New Baby Product and Giveaway: Beginnings Baby

The last quarter of 2012 was very hectic! I was invited to a Sparty by ARC Public Relations for Beginnings Baby which I unfortunately was not able to attend.  They still generously sent me the Press Kit for Beginnings Baby which included samples of the brand.  Because E is a giant baby, I couldn't try the products on him so I asked ARC if I could give them away on the blog instead and happily, they agreed.

Babywearing Safely - Legs Out Position

*This is Part 4 of a series.

As I mentioned in the Introduction, it was Steffany's post in the Natural Parents Network that really got me thinking about babywearing positions and safety. You see, what I picked up from that post was that babies - even newborns - should be in a legs out, spread squat position.

Babywearing Safely - Front Facing, Front Carry?

*This is Part 3 of  series.

I was quite surprised to read how long term front facing front carry position is also discouraged.  As I previously mentioned, we used to carry N in a Baby Bjorn that way. According to Hosanna Camacho, PT, the front facing and front carry position is not advisable for young babies at it puts stress and pressure on their undeveloped spine.  It is only an advisable carry when your baby can crawl as by then, the spine has already developed.

Babywearing Safely - Why Cradle Carry is Discouraged

*This is Part 2 of a series.

For newborns, the best way to carry them is tummy to tummy (upright).  Cradle carry is discouraged because of the risks of hip dysplasia which is the general instability or looseness of the hip joint.  Click here to see an animated video of how hip dysplasia happens and here for the different stages of hip dysplasia.  Here's a photo of the proper position of a baby inside a sling to prevent hip dysplasia.

Babywearing Safely - Introduction

*This is Part 1 of a series.

I am not a babywearing expert nor I claim to be.  I'd rather call myself as a babywearing enthusiast.  I have my own collection of carriers all purchased [thank you Black Friday!] except for the following given to me: Ring Sling from Jen, Ring Sling from Jonie, Ring Sling from Clarice and Abie, Ruxpin Hybrid and MeiTai from Buding.

my collection: Peanut Shell adjustable pouch, Next9 ring sling, Ruxpin Hybrid,  shower sling, Maya wrap, Mamaway ring sling,  Moby wrap, Blissfulbabes Pouch, Saya carrier, BabyHawk Meitai, Olives&Applesauce Soft structured carrier, Patapum Toddler Carrier, Ruxpin Meitai and Hotslings Adjustable pouch

My interest with babywearing started with N, who is now 4 years old.  S and I started wearing her at about 6 months in a Baby Bjorn, (gasp! what was I thinking?! I hadn't researched well at that time) and eventually in a pouch and Saya (a hybrid carrier).  I am now babywearing E (who is turning 4 months on April 21) in a ring sling.  Meanwhile, S babywears E in his soft structured carrier.  I am transitioning E into our other carriers like the meitai and Ruxpin hybrid.

My learnings from Erik's Birth

Want to read Erik's Birth Story? Click here.

My learnings from his birth:

Nurses make a difference!

As I mentioned, the LDR was quite busy during the day I came in so I was seen by 4 different nurses.  To my bad luck, the nurse in charge of me was quite against natural delivery.  She was very skeptical when I said I wanted to do natural.  Then when I asked to use a birthing ball, she immediately said no because I was on pitocin and she had seen moms crack their heads open on the birthing ball! My doula and I looked at each other - WHAT?!! My doula explained that she had previously assisted 2 moms in the same hospital with induced labors (both at 42 weeks) and who were on pitocin at much higher doses that I was on, but were allowed to use the birthing balls!

Then as I was laboring, I was trying to get comfortable by trying to labor on my side and she was quite nasty about it.  She wanted me to remain on my back so she didn't have to continuously adjust the fetal and contraction monitors! She was quite antsy every time I asked her to adjust the monitor as I was switching from side to side.

The worst part was about my request to take home my placenta.  I had already spoken to another  nurse earlier who had made arrangements with the charge nurse to have me fill up some papers so I can sign a waiver allowing the hospital to release my placenta to me.  Apparently, the only reason the hospital will release your placenta to you is if it is for religious reasons.  As I was reminding Tane about the form, she told me, aren't you Roman Catholic? And I said yes.  Then she said, I am Roman Catholic and that's the first I've heard about wanting your placenta for religious reasons! WHAT?!!! Was she seriously asking me that?! But since I was trying to be a good patient, I just smiled and said it was for my husband.  Luckily, she got off at 7pm and I was able to deliver Erik without seeing her or hearing her snarky comments!

