Gentle Beginnings

Calin Bleu doesn't ship to the US and Canada but we still have a lot of American and Canadian visitors on our site. So I thought I would mention Gentle Beginnings, a US non-profit community-based program to educate new parents about the benefits of baby wearing and offer free carriers to financially challenged families.
If you have some gently used carriers or slings which aren't getting as much love as they should, remember to send them their way.

If you know a similar project in your country, let us know.

Clearance sale on the olive microfleece!

I know it's still summer but around here, kids are already back to school. Before you know, it will be autumn, cold, windy and rainy. What you need is a micro fleece wrap to keep you and your baby nice and comfy through the winter.

It just happens that we have found a remaining box of dark olive/brown micro fleece wraps. They are reduced at the amazing price of £25.50 incl postage anywhere in Europe.
The fleece feels slightly different than our new 2007 winter model coming out soon. They have the older labels but are still amazingly comfortable. That's why they are so reduced, come on ... we need some space around here!

They will be sent with our brand new instruction booklet, bigger photos, better explanations, you'll love it.

We also have 2 black fleece wraparound carriers left reduced at £34.50 (older style label)

Hurry ... grab one while stock lasts!

Model mums (and dads) in Scotland

We are looking for mums and dads with young babies to model our slings. If you would be interested in posing for us, just get in touch.
Location would most likely be in the West End and we can work out a time that's easy for you and your baby. It's ok if you've never used a wrap before, we'll help you and you can choose the wrap you prefer as a thank you.

Here is a photo of Emily and her daughter modelling the gauze wraparound sling, aren't they beautiful?

A slow re-opening

As promised, the orders received while the shop was closed have been sent out.
We have re-opened the shop but since we're still half way through the move, it will take us a while to catch up and be fully operational.
If you have any questions or would like to order something in particular, then please don't hesitate to get in touch with us.

On the plus side, the new office will be lovely, more space, more storage, just in time for our lovely new stock arriving in a couple of weeks. It is bright, fully of light with a view on the trees outside, it will be a delight to work there.

Our baby wearing story (part 1)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we're starting a new project: collecting baby wearing stories, sharing the joy of carrying our babes, our best memories, the fun times and the not-so-nice episodes, the why how and so on.

So here it goes, the start of our baby wearing novels... Episode 1

I still remember the first day we went out with our daughter. She was born at home so there wasn't the "coming home from the hospital journey". It was a bright crisp day in the middle of April and she is a baby carrier, her head tucked against my chest. She was so small, light in a lovely velour white suit. One of the only things I had bought before she was born.

The next memory is me in my pyjamas doing the dishes with O. in a baby carrier. It's early in the morning and I can hear birds singing, as they sing early in the morning the first days of spring. For the first time since she was born, I could recognise and predict her rythm: wake up at 5am, breastfeed and then a long period of awake time and in-arms phase. So I would pop her in the baby carrier and get on with tidying up the house, cleaning the kitchen (which has never been so clean since then!), catch up with emails until she would doze off around 9am. And we would go both go back to bed.


With so much carrying, my back was aching even though she was only a couple of months old. A friend had a baby sling and was very happy with it. So I stalked Ebay^TM and got one too. It was a revelation, she was so snug, it was soft, no buckles, I loved it.

Then comes my next memory: a weekend in Canterbury in the middle of August, it was hot hot hot and I was worried O. would dehydrate. She literally lived in her baby sling for a couple of days, I could breastfeed in the sling without anyone noticing, even while we visited the Cathedral! It's only on the punt trip that people started wondering what the gulping sound was. "Look Honey, there's a baby in there!

Looking for child-friendly venues in London

The London Sling Meet group is looking for child-friendly venues where parents can meet up, share their baby wearing experiences, try each other's slings, learn to carry their children and have fun with a wide range of carriers, mei-tais, ring slings, wraparounds, pouches...

If you know any good place to meet, get in touch with us.

Thanks

A working "holiday"

We are still closed and the move is not going as fast as we were hoping. Still lots to do and still only 24 hours in the day but we're getting there. All the network cables have been laid, the internet connection is up, the phone line will be back up as soon as we can locate the computer is the dozen of boxes piled up to the ceilings.
In the meantime, you can always contact us by email.

That gives us time to work on lots of exciting things for the next few months.

First on the list is the new Calin Bleu wraparound instructions. New and larger photos, new instructions, our "top tips". We've asked lots of parents to review and give us their feedback and they are enthusiasts. If you want to take a peak, email us and we'll send you the pdf copy.

We've also been working on the new winter micro fleece wrap slings which will be available soon. We LOVE these wraps, they are light, super soft, easy to put on and take off and ever so elegant. They make an ideal present for a new mum with a winter baby.
Last year, we did a limited edition of designer wraps and you kept asking for them. So here they are. The black micro fleece wrap with a spotty accent. There will be lots of other colour combinations as well, we are so excited, we are almost looking forward to the winter. I still can't decide which one to keep, maybe the charcoal with orange accent or maybe one of each.
Beware, we have limited supply of these babies, when they're gone, we might not be able to get more!
Remember to sign up to the Newsletter to be the first to know when they arrive.

Another exciting project we've been working on: Tell us your baby wearing stories
Did you start carrying your first baby or the youngest one, just for fun or because she was a high need baby, because you had twins, because it's fashionable, or are you the only one baby wearer in your entire county. Did you start with a Baby Bjorn? a ring sling? straight into wrapping?
Whatever your story, grab a pen or your keyboard and write to us.
Your stories will be published on the blog or on the website. We look forward to reading you.

There is also the lot-less-exciting work of figuring out how the changes in the Post Office rates affect us (and you!) and solve the eternal question: can we pack our wraps differently to make them cheaper to send out?