Eleven lucky babywearers had a fabulous time last Thursday with a babywearing photoshoot! The aim of the shoot was to get some lovely photos for the mums who took part, and also for use on our website and publicity, and it was a complete success.

We had a range of ages of children, from three weeks to three years, and used every type of sling, from a stretchy wrap for the newborn to a ring sling for the biggest boy.

We are very grateful to Source Photography for donating this photoshoot to Sheffield Babywearers, and for offering a discount on any family or baby photoshoot booked through our website! Visit our Links page for more details (see under Other Links).

The theme of International Babywearing Week this year is Carrying on Traditions. As babywearers, we know that parents have carried their babies since the dawn of modern man, first in arms and then in slings. We love the fact that we are getting back to a way of interacting with our children that pre-dates car seats, prams and bouncy chairs (useful though all these things are). But this year's theme made us wonder, what are the babywearing traditions we are creating nowadays?

Sling Meets
Our favourite babywearing innovation! We at Sheffield Babywearers are very proud of our Sheffield sling meets - friendly, accessible, regular and helpful. We're having a special weekend sling meet this Saturday 13 October, 2-4pm in room 5 of the Showroom Cinema, Sheffield (many thanks to the Showroom for donating use of the room). We hope that babywearers new and old who can't attend our usual weekday meets (we're thinking particularly of dads) will be able to come along.

Katherine on the left carries her daughter in a Lenny Lamb woven wrap, while Natasha (of Sheffield Sling Library) is using an Oscha wrap. To find out more about slings, come to one of our sling meets - the next one is this Saturday in the Showroom - or get down to Sheffield Sling Library!

Next week is International Babywearing Week 2012!

Organised by Babywearing International, International Babywearing Week is a chance to celebrate, promote, and advocate the many benefits of babywearing, and Sheffield Babywearers is pleased to be an official celebrating organisation.

We at Sheffield Babywearers know quite a lot about babywearing. So we've started putting our heads together to create summaries of members' favourite links, tips and tricks for particular slings or carrying methods. We call these sessions Online Babywearing Workshops.

We've done two workshops so far, and more on the way, starting with front carries because that's where new babywearers start. Have a look at our new babywearing help section to access all this exciting information!

Sheffield Sling Library and Sheffield Babywearers got together to hold a Macmillan Coffee morning this week, and it was a huge success! Eighteen mums and dads came down with their children to help raise £50 for Macmillan Cancer Support. And lots of those parents left the library with a baby carrier to try out for a couple of weeks.

Sheffield Sling Library owner Natasha was particularly pleased to be able to help seven new parents just starting out on their babywearing journey. The library is a fabulous resource for established babywearers, but for new ones it's invaluable as it gives parents a chance to get to grips with all the options before they spend any money. Our local Sheffield sling meets are also a great way to try out all sorts of baby slings. 

What do Sheffield Babywearers like nearly as much as baby slings? Cake, of course! We love any opportunity to combine babywearing with cake, plus a bit of sitting around and chatting.  

So we are joining forces with Sheffield Sling Library to have a Macmillan World's Biggest Coffee Morning, on Tuesday 25 September 2012. The Sling Library is very excited to be back in action, and is hosting this good-cause event in combination with a regular library session.  

Yesterday saw our first sling meet at our new Tuesday venue, Megakidz on Bernard Road, and it was a great success!

We had lots of attendees - babywearers both old and new - and the kids loved the soft play area, particularly the zipwire. The meet was in a private section at the back of the play area, allowing us to make the most of the facilities while not being stared at.

Our back carry demonstration and help session was much enjoyed, and several babywearers were very chuffed to manage their first back carries. The rucksack carry demonstration was rather overpowered by the screaming overtired demo-baby... but everyone was impressed at how she settled straight down to sleep once wrapped up. Some mums with newer arrivals watched and wondered if their babies would ever get big enough to chuck on their backs... don't worry, they will, all too soon!

Well, the thermostat decided that it was time to turn the heating on this morning, so it looks like summer - sorry what summer? - is over. Sheffield Babywearers' main sling meets are indoors, two per month, but we also try to get together for extra mini-meets. Here's a little round-up of what's gone on over the last three months.

We usually aim to get photos of the babywearers at our meets, but the wearees look so cute in these photos we couldn't resist using them instead!

We had three walks, two from Hunters Bar to Forge Dam and back again, which were lovely, and one round Graves Park, which was curtailed by rain and turned into a very pleasant cafe meet!

The kids loved Forge Dam playground as always.

Laura of Sheffield Sling Library has helped more babywearers than she can remember. She has been there for so many parents, to lend out slings and to advise on using them, and I'm sure I can speak for everyone who has ever used the library in saying we are incredibly grateful for her help.

However, life moves on, and with the birth of her new baby boy Laura is handing over the reins (and the library stock!) to Natasha, who will be the new librarian and owner of Sheffield Sling Library. Laura will now enjoy attending sling meets as a regular babywearer, but will always be willing to help others out with the benefit of her experience and Trageschule qualification.