Preparation is Key!

For Naima, I never took any childbirth classes as I didn't see the need.  However, for Erik, I had done some research and talked to some friends about natural delivery.  I decided to go for childbirth classes, even if it was already my second pregnancy.  I chose a hypnobirthing class which you can also take at home through HypnoBabies or HypBirth.  The techniques helped me relax during the labor and I was able to manage the discomfort through breathing techniques.  I also listened to the CDs during my entire stay at the labor, delivery and recovery unit.  I have to say though that my pain tolerance is quite high and what I consider merely discomfort might be considered as pain for other moms.  I also read several childbirth books and the top book I would recommend would be Birthing from Within. 

I also had a doula to help me achieve my natural childbirth goal.  Read more about doulas here.  I decided to hire a doula after reading MyMommyology's positive experience with her doula.  Stan was still there as my birth partner but the doula filled in the gaps as they have had more experience with births, are more in control and have the presence of mind to keep me on track with my birth goals.  My doula, Heidi, reminded me to use my breathing each time my contractions or surges became really intense.  In the last moments, when I wanted to get that epidural, she helped me realize that my goal for a natural childbirth was very close that I ended up NOT getting any pain medication AND achieving my goal!

Natural delivery is empowering!

Naima was born via natural delivery although with an epidural. The difference I could tell here was that with Naima, I was dependent on the monitor to tell me that I was having a contraction.  With Erik, I was still dependent on the monitor too since I really didn't feel the surges until they got intense.  However, when it was time to push or breathe down the baby, I was in control.  With Naima, the nurse was telling me it was time to push while for Erik I was the one who was telling them that I needed to push and they took their cue from me.

I was also quite glad that I had informed my doctor of my birth plans and even though they were a conservative practice, I did think they tried their best to accommodate me and give me a natural delivery.

I've had some friends ask me if I was going to do natural for the third baby.  Well, as of now, Stan and I have agreed on 2 babies.  But IF we do change our minds, yes, I think I would also go for natural delivery but in a "friendlier" hospital which will allow me to labor in other means and not in bed stuck on my back.

