Love, Life and Sheffield Slings

Have you all seen this lovely video made by one of our mums? It was fitting, as we have just reached 400 members!

It really sums up the atmosphere of the group

We have three set meets a month:
1) First Monday of the month in the morning at Hagglers Corner, Queens Road, S2 10-12am
2) 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month in the morning at St Thomas Playtime, Gilpin St, S6 10-12 am. The full and extensive travelling library of siings (for reference purposes and playing) is at these two meets.
3) We also have numerous informal sling meets and gatherings all around the city and further afield all days of the week and on some weekends, all very flexible. Slings can be brought on request! People are encouraged to make their own meets, and may range from waffles and bacon butties in someone’s home to a day out at the National Railway Museum, or just a cafe get-together.
We do demonstrations for breastfeeding and other parenting groups, such as the NCT, upon request.

Please do get in touch! you can email us at sheffieldslings@gmail.com
or find us on facebook
http://www.facebook.com/sheffieldslings (facebook page)
http://www.facebook.com/groups/saturdayslings/ (facebook group for chat, advice, friendship, connections)

Looking forwards to meeting you!

One Billion Rising FlashDance

On Valentine’s Day, a gaggle of Sheffield Slings parents went to a flashdance in the city centre – the One Billion Rising global event – and danced with their babies in slings to raise awareness about the terrible prevalence of violence against women and to be united in protest about this. One in three women on the planet will be raped or beaten in her lifetime..

It was great to be part of a worldwide movement and showing solidarity with our sisters in dancing together. Some of us had better moves than others – and Beth Roche of local Zumba fame helped us learn the routine!

http://www.onebillionrising.org/pages/about-one-billion-rising

Sheffield Slings in the Star!

We’re a double page feature in the Sheffield Star today – hugely proud of what we’ve achieved in the last eight months. You can see the article below, and read it here http://m.thestar.co.uk/community/we-let-the-slings-take-the-strain-1-5401688

If you want to join in – you can find the link to the facebook group by clicking here or copying this URL (https://www.facebook.com/groups/saturdayslings ) into your browser. The group is closed to protect our children as we share photos there, but if you’re interested in slinging do join up! You can also follow our facebook page here (https://www.facebook.com/SheffieldSlings)

An antidote to boredom!

What a busy week I had thanks to Sheffield Slings!

I was forced to miss the first two meets of the week (a girly pamper session where everyone minded the kids while their mums were massaged or hair was cut, and a wintery sling walk through the woods for ice-cream), due to a domestic crisis with the washing machine but I made up for it the second half of the week!

Wednesday was our regular Playtime event at Hillsborough. We ate lots of cake and spent some time catching up with old friends and making lots of new ones. I helped mums try ring slings, back carries with woven wraps  and different types of baby buckled carriers whilst my toddler ran herself ragged with all her friends. There were so many slings coming out of the stash box and being used! It was wonderful to relax and have fun knowing my little girl was safe and enjoying herself. The event finished with a visit from a reporter and photographer from a local newspaper who were interested in Sheffield Slings, so we all got to show off our best smiles for the camera! There were over a hundred people through our doors that day – so many that we’ve decided to run Playtime fortnightly, double the fun! (2nd and 4th Wednesdays).

I am part of the Sheffield Slings demo squads, so on Thursday I did a demo with some other squad members at Charnock children’s centre. We got to show new mums all the different options when it comes to slinging and all the reasons why it’s a good idea. Lots of mums were interested and joined our facebook group afterwards for a chat, to find out more and to look up some local events they could join in with.

On Friday I started the day with a trip to Weston Park Museum to meet up with some other Slingers. My little girl had an amazing time running amok with the other small children and I had a lot of fun having some adult conversation. After a leisurely lunch with them all I jumped on a tram to start the journey to the next meet! After a power nap in my sling my little girl was raring to go again. We had a great time on our walk around Rother Valley, she rode happily on my back, shouting at all the dogs brought by other slingy mums we met up with and looking at the ducks. I had very sore feet by the end of the day!

They didn’t have long to recover though as the next morning myself and the whole family saddled up and went to my final sling meet of the week – Clumber Park! A great family day out was had by all as we wandered around the park, played at the soft play area, and had wacky races on scooters. And no, I wasn’t referring  to the kids at that last point..  Lots of us got to try out a new prototype ring sling made by Firespiral Slings; it was so lovely we all queued up to try it and it was brilliantly comfy. As we all collapsed in the car at the end of a fabulous week I can’t help but feel so lucky to have made the decision to use a sling with my third child. It’s not just because they are useful, pretty, and give me lots of wonderful cuddles to remember long after my baby has grown.  I’ve also made some wonderful friends and had some great experiences, and I’m never bored with Sheffield Slings!!

Playtime

Playtime

Playtime

Playtime

Playtime

Playtime

Playtime

Rother Valley Walk

Rother Valley Walk

Clumber Park

Clumber Park

Clumber Park

Clumber Park

Clumber Park

Clumber Park

Clumber Park

Clumber Park (Firespiral!)

Clumber Park Scooter Races

Clumber Park – best way for a toddler to see the world!

Clumber Park – sleepy dust

If you want to get involved in this group that I love, our FB group is here, with new events being added weekly… it’d be great to meet you!

Sling Demos and Yorkshire Sculpture Park Day Out

All our snow melted overnight at the end of the week – this was a relief. We’d already had to cancel one sling demo at the start of the week for a breastfeeding group due to the conditions, but managed all our other events – three more demos (one for a couple of mums with premature babies now thriving, one for the local NCT, and one for a breastfeeding group in the south of the city) and two sling meets, phew. We rounded it off with a day out at the lovely Yorkshire Sculpture Park in the bright sunshine to see the Moving Sculptures. Our new Hop Tye was much admired.. half buckles, full buckles and wraps were also in use. Here are some of the pics – you can get involved yourself by joining the FB group here! If you’d like to book some sling demos for your own group do email us at sheffieldslings@gmail.com and we’ll see what we can do to help!

Slinging Snow Families

Over this snowy weekend, we’ve been taking all sorts of snowy slinging pictures – and some of us have added our snowmen to the family and got them “wearing” too! Here is a selection of some of the snowmen to be found around Sheffield, sporting wraps, half buckles, or full buckles!

Ring Sling Slinging in the snow

So many meets! Today we’d planned a Ring Sling Slinging meet in the lovely facilities of Norfolk Park’s Centre in the Park. However, the lovely fat flakes began falling from the sky overnight and more was predicted for the morning. A lot of us had to cancel – but half of us came, fourteen parents and their kids! A lovely morning was had – ring slings galore, a tweak in technique here and there, some Robin’s Hip Carries, Leigh’s Hip Carries, chat, fun. More please!