We have had loads of new library additions over the last few months – in particular some gorgeous mei tais (Kozy, Melkaj, Joey Slings) some great soft structured carriers (Yamo, Beco Butterfly II) and we now have Hotslings Pouches available in sizes 1 to 5. A huge thankyou to all of our donators – the slings you have kindly donated will really help to promote the benefits of babywearing in Oxfordshire.

You can see the full list of what is available in the Oxfordshire Sling Library here. And we have a slide show of our carriers in action too!

If you haven’t seen it already, you may also want to check out Sling Guide. This site was launched in September for International Babywearing Week and contains loads of clear, independent information about different types of slings available. The information on the site has been compiled by parents who have extensive experience in using slings, and will be regularly updated and expanded.

International Babywearing Week 2009 runs from 21st-28th September. This year’s theme is “Close Enough to Kiss”. You can find more information here.

Come and help us kick off the week at Cutteslowe Park on Sunday 20th September!

We meet at 2 o’clock at the Aviary in Cutteslowe Park (see here for directions)  (The aviary is in the middle, so you can use either car park). There are plenty of fun things to do including train rides! We will go for a walk around the park, and then recover with tea and cakes at a bring and share picnic in Cutteslowe Pavilion from 3-5 pm. All welcome – bring your families and friends!

Oxfordshire Sling Library would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who donated carriers, accessories, dvds and books to our library.

Here are a few photographs of your donations in action.

If you are interested in how far Oxford Sling Meet has come in the last 12 month, and our plans for the future, you can now view the Oxford Sling Meet Annual Report for 2008 – 2009 online here.

We hope to see you at our next meeting, on Thursday 7th May at St Lukes Church, Canning Crescent, Oxford from 10-11.30am.

The next Oxford Sling Meet is on Thursday 2nd April, 10-11.30 at St Luke’s, Canning Crescent, http://www.stlukesoxford.org.uk/

All the usual fun and games, as well as the popular newborn slings we will be looking at rebozo/shortie wraps and hip and back carries.

As if that weren’t plenty, we will also be attempting the first ever Oxford Sling Meet AGM! This will be a chance to find out about what the group has been up to the past year and our future plans, and give us your suggestions about how the slingmeets and library are working.

We would also like to recruit a couple more volunteers onto the committee, so if you would be interested in helping out we’d love to hear from you We are potentially looking for a new librarian (or 2!) and/or a new treasurer – contact me if you’d like more details about what these roles involve.

Timing wise we’ll probably try to do the AGM bit near the beginning of the meet. We’re aiming to keep it short and snappy!

As usual we ask for a one pound donation to help cover venue hire costs.

Looking forward to it!

The March meeting was fantastic – such a great turn out of people! We had lots of interesting demos, concentrating on newborn friendly carries (stretchy wrap and ringsling) and high back carries as an alternative to front facing out carries.

Peggy shows a high back carry with a mei tai

Zayna demonstrates a ring sling

Catherine demos a high ruck with a woven wrap

Tibetan finish

A great turn out of people watching the demos

Helping each other out with new carriers

The next Oxford Sling Meet will be on Thursday 5th March at the usual location of St. Luke’s Church (Canning Crescent) from 10-11.30am.

At the Feb meet (which was cancelled due to the snow) we were going to talk about ways to carry your baby so they can really see what is going on. Lets do that talk in March instead.

And of course the Oxfordshire Sling Library will be there, with several new slings to chose from as well.

Due to the snow, we are cancelling Oxford Sling Meet today. The advice on the radio was quite clear that people shouldn’t travel unless it really is essential.

If someone really wants to borrow a sling from the library, then please contact us through the yahoo group and we will arrange something.

Also we are planning to meet up at a children’s centre or playroom next Wednesday, and we can bring some slings for borrowing then so if anyone would like to do this, let us know. We will post more details about where we will be meeting nearer the time, it will probably be somewhere like Donnington Doorstep.

Sorry to have to cancel this morning, but I think it’s probably the safest option.

The next Oxford Sling Meet will be on Thursday 5th Feb at the usual location of St. Luke’s Church (Canning Crescent) from 10-11.30am.

The sling library will be there and there will be lots to choose from including several new slings thanks to some very generous donations!

We are also hoping to talk about ways you can carry your baby when they want to see everything that is going on. This often happens at around 4 months. You don’t have to use a facing out carry – hip and high back carries work really well too. We’d love to hear from you at the meeting if you have any tips to share.

Happy New Year everyone!

The next Oxford Sling Meet is on 15th Jan from 10-11.30 at St Luke’s Church, Canning Crescent, Oxford. Drinks, snacks and toys for babies and toddlers are provided. We ask for a £1 donation per family to help cover costs.

This will be a social meet, so we won’t be hiring new stuff out from Oxfordshire Sling Library – unless you are in dire need e.g. imminent new baby!

After that our next library meet will be Thursday 5th February, same time and
place. At this meet you will be able to hire things from the library.