Erik's Birth Story

On 21 December 2011, our early Christmas gift, Erik Raem arrived.  My waters broke at 545am.  But I wasn't feeling any surges then.  I woke up Stan and we waited for Naima to wake up.  I called my doctor when their office opened at 9am.  Since I wasn't  feeling any contractions, they asked me to go to their clinic where the nurse practitioner on duty could check me up.  Since Stan wasn't up to driving, I drove to the clinic and the nurse practitioner confirmed that my waters indeed had broke.  She spoke to the OB on call - Dr. Grimm (who also delivered Naima 4 years ago) and informed me that I had to head out to the hospital ASAP!
I knew that since my waters already broke, my OB will be watching me closely and will eventually put me in pitocin.  So we decided to grab some lunch first.  The nurse practitioner told me that I shouldn't be eating anymore since to do a C/S delivery they would need me to be on an empty stomach, with the last meal 8 hours ago.  So I told her, that's ok. If I eat at 12nn, you can do C/S at 8pm.
We finally got to the hospital at about 2pm. Dr. Grimm was already there and he had me checked into a Labor Delivery Room (Room 308).  The thing about my hospital is that they are a baby factory and their goal for this year was to deliver 10,000 babies! So I know that my hopes for a natural labor were quite limited.  Plus my doula was sick that day! So she had to send a back-up doula - Heidi who was quite terrific.
From 2pm, I was debating about whether to ask Heidi to come or not.  She was constantly in touch through SMS and phone calls.  But at that point, I wasn't feeling any of the surges yet.  The difficult part about having a back-up doula was that it was going to be the first time I was going to meet her and we didn't set parameters of the birth I wanted, etc. etc.
The LDR that day was quite crazy and I was seen by about 4 different nurses.  At about 4pm, Dr. Grimm came into the room and told me that he wanted me to start pitocin to jumpstart labor since my surges were really irregular.  During his IE, I was only 4cm dilated and about 90% effaced.  In hindsight, I think I should have asked Heidi to come immediately when I checked in so we could have done some things to jumpstart my labor naturally - e.g. bouncing on a birth ball.
Anyway, I agreed to the pitocin (which Dr. Grimm told me was to be at the lowest level only).  It was administered by the nurse in charged of my LDR - Tane (who was horrible - more on that later!!) at about 430pm.  She told me that Dr. Schulman was coming to replace Dr. Grimm at about 530pm.  Heidi came at about 5pm. My surges were beginning to be quite regular but quite manageable.  Heidi told me that she could help me sit on a birth ball (ruled out by Tane!).  Heidi also heated up some pads for my back. Meanwhile, Stan was playing one of my hypnobirthing CDs in the background.  Heidi had a Masters in Public Health and did her thesis on the use of pitocin.  So I spent sometime during my labor interviewing her about her paper and learned how cow hormones (yikes!) used to be injected in laboring mothers until they were able to create a synthetic hormone - now marketed as Pitocin.
Dr. Schulman arrived at 630pm and did another IE.  At this time I was already 5cm dilated with baby in 0 station.  I expected to deliver at about 9pm.  By 645pm, the surges were beginning to be quite intense and I was feeling better trying to labor on my side.  But again the nurse Tane was quite horrible during this time (see below).  During intense surges, Stan was holding my hand while Heidi was patting my legs and reminding me to breathe.
At 715pm, I told Stan that the surges were very intense and I WANTED THAT EPIDURAL!! Heidi then called the nurse and asked the doctor to come.  Dr. Schulman and the new nurse on duty - Susan came at about 730pm and went into panic mode.  Apparently, I was already fully dilated, with Erik at +3 station - meaning he was already crowning!! Stan said he could see Erik's head already!
I felt the strongest urge to poo but was told to hold it as they were preparing for my delivery.  Heidi told me to do whatever feels comfortable to me.  After about 4 huge pushes, Erik Raem was born at 745pm.  During the pushing, Stan said I was turning purple :O.  I did tear - minor according to Dr. Schulman who stitched me up with a local anesthetic.
Stan, Erik and I stayed in the labor and delivery room for about 1 hour.  During this time, I signed a waiver for the release of my placenta and big Achi Naima visited us.  She was so excited and Stan was able to shoot a photostory.  My placenta was stored in the LDR refrigerator and we picked it up two days later on discharge day.

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Next up: My learnings from Erik's birth

Orlando Bloom's Little Man

I've swooned over Orlando Bloom ever since he came out in The Lord of the Rings! He is now a new dad to Flynn, who was born on January 6, 2011 at 9lbs, 12 oz. to him and model Miranda Kerr. I'm excited to read that Miranda is nursing Flynn and what's more, their very first birth announcement includes a breastfeeding photo of Flynn! Read about Miranda Kerr's breastfeeding experience on her BLOG.

*photo taken by dad, Orlando Bloom and posted on Miranda Kerr's blog

Review: For Baby's Boo-boos

photo by Stan

More and more moms are becoming conscious of what they put on their babies. Early on, I try to use all-natural creams and salves on Naima whenever she has boo-boos. There are now several products in the market but I've chosen to use only three. IndigoBaby and ByNature because I know the moms behind them and Ilog Maria because I've been to their store and I believe in the owner/founder. Here's a quick review and rundown of our usage of these salves and creams.

photo from Indigo Baby's website

1. Indigo Baby - Jar of Hope (P380 - 30ml)

Jar of Hope was the very first ointment I purchased for Naima. Indigo Baby calls it a "gel" and it does have a gel-like consistency. Purchased my first jar from Monica at one of the Rockwell bazaars. Back then, she told me that she used it for teething and I was skeptical. I didn't want to be putting unknown stuff in Naima's mouth.

According to Indigo Baby's website, their Jar of Hope First Aid Gel is a bestseller and is made of "blue chamomile essential oil". This is not only for babies' use but also for mom and dad - burnouts, stress, insomnia, fussy babies, insect bites, motion sickness, inflammation, rashes, cuts and wounds plus teething. Finally, Indigo Baby attests that "blue chamomile is the most haling of all chamomiles due to its azulene content."

