With baby number three, Bryony, I still wanted to babywear. I thought if mum could do it all them years ago so could I! I was given yet another sling, the Tomy one again, in a nicer colour and slightly more updated. I persevered, I was uncomfortable, sweaty and annoyed but I occasionally wore her in the sling on walks where we couldn’t take the pram. I saw a video online of someone making a sling from a piece of fabric and my mum, who loved to sew, helped my cut a length of old bed sheet up. I managed to wrap Bryony in her homemade sling however I found it difficult and gave up after a couple of attempts. I was still at an incompetent level and later bought her a good quality framed backpack carrier which we used a lot until the age of three. We walked everywhere with that backpack and she loved being able to see the world going by! I liked that I could take all of her belongings with us in the handy storage pouch too. it really was a great solution but still not the best for wandering round the shops because it was so bulky on my back.  
 
11 years later I had baby number 4, Thomas, this is when things changed a lot. I did lots of online research. I had seen other mums at the school with their babies in stretchy wraps and knew I had to try wrapping again. My partner had also seen a binbag full of baby slings in an auction of airport lost luggage and brought it home. I watched lots of youtube videos on wrapping and asked a friend who regularly used her stretchy to show me what to do. This is where I was learning what worked for me. I was happy and confident carrying Thomas. I had such a wide variety of slings to try and quickly mastered how to use them all properly. 
 
In the first covid lockdown I gave up work as an MOT tester and service techician in a busy garage and re trained as a babywearing consultant. I opened Slings by the Sea and focused my time on Thomas,  babywearing and my new ambition. I recognised there was a real need for a sling library especially for parents living on the coast.