followed closely by stretchy wraps for cuddling new-born babies. SSC's are a group of carriers that resemble a backpack in appearance. They have two padded shoulder straps and are secured with buckles. Many also have a padded waistband which all help to evenly distribute the weight of the child making it more comfortable for the wearer.
A stretchy wrap is a long piece of stretchy material usually made from 95% cotton and 5% elastane that you wrap around you and your baby.

Rachel provides three different types of consultations:
At “An Introduction to Slings Consultation”, we start by having a short chat about you, your baby and what you will be using your sling to do e.g. long walks, in and out of shops, around the house. We will then try then different options available that suit your needs while I explain the difference of each and the benefits and safety of baby wearing.  During a “Full Consultation” you pick the sling you want to use and we spend an hour perfecting your technique. I ensure everyone leaves comfortable and confident in their ability to wear their baby. I also provide a half hour “Troubleshooting Consultation”, where we tweak a carry you already know but something is not working.

Rachel facilitates a Sling Meet in Carlow and helps to admin the group's Facebook page, Sling Mammies Carlow. Drop along to a meet or visit www.sleepydustslings.ie

The Magic Of Disney

There are lots of great things about having kids.  Up there amongst my favourites is undoubtedly movie days.  Curling up by the fire, in our jammies, snuggling under blankets with bowls of hot, buttery popcorn that we've popped and just chilling out. Wet, winter weekends are perfect movie days. I never feel like I should be out and about so we’ve had quite a few lately. I love introducing yet another Disney classic to the kids. Just as my love of words was shaped in childhood by the incredible works of Roald Dahl so too has my love of film been shaped by the magic that is Disney.  A great tagline but so much more.  Bambi, Alice in Wonderland, The Jungle Book, 101 Dalmatians, Pinocchio, Lady and the Tramp, Peter Pan and many more. Happy memories of precious trips to a cinema that no longer exists. Castles, dragons, beautiful people and love at first sight, Disney has been fuelling the imaginations of children the world over since the 1937 release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - the first full length animated film.

In my teenage years, I used babysitting as an excuse to watch and re-watch 90’s releases - Beauty & the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Aladdin, Mulan, Tarzan, The Lion King. Some have made their way into my own collection and Beauty & the Beast is up there with my all-time favourites.  For me a part of the magic also comes from the film score.  As a lover of music, I can’t help but completely loose myself.  During my time in Australia, I went to see The Lion King in the Sydney Opera House and it was one of the most incredible experiences ever.   The setting, the story, the music, the costumes, the colours – all mingled to create an absolutely electrifying couple of hours.  I’ve yet to make it to Disneyland but I’m sure that when we do, it won’t be just the children that are awed by the majesty!

As a huge admirer of Emmeline Pankhurst and The Suffragette movement, it hasn’t escaped my notice that Disney has been guilty of reinforcing patriarchal stereotypes.  It’s something that the company has been heavily criticised for, alongside the penchant for predominantly white characters.  I am however a realist and I think Disney pedaled a reflection of society.  It wasn’t bold or daring.  It didn’t seek to challenge attitudes of servitude and submission, or racial inequality.  Maybe it could have, but it’s doubtful that in doing so, it would be the empire it is today.  Rather, just like one of its stories, Disney has evolved, not quite a pace with society granted, but evolved none the less.  We see strong female lead characters, daring adventures and love coming not from a handsome prince but from within.  Movies like Frozen, Big Hero Six, The Lego Movie, and Moana all offer something very special. Walt Disney said that the real trouble with the world is that too many people grow up.  I think my inner child will always be kept young by movie days with Disney classics.

Putting The Friend In Friendship

There’s nothing quite like a chat with an old friend to lift your spirits.  As time moves on and families grow and so too do time commitments, I have found it increasingly difficult to catch up with my college girls.  I think about them often, the carefree times we shared, living and travelling the world together, taking our first real independent steps into adulthood. Get togethers are few and far between and I miss them.  I miss the divilment we used to get up to and I miss the chats and laughter that comes with sharing your life with friends. And I miss that they don’t really know the person that I am now. This Mommy person, who bakes, while doing homework and emptying the dishwasher before heading off to teach fitness classes is a tad different than the chain smoking, vodka swilling, centre of the dancefloor, wild woman, I once was.

