A. Well, we ended up picking two. We are donating a pouch to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and the winning sling goes to a single mom who is working hard to care for her baby on her own.
Both stories touched us in a personal way. Lisa's son was born early and spent 7 days in a NICU, he was fine, full weight, but a little jaundiced. But there were so many other babies there that had been born too early and were teeny-tiny, or had health issues, some requiring surgery. So many of these babies were there alone because they had been born into homes with multiple siblings, so parents could only be there for a few hours a day at best -- many of these babies would really have benefited from being worn by the caregivers there, by being held close to a warm, beating heart, instead of spending most of their time in an incubator.
When Lisa took her baby home her husband had to go back to work and she was home alone with a baby that was only happy being held. She was so grateful to have a sling. He was worn constantly and she was still able to function while fully caring for her new baby. It felt like such a blessing. That was the impetus for starting Rockin' Baby -- the sling she wore was not pretty, or cool or stylish at all -- but she loved how it worked. Natasha had a sling that was even less attractive than Lisa's, but she loved using hers as well.
When we read the comment that was written by our sling winner we were both moved for a couple of reasons. It is hard enough being a first time mom with a new baby, but to do it on your own can really be challenging. She seemed like she would really benefit from having a sling, to be able to get things done, especially because she doesn't even have a stroller.
Q. Can you tell us about yourself and your company and what inspires you?
A..We are a small two-mom business started out of a need we felt, in 2002, when we first had our children. Since then so many sling, pouch and baby wrap companies have sprouted up.
When we started we really wanted to share babywearing with parents that might not have considered it, if the sling wasn't pretty or fashionable -- so many people seemed to think back then that it was something that only hippie moms did.
It was really exciting to raise awareness about babywearing and teach people how easy it is to nurse on the go. We felt like we helped a lot of moms realize that they could still do everything they needed to do while taking care of baby, even nursing out and about. We also have enjoyed learning how to run a business ourselves, with all the growing pains that entailed, both finding and designing fabrics, and figuring out how to keep our business here in Los Angeles.
We realized early on that it was very important to us to keep our business local. We design, purchase, wash, cut, dye, print and sew here in L.A. We take pride in supporting local business and in turn local moms and dads. We've also been hard at work figuring out how to run our business as green as possible, adding organics to our line, using recycled and recyclable packaging, and recycling at our office. We are both continually inspired by our amazing children.
Q. Where can someone purchase a Rockin' Baby Sling?
A. Our slings and pouches are available at our website
rockinbabysling.com and at boutiques worldwide.
Q. What is your ultimate wishes and goals for Rockin' Baby Slings?
A. We are so grateful for what we have been able to do these past years and will always work to promote babywearing. We also hope to continue to grow both as individuals and as a company.
Q. Thanks again and is there anything else you'd like our readers to know?
A. We wished we were a big enough company to give a sling or pouch to everyone that made a comment! Thank you to all your readers!
