Helly potties

The official, calm and collected part:

Helly closed on 31st of December. My current stock, and that at Tiddlybums in the UK and The EC Store in the US are, as far as I know, all that will be available of the Babywunder Deluxe and The Pot potties. There may be some available from European companies, while stocks last.

The mini-rant:

It's taken me 2 months to find out that one of my suppliers ceased trading. Sod's Murphy's Law states that of course they make my currently most popular products, and one that I was going to take to shows and really push this year, and they didn't even have the decency to let me know that they were closing. Gah!

a funny old week

I love it when we get repeat customers, but not so much when the products don't suit them for one reason or another. *sigh*

An enquiry came in for aluminium sling rings (an upcoming product and part of the MaM range) in lots of 1,000. My mind is completely blown that someone out there might be manufacturing 500 slings at a time. I want some of that traffic!!! Sadly we couldn't get the price quite low enough to meet the company in question's current supplier of nylon rings, boo :( The other major frustration has been the disappearance of a supplier, seemingly dropped off the planet entirely, this is not fun as it's one of our more popular products and I'm desperate to place another order!

But on the upside we may soon be offering local workshops and working with local play-gyms to demonstrate slings and carriers and promote babywearing, in conjunction with our 'neighbours' FrontBackandSides so if you're in the area watch this space! The shop is being twiddled with some more (I can't leave it alone, lol) and as the home-page says, there will soon be articles to read as well as the forum and this blog. As usual, if anyone has feedback or suggestions, please feel free to post a comment here or on the boards.

A good friend is in hospital next week for exploratory surgery. I don't want to go into details but I do want to wish her the very best possible outcome and experience. She really deserves an upturn in health fortunes!!

urgh

I really hate being poorly. In the past it would be just a case of taking to my bed and coping best as possible with the children, but now it seems especially galling when I've got work to do! My to do list includes changing my bank account, registering for VAT (don't worry, it won't change the prices on the site :) ) writing articles, organising some local events, doing some pr, maybe booking a stand, chasing up suppliers, doing yet more tinkering with the shop... that happens all the time! Kind-of like an itch, can't leave it alone :| go look I've just done some now! Feedback on it would be lovely :)

Choosing a baby carrier or sling

I came across an article earlier that was headed 'Choosing a baby carrier or sling.' Now excuse me for my bias of experience but I would have thought, with a title like that, there might be mention of different types of sling and carrier. I was disappointed. So I wrote this:

Choosing a baby carrier or sling

There are many different kinds of baby and toddler carriers and slings. Most people will be familiar with the front-pack style baby carrier, which has a formed seat for the child and padded straps for the parent or carer. These are easily available in many high-street and online stores, as are framed backpack style carriers, generally available in outdoor-pursuits shops. Less commonly available are pouches, ring-slings, Asian Baby Carriers (ABCs), and stretchy and woven wraparound slings. There are several online outlets for these and a few independent baby shops stock a small
range. There is also the one-shouldered 'baby bag' type carrier. Finding a sling or carrier to suit you depends on how much carrying you'll be doing, how big your baby or child is, your baby's body strength and developmental stage, your own physique, whether the carrier will be used by more than one person and last but not least, how it looks!

A few things to look for:

Padding can make slings and carriers more comfortable but it can make them less adjustable, also it can make the space for baby too small and constrictive. It may stop the carrier from holding the baby snugly to the parent or carer.

Carrying babies is generally more comfortable if they're close to your body and high up. Carriers and slings with straps that tie or wraparound slings (essentially long pieces of fabric designed to wrap around the baby and the wearer) are the most adjustable and flexible to use since they can be tied to fit any size or shape. Pouches must fit snugly to be comfortable. Carriers and slings with buckle fastenings must be easily adjustable to keep the baby or child close to the parent's body.

Babies' backs are naturally curved. Baby carriers which form around the baby's back will support the natural shape and allow the baby to develop a more upright posture normally.