The gel smells really good and is very easy to apply. We've used it for insect bites, inflammation and rashes and it does its job pretty well. We used it mostly when Naima was a baby (e.g. 4-12 months old). However, Naima's yaya noted that since the gel was very mild, it was good for minor cuts/bruises. For major ones, she prefers BN's Salve. We didn't use this for teething though but mainly for diaper rash. Naima got diaper rash because we used wipes on her a lot! On the other hand, my niece Anya had no diaper rash at all because yaya just used cotton with water to wipe her. According to Indigo Baby, to prevent molds, you should use a small spoon to scoop out the gel to avoid contact with your fingers (which may have contaminants leading to molds). We store the Jar of Hope in the refrigerator to lengthen its life and to make it solidify a bit. When stored at room temperature, I found the gel to become water-y.

You can purchase Jar of Hope directly from Indigo Baby.

photo from By Nature's website

2. By Nature Baby Salve - P200 for 20g

This product came out when Naima was more than a year old. But this has quickly become our favorite boo-boo balm. What I like about this product is that the bottom label lists down specifically all the ingredients contained in the salve - "organic sunflower oil, organic avocado oil, organic grapeseed oil, organic virgin coconut oil, organic jojoba oil, organic shea butter, beeswax, pure lavender essential oil, pure blue chamomile essential oil, calendula extract, aloe vera extract and vitamin E." By Nature's Darlene recommends this salve for diaper rash, insect bites, eczema, dry patches, small cuts and booboos. She also recommends this as a lotion for babies (expensive given that a small jar costs P200) or evening moisturizer for moms. The jar is quite compact and unlike the Jar of Hope (with a big jar), the Baby Salve can easily be slipped into the diaper bag.

I haven't used this myself but Stan also swears by it. Every time he has a nick or cut, he immediately asks Yaya where the Baby Salve is to use on himself. My yaya also likes to use this on Naima's cuts (she has plenty - now that she is an active toddler) and says that the salve causes the cuts to heal quickly. There is no need to refrigerate. Although Darlene calls this a "salve", the Baby Salve is quite creamy. And you just need to put a thin layer for it to work - quite economical! We are almost finishing our first 20g jar which has been with use for more than 1 year now.

You can purchase the Baby Salve from By Nature's authorized resellers.

photo from Ilog Maria's website

3. Ilog Maria Propolis Ointment

The most economical of all is the Ilog Maria Propolis Ointment - which actually has a salve-like consistency. Ilog Maria recommends that their ointment be used for skin irritations, infection rashes, itches, insect bites, infected wounds and burns. Listed ingredients are propolis gold and beeswax in an olive oil base. Other users attest that it doesn't only stop the inflammation but actually soothes the itchiness of insect bites and it also helps stop "singaw" or canker sores.

Yaya uses this on Naima, mostly when she has bruises as the ointment helps soothe the inflammation. It is also very helpful on burns, as experienced by our cook. Although we don't refrigerate this, the ointment has a cooling effect.

Like the Baby Salve, the jars are quite small (even the big jar!) so you can easily slip it in your diaper bag. Plus the Propolis Ointment is much more cheaper than the Baby Salve or Jar of Hope!

If you purchase directly from Ilog Maria's website, the big jar (45g) costs P192.50 only, while the small jar (25g) is P110. You can also go to Ilog Maria Farm in Silang, Cavite where purchase prices are cheaper. Meanwhile, if you need the ointment ASAP, one of the Manila stockists is fellow LATCHer, Judy and you can purchase from her store in New Manila.

Verdict:

For babies 0-12, go for Indigo Baby's Jar of Hope - it is very mild and you can't go wrong - although it is quite expensive.

For toddlers, keep both the Baby Salve (for cuts/rashes) and Propolis Ointment (for bumps and bruises). However, if you can only buy 1, I'd go for the Baby Salve.

*Disclaimer: All products were purchased. None given for review and I'm not carrying any of these products in my online store.

Potty Training Naima

At 2 years and 6 months, I am very happy to say that Naima is *almost* completely potty-trained. Yaya started potty-training her when she was about 7 months old (able to sit-up). First was the poo part. I know it sounds gross - but what really helped was when yaya made her poo in front of the mirror in our sink. Yaya would put her diaper on the sink and encourage her to poo. That Naima has a regular poo schedule also helped a lot. At age 1, Naima stopped pooping in her diaper (unless we were out and she had no choice!) and was already pooping in her potty. At about 1.5 years old she moved on to the toilet (which was quite a relief for yaya!) and has pooped there permanently.

