Slinging in the mall

[lisamarie]

Do you all get so many looks and comments when you go shopping w/your babe in the sling?????

Amber and I had a shopping today at the mall and so many people commented on how great the sling and one woman even said "THANK YOU for NOT carrying her around in one of those baby carseat things! Babies are meant to be with you, not on the FLOOR! You made my day and thanks for doing such a great job!" Hey, that made my day!

Any sling stories???

Warmly~

Lisa:bf

[TiffanyK]

I've gotten lots of comments. People often ask if they could get in and ride (yeah right!!!) I've also had people ask where to get a sling. But my favorite was when I was carrying my ds and holding my older dd's hand. Two older men were watching us walk into the building and as soon as we passed one man said to the other "Well, I've never seen nothing like that before" (with the appropriate Kentucky drawl!)

[mamabeth]

Yes! I go to the same grocery store all the time and our fish guy comments on it every time...how comfortable dd looks and how happy she is. The first time he commented that he had seen women holding their babies like that in Africa and "just going about their business." I said, "that's the idea!"

Also, my friend and I were in the mall with both babies in slings (nojos exactly alike, lol!) and we got lots of stares and comments, mostly good but some disapproving ("are they all scrunched up in there?") and we just smiled and said "they love it!"

It's good to hear happy sling stories.
Peace,
Beth and Miriam born 1/5/03

[jessikate]

DD and I do get a lot of looks, but not a lot of comments. Today, though, at the Farmers Market, we passed a woman carrying her DD in her car seat. She said "Oh, that's nice" and I asked if she had one. She didn't, I told her where to get one, and she was excited and probably went and got one today. I hope. I saw lots of other people with babes in arms, only a few strollers to bang people's knees this week (very crowded, strollers do not work well). I wanted to go up to every person just carrying their child and tell them how to make things easier.

When we do get comments, they're always positive. Ranging from "Oh, she looks so happy and comfy there" to "What a pretty baby carrier. How does that work?". I love giving demos!

[spero]

I liked to get the nice comments like, "Baby looks so comfy and content in there!".

Unfortunately, I got a lot of negative comments on a regular basis...not too many parents sling in my neck of the woods.
"Isn't Baby all scrunched up in there?"
"Don't you think Baby is uncomfortable all squashed up like that?"
"Don't you get tired of carrying Baby around all the time?"
"Aren't you afraid Baby will fall out of that thing?"

and this doozy from an older woman at a craft fair:
"Oh, you carry your baby around all the time, hmmmmmm?"
"Yes, he likes it very much and he never cries."
"Well, how long do you plan to carry him around like that? He has to learn to walk, you know." (DS wasn't even a month old at the time!!!)
"I'll carry him as long as he wants to be carried."
(giving me the skeptical, arched eyebrow look) "Oh, my goodness dear, he'll never learn to walk! What a terrible thing to do to a child...you'll make him totally dependent on you and you'll regret it..." (tight, know-it-all smile)

Good gravy! I had to just walk away. :

I tried to teach at least 3 people to use a sling...they were dying to have one after they saw how happy my kids were in it. They all insisted that they just "couldn't ever get the hang of it". :
I must be a sucky teacher.

[LeoMama]

I always have gotten alot of looks--no negative comments here, just a lot of interest and smiles! I love that!

[rda]

Dd#2 was fond of disappearing down into the sling when she was a newborn. Once in the checkout line at our local mega-mart the cashier was looking at me very suspiciously and finally said "I'll need to see what you're carrying in there". She thought I was shoplifting!:

A much more pleasant encounter happened more recently with dd#3. Our community has a couple dozen of the "lost boys" of Sommalia who have been resettled here. The newspaper has run articles that would just break your heart describing what these young men had survived. Several of them work at my neighborhood grocery store and once when I was slinging Mia, one of them got a very wistful look and told me about how all babies are carried that way where he comes from, and how happy it makes them and how he liked seeing it here. It was very sweet, and I got the feeling it may have reminded him of a good memory. I hope so.

[MFuglei]

We never had an infant seat for DD. . . just always carried her in the sling. So accustomed to infant carriers was my hospital that they nearly wouldn't let us leave without showing them the carseat! They had to come out to the car!

But I digress. . . my favorite sling story. . . I was taking a walk in my neighborhood with DD in the sling. She likes to lay in the cradle position with her legs dangling out of my pouch style sling and she was nursing. A man walked up and started talking to me about her, then reached over to peek in the sling and get a look at her. . . he got a look alright! He was so embarassed -- this poor cute old man walked right over to me and looked at my boob! He recovered fairly quickly though and then he said: "I'm so relieved to see you doing that (nursing) and wearing her in that thing (sling). So many other people just ignore their babies."

It was cool.

[Crunchier]

I usually get comments on how comfy he looks. Lately people have been asking me if I make them (I do) and that I should sell them (which I am).

[MelissaEvans]

he got a look alright!