Your baby may prefer to be lying down or more upright, some slings and carriers only allow one position where others are more flexible. Upright carrying is known to be particularly useful for babies with reflux.

Baby carriers can take some time to get used to, eventually you should be able to use it by yourself but please don't be afraid of asking around for help. www.slingmeet.co.uk has details of local and regional meet-ups for sling and carrier users to get hints and tips, compare notes and generally enjoy their baby carrying.

I wanted to keep it short, because the original article was short too, but of course there's much more I could say about choosing slings. Most of it has been said already in other places though, like The Babywearer Seems like it's going to take a bit more effort to disseminate the information to the masses...

New stuff at BabyArmadillo

En route from Finland are some new products, the MaM Coat (in sizes S, L and XL, if you want M, please lmk ASAP as there is limited availability and I need to order within the next day or so.) and the MaM ECO Wrap in Sea-Blue, Cocoa, Wine and Lime, in the L/XL size. I've been looking for a stretchy wrap to stock for some time so I'm desperate to see this!

Happy New Year to all BabyArmadillo customers, returning and new :)

doncha just hate it...

when you dash round getting people organised to walk to the Post Office, just to see the van pulling away when you get there?! Ah the joys of the work-from-home parent...

Walked back through the village past an empty shop, which would be big enough to have a lounge space as well as display space for 'dillo stock. Over it is a flat, most likely big enough to house us all. Such a shame that it would be over dh's dead body for us to move there!

Green Parent magazine

We placed an ad in The Green Parent for the first time, it's out on Friday but we got our complimentary copy today. And in it is a nice little write-up on the Äiskä! I really wasn't expecting it, it's a much-needed boost :-) And hello to anyone reading who has found us through TGP, say 'hi' and remember to let us know where you heard about us when you order ;-)

For those who don't know, the Äiskä is a poncho-style coat, with sleeves, designed to be worn over a child in a carrier on the wearer's front or back. It's fashioned from an exclusively-made fabric, a double-layer interlock, 100% wool on the outside and 100% cotton on the inside. It has generous cuffs which can easily be folded back, a detachable hood and scarf, the scarf can double as a head-support for sleepy babies :-)

Anyway, I'll be watching my web-stats with interest this weekend! Thanks TGP :-)

UK Babywearing Conference

Haven't blogged in a little while, partly because I've been busy trying to set this site up. I'm hoping to get plenty of volunteers so that we can keep everything as 'mother-sized' as possible, if you're interested in helping out, do join and use the contact form to let us know. :-)

Shop news: We have booked a stand at Little Ones Fair again, hopefully this time we won't have any mishaps to stop us attending! The next few weeks we'll be concentrating on preparing to attend. We have some things in the pipeline but they're going to have to wait!

As always, if you have any comments or suggestions we'd love to hear them :-)

Buppy Pads

New in! We now stock Buppy Pads!

These handy creatures are an ideal complement to any kind of potty learning and general savers from toddler mess. Your child's car-seat, highchair or pushchair will love you for it ;)

What we do

I thought, while I'm here already, I'd post an overview of what BabyArmadillo is about. BabyArmadillo was started while I was pregnant with our fourth daughter (not that we knew that she was a girl at the time!) because I wanted an Äiskä! I also knew that I wanted a Storchenwiege wrap. I saw the Äiskä on a forum thread and said to my long-suffering husband and business partner, "Do you think that if I emailed and said I was starting a baby-stuff business that they would send me one as a sample?"
He said, "Well you could, you know."
"I could what?"
"Start a baby-stuff business..."

And here we are, nearly 2 years later! Still selling Äiskä and Storch and we've gradually increased our range to include more slings, 'lactivism' clothes for babies and children, potties and baby hammocks. We focus on stocking items designed to help parents respond to their babies' needs in a timely way, so there won't be anything that encourages separation here. We're always on the look-out for new products to add to our range, so please add any suggestions and we'll look into them. You can also post on our forum.