Peeing was more of a challenge. We started when she was one year old as her wee-wee time became more predictable and continued wee-wee training for 1.5 years! Pee training was challenging because Naima enjoyed having pee-puddles around her feet. Usually, she already knows that she wants to pee. She gives us that "look" and stands still. If we're lucky, we get to her fast enough to cart her to the toilet. Otherwise, she'll happily stand in her pee puddle. When Naima was 1 year and 11 months old (she started going to school) she stopped wearing diapers during the day. Before that she was wearing panties at home and diapers at nap-time or whenever we went out.

At about 2 years old, Naima stopped wearing diapers during the day and also during her nap-time. Diapers were reserved only for nighttime. The night training was more difficult since she wasn't weaned yet and continued to nurse 1-2 times every night. Sometime during the summer, we noticed that her cloth diapers stayed dry every morning. Beginning May, we put her in Gerber Training Pants (I know, I should stop buying Nestle products!) during the night. She still has some accidents but generally she stays dry during the night.

Just the other night, she woke me up at around 5am and told me that she wanted to pee. But the next night, she forgot and wet the bed. :( Accidents happen when she sleeps late - she'll sleep like a log and not remember to wake up to pee. Despite those accidents, we still continue to ask to put her in training pants and hopefully, she'll be fully potty trained before she turns 3.

I would say that cloth diapers tremendously helped us in potty training Naima. They do not turn the wee-wee into gel so Naima immediately gets changed. The wetness also helped Naima realize that it was much better to sit on the toilet and pee and poo there, instead of having a wet and dirty bum. Cloth diapers are making a come-back and I'm pretty happy to notice that unlike the lampins used when I was a baby, these diapers are leak-proof and easy to use (no more diaper pins!). Highly recommended and very effective for toilet training!

Bath Fun

It's my last giveaway and this week, I will be giving certificates to Big and Small Co.  This week, I was hoping to giveaway certificates to a product related to bathing.  Remember last month when I posted a rubber ducky and announced Lactacyd's Baby Care Village?  In exchange for that, I was supposed to get certificates.  I thought I was going to get gift certificates or gift packs from Lactacyd so planned a bath themed post for the last week.  But what the agency gave me were gift certificates to Big and Small Co. instead.  I'm sure moms would still love to get gift certificates! :)
I still want to hear about your bath time experiences so I'm sticking with this theme.  Naima and her cousin Julian loves our bathtub.  When we first moved to our place, I told Stan that I didn't want a bathtub in the master's bathroom and asked him to covert it to a shower stall instead.  He refused since he said that he was sure that our future baby was going to love the bathtub.  He was right!!  
Naima's bathtub time is scheduled on weekends and she ALWAYS looks forward to it.  She has books, crayons, letters and numbers which she plays with and associates with bathtime. I'm certainly glad that I listened to Stan and decided not to take out our bathtub yet.

How to join this contest?

Leave a comment about sharing your favorite bathtime stories or moments with your babies.  You can also get extra entries (total of 4 entries) by:

1. Becoming a fan of Mama.Baby.Love on Facebook.
2. Tweeting about this giveaway (please leave a link to your status update.  Right click in the time stamp and copy the URL).
3. Blogging about the giveaway (please leave a link to your blog entry)

Leave a separate comment for each entry so it will be counted separately.  One comment = 1 entry.  However, both most useful and most useless baby purchase should be in 1 comment and counts only as 1 entry even if you write down xxx number of purchases in separate comments.

If your email address is not in your public profile, leave it with your comment in words (e.g. fabnaima[at]gmail[dot]com) so I can contact you if you win.

This contest is open to readers within the Philippines and items will be shipped to you for free using Xend.  Contest will end on May 28, Friday at 11:59PM.  Names of winners will be posted in this entry and will be contacted by email.  Please respond within 48 hours – otherwise, I will choose another winner.  Two winners will be chosen using random.org.  Winners can win once per week.

CONTEST CLOSED.  Winners to be announced by Tuesday.  

Congratulations Ally and me (Entry 3) and Madammisismommy (Entry 11)! You win gift certificates to Big & Small, Co. - courtesy of Creative Juice.  Please check your emails for details how to get the prizes :)  Thanks everyone for joining my 4-week giveaway!