Feeling nostalgic and under the guise of watching rugby training, I managed to sneak in an hour-long phone catch up with one of my best buds.  Within minutes of her picking up, I felt lighter, my mood was lifted and it got me thinking about just how hugely important our closest circles are and that even though we may be separated by distance and time, our friendships are our support systems, our tribe, and in many cases a lifeline.  By the time I hung up, we had barley stopped to breathe, as we caught each other up, tried to solve problems, laughed and promised to make meet up plans really soon.  And I vowed, as I always do, to simply make a greater effort to foster the important relationships in my life. But how?

Life coach Mar Healy has some sage advice.  “I always think that the arrival of a new baby is a good opportunity to figure out which friendships really matter to you, and which you might need to look at letting go of.  Your time is more precious now, than ever before, and you want to invest in friendships that nourish and support you and add to your life in a positive way.  If you come away from meeting a friend feeling, good, happy and a little better, then you’ve got a good one and you should try to hang on to it.  If on the flip side, your time together is always draining or hard work, it may be better to delicately let go and move on.  Making regular time to meet a good friend, who you feel relaxed and happy around, and who lifts your spirits is a brilliant way to be a better Mama.  You get time out and head space, quality adult human connection, and, as a result, come home a kinder, more tolerant and happier person to your little ones, and so everyone wins”.

As I get older and time becomes more of a precious commodity I’ve decided to take this advice and to truly invest in the people who support me, build me up and love me most.  

You can find out more about Mar’s great work at Mar Healy Coaching at www.marhealy.com

Because I Can

A new year always brings talk of resolutions. Be a new you, kick the bad habits, set new goals, make a fresh start.  I’ve done it myself. When I was a smoker, the new year was always when I’d push myself that little bit harder to quit. When I didn’t exercise, the new year was always when I found myself forking out for gym membership deals, that invariably fell by the wayside. If December was overindulgence, then January was redemption, a beacon of freshness and good intentions.   A clean slate.  

A resolution is a firm decision to do or not to do something and the practice is thought to originate with the ancient Babylonians, 4,000 years ago. The first recorded celebrations to honour the beginning of a new year, which for them began with the planting of the crops in March, also stem from this period. During a 12-day religious festival, the Babylonians crowned a new king or reaffirmed their allegiance to the reigning king and made promises to the gods to pay debts and return borrowed objects.  In ancient Rome, Caesar established January 1 as the beginning of the new year in honour of Janus, the two-faced god whose spirit was said to reside in doorways and arches. The Romans believed that Janus looked backwards into the past year and forward, into the future and they offered sacrifices and made promises of good behaviour for the coming year.  Since then New Year’s resolutions have evolved to be a mostly secular practice, although many religions still mark the event with prayers and offerings to their God. Nowadays most of us make resolutions only to ourselves, promising to work on some undesirable habit or trait, promising to change and to turn into an improved version of ourselves.

In recent years, the thing I’ve learned about change is that it can happen at any time and in lots of different ways, and more recently, that it’s not always a bad thing. Scary and challenging yes, but there can also be an opportunity for huge learning.  Sometimes we have no control over outcomes.  Illness strikes ourselves or those we love, unemployment hits, relationships breakdown and adulting can be overwhelming.  Often the only way through is by taking time to breathe, minute by minute, hour by hour and one day it won’t be so difficult anymore. We emerge changed, stronger, softer, more appreciative of the good things.  We don’t need a calendar date to say enough, to say start, to say no thank you. We just need the desire and often we just need a little nudge. 

And so, I’m going to take singing lessons, to try and finish the Spanish lessons I started years ago.  I’m going to go to my first opera, to dance around the kitchen more. To love my children that little bit extra and embrace the sometimes chaos that is my life. Not because it’s a new year, but simply because I can.