When I was registering for my baby shower, some of the most important things for me to get were a front pack baby carrier, a beautiful crib, a bassinet, and a top-of-the-line stroller. I was so lucky -- I got them all. Now I laugh, because since I got my sling, I never use any of those things.
Life for the first few weeks after giving birth was spent on the couch. After all, I had had an emergency Cesarean Section and I was nursing, what seemed to be constantly.
Then reality set in. The do-nothing bonding time with my little guy was amazing, but there were no more clean clothes, nothing to eat in the fridge, and the house was a mess. So it was time to get back to work.
Ahh....but with a baby it was much more difficult than before. (Read: impossible.)
After all that couch cuddle time, the last thing I wanted to do was put my baby in his crib on the other side of the house. I was so baby-whipped; I didn't even want to put him in a stroller right next to me! And neither did he want to be in his crib or bassinet, as he soon told me with his tiny little lungs.
So now what???
I tried balancing him on my hip and holding him with one arm. Yeah right. That lasted for about five minutes as I was able to do pretty much nothing and my arm was getting really tired anyway.
"I know!" I thought, as I pulled my new front pack baby carrier out of its box. After thirty minutes of adjusting it to my body with all those buckles and straps I slid my baby in expecting bliss. What I received was another thirty minutes of hysterical crying. Not to mention it felt like I was wearing a straight jacket, and if it felt that way to me, how must it feel to my newborn?
Then I remembered that during my couch hiatus, I had read something about slings in The Baby Book, by Dr. Sears -- the best parenting book I had found. I had instinctively agreed with everything in the book, but admit that I skipped over the "Babywearing" chapter thinking it a bit avant-garde for me. I mean, babywearing?
Needless to say, I went back and read that chapter and I will say this: it amazed me. It turns out that Dr. Sears discovered that babywearing solved three huge problems for parents: first, it allowed the mother to have both hands free, second, it soothed the baby, and third, it eliminated the crying jags.
I was a bit skeptical, but what did I have to lose? And guess what? It worked. Now with that problem solved, I was set to buy a sling! The only problem that I found was that every sling was a plain canvas material and with very limited choices of colors or patterns.
On Mamma's Milk Slings
In addition to beautiful fabrics, I also loved the freedom of being stroller-free and longed for freedom from my bulky diaper bag.
One night as I was walking with my husband and our baby, I slipped a diaper in the sling with Jaxon and was thrilled when I realized I didn't have to lug around a stroller OR a diaper bag anymore!
The only problem was that I didn't have a way to carry baby wipes. So I created The Mamma's Milk Wipes Pack™. This little invention turned out to be one of the most useful products I've ever used with my baby. I keep one in my purse, one in the car, etc. It's so much more portable than one of those bulky hard plastic wipes cases and it's easier to get wipe out quickly.
With that problem solved, I turned next to another problem I had: I didn't like the look of adjustable slings or pouches. They either had rings or rows of snaps, zippers or buttons. I wanted something that I could adjust as I lost the baby weight, but didn't have any of the bulky hardware. After many, many sleepless nights dreaming up ideas and many days spent designing prototypes, the Mamma's Milk Invisibly Adjustable Pouch was invented! It has become an instant bestseller. Now I'm working on offering the Wipes Pack a la carte or with the Invisibly Adjustable Pouch like you all have been requesting!
And that's how Mamma's Milk was born.