Too funny! Bet he never just peeked in a sling again! I'm glad he recovered well. =)

I get lots of people asking about my sling (and I now hand out mini-essays on what they're for, how they're different, and where to buy 'em). I was in Home Depot and this employee (mid twenties, male, long hair, not so clean-shaven) was really interested in it. He didn't have any kids, but his friends did and he was all into it. I was surprised, he didn't seem like the "type" to be interested in children, let alone slings! =) But, when you've got the cutest model in one, how can you resist? =)

[mirlee]

I love slings. The most wonderful things I have seen lately are dads wearing their babes. During a local huge whole neighborhood yard sale event, I saw two dads wearing their babies as they walked down the street. It was so awesome.

[crat19]

I get comments all the time! Mostly positive ones and mostly surprised "Is there a baby in THERE?". I love walking past the moms that have the huge urban assault strollers with everything but the kitchen sink on them while they're shopping. I have both my hands free and a happy babe.

About the only negative comment I had was from a collegue at work who insisted he was uncomfortable in "that thing". She kept going on and on about it until I finally said "you can dictate what goes on with your kids when you have your own." This is from the same woman who thought he'd "fall out" if I jumped or exercised when I was pregnant! LOL!

Glad to hear your stories!

[Peppamint]

I mostly get positive comments... the only negative comment (if you could call it that) is when people ask if he's too scrunched. I just tell them he knows what he likes and that's one of them... the others are Boob, lots of Attention and a Clean Butt.

Most people I meet think it's a great invention... the manager at Steak N Shake had me write down the web address of Maya for her so she could get one for her sister who just had a baby.

[wombat]

I love doing the supermarket shopping with dd in the sling. So easy and it's fun for her to see everything. I always get comments about how happy she looks. In the kangaroo front hold position, we gets lots of "isn't she all scrunched up like that?". I don't find it negative, just ignorant. People always want to know where I got the sling.

[Oklahoma Mama]

When my ds was younger I had him in the sling almost every place we went. I had comments like:

He looks so comfortable in there
Will he fall out?
Where can I get one?

And one time I had an elderly woman exclaim "You're carrying him just like they do in Africa!"

[Katie65]

I always get very positive comments.

The only thing that might be negative, is whenever someone sees me slinging Aidan in the kangaroo carry, they always say the same thing "where are his feet?" so I say "indian style" and pull the rail out a bit to show them.

This afternoon dh and I were at the mall with dd and ds and I had ds in the sling (hes 3 months old) and I got zillions of positive comments, and only 1 "where are his feet?" I even had one woman shout at me from inside her booth in the center of the mall as I walked past at how cute my baby looked in that thing!!

I love the positive feedback, and I love when a mom who has her baby in a carrier asks about it.

I have recently started making them and selling them. I'm learning to make pouches too!

[Cassafrass]

Last weekend we went to the County Fair and I had Ruby in a front pack thing (tried the sling-she doesn't like to be "scrunched" ha ha) and she was asleep with her face in my chest. her arms and legs were hanging out all floppy and my husband heard someone say to their friend "is that baby ALIVE?" Lol!

I only saw one other mom with a sling/front pack. WAAAAY to many strollers going through the mud...

[youngnhappymamma]

Cassafrass.... You can carry your baby in a non-padded sling the exact same way that you cary her in the front pack (and I LOVE the name Ruby!!! ) you just have the sling hold her rear end (with her sweet little feet dangling out) and her shoulders and head out while she is lying tummy to chest with you. It's very simple and so much more comfortable for mom and babe and you don't have to take off a front pack to nurse!!
MFuglei...that is one of the funniest and sweetest sling stories I have ever heard!!! What a totally sweet man!!

I get sooooooooooooo many comments constantly it....most "that is so cool!" And during the winter when she is in teh fleece sling (home made...no sewing involved!!) a lot of "I wish I could do that!" which is sometimes an akward comment if it is a man making it...as in him wanting to be all snuggled up on my chest :LOL
One time when I was walking into Sam's Club a woman who was walking out said "good for you" to me...although at the time I did not process that she was talking to me because I was involved with debating with my ds. But a few minutes later it hit me that she had directed her comment to me and it made me feel so totally happy and empowered for the rest of the day! And made me feel more open and excited about making comments to other moms in public!!

It is soooooooooooooooooooo sad that slings are not sold more mainstreamly and promoted in ped.'s offices and hospitals!!! The benifits are so proven and documented and it just makes life so so so much easier!! I just don't understand why everyone doesn't sling their baby!! I to feel so happy when I have baby (well, toddler now!) in the sling and my hands are full holding onto my ds's hands and we walk by some mom with baby in one of those huge car seat/stroller combos and she looks more "busy" than me! I just love being able to care for all of my children without having to neglect one of them to do it! I have seen so many crying infants in car seats at the grocery store because the mom is trying to wrestle a toddler and groceries at the same time. So sad. I am now going to start making slings and passing them out to EVERYONE I know...there should be some government grant that promotes the handing out of free slings!!

[Foobar]

we usually carry Goo in the baby bjorn or now the backpack carrier. It's alot easier and people think it is cute. I am not a slinger, but just using a carrier is great here!

[indie]

All of the comments I've had have been positive or curious. The other day at the library the librarian said, "How do you do that?" It took me a minute to figure out what she was talking about. I also took it with me when I flew cross-country. One woman said she wanted to get one for her pregnant daughter and an old lady said that she thinks babies are so much happier when they are carried that way.