News: Maclaren Stroller Recall

We recently got Naima a Maclaren Triumph to replace her Mothercare Jive stroller which her yaya left in a taxi in Singapore. We were quite happy with it as it was light (even lighter than her Jive) and easy to manuever. We only got it in August 2009 and haven't really used it much as Naima now prefers to walk or be carried. Anyway, I just got this message in my email today and wanted to share it to other Pinoy moms. Maclaren is a very popular brand of stroller in the Philippines. This is actually a US recall and I'm still trying to find out how to get the repair kit here in the Philippines.

Update: The Philippine Distributor of Maclaren is

B.I.D. (Philippines) Enterprises

33 P. Martinez St Mandaluyong City Philippines 1550

Phone Number: 994-5675

I called today and although they have heard of this recall, they still do not have any advice from Maclaren UK (which supplies the strollers in the Philippines). Hopefully, they can provide a free repair kit to Philippine Maclaren users too!

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Maclaren USA Recalls to Repair Strollers Following Fingertip Amputations

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Maclaren Strollers

Units: About one million

Distributor: Maclaren USA, Inc., of South Norwalk, Conn.

Hazard: The stroller's hinge mechanism poses a fingertip amputation and laceration hazard to the child when the consumer is unfolding/opening the stroller.

Incidents/Injuries: The firm has received 15 reports of children placing their finger in the stroller's hinge mechanism, resulting in 12 reports of fingertip amputations in the United States.

Description: This recall involves all Maclaren single and double umbrella strollers. The word "Maclaren" is printed on the stroller. The affected models included Volo, Triumph, Quest Sport, Quest Mod, Techno XT, TechnoXLR, Twin Triumph, Twin Techno and Easy Traveller.

Sold at: Babies"R"Us, Target and other juvenile product and mass merchandise retailers nationwide from 1999 through November 2009 for between $100 and $360.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using these recalled strollers and contact Maclaren USA to receive a free repair kit.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Maclaren USA toll-free at (877) 688-2326 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit the firm's Web site at www.maclaren.us/recall

Nursing Naima

Naima is 23 months today - one more month and it's that terrible two's period (not too terrible I hope :D). Stan and I keep talking how we miss a baby and that Naima is no longer one. She can talk - mix of English, Tagalog, Fookien, Mandarin and Bisaya (with some sign language!). And enjoys playing tricks on Stan and her yayas.

She has also lessened her expressed milk intake but still enjoys nursing with Mommy Jen. Naima likewise enjoys nursing her babies and here are some photos taken by her yayas while I was at work.

nursing baby nica

toddler nursing position - she's all over!

smiling for the camera

my favorite position! side-lying :D

She is growing up pretty quickly (and I can hear my mother-in-law in the background nagging me about another baby :D)

My Baby Wearing Baby

Although Naima has a stroller, Stan and I (or her yaya) usually carry regularly. We have 4 types of slings/pouches/carriers for her which we used at different times.
First was the moby wrap. I bought this from Inova's breastfeeding center. We had been told that the moby helped moms successfully breastfeed since it promoted kangaroo care, etc. What they did not say was that a lot of practice was necessary to make the sling work and what I did not realize was that it was not suitable for our tropical climate! We eventually got a Baby Bjorn Air, which Stan and Naima loved. Stan was the primary user and Naima could fall asleep in it.
However, it became difficult to use when Naima got heavier. So I
got a pouch from blissful babes. I used it whenever I go shopping since it keeps my hands free! It secures Naima, especially when we have to take the escalator in malls. Stan doesn't like the baby pouch coz he thinks there's "too much body heat". We also have a Patapum Toddler Carrier which we now used. It's a backpack carrier which I initially found a bit complicated. But I use it regularly now since it provides good back support. Naima is very well-behaved when she's in her backpack carrier.
Since Naima is regularly carried in her baby pouch, she uses it for her toys, too! Here she is carrying Froggy in her Baby Pouch and her new toy, Kiwi, in her homemade nappy sling. I love baby-wearing Naima. A sling/pouch is easier to maneuver and convenient to carry around. My only problem is that with Naima at 24lbs., I can't carry her for long without getting tired! Haha, I need more exercise :D