Our Story
The Shermans July 4, 2010
If you're reading this, you're wondering who is behind Carry Me With Love. So, here is my story. I began babywearing as a teenager wearing the babies I babysat in a sling for hours at a time. At the time, the only type of sling I knew about was a padded ring sling, so when I was preparing for the arrival of our first child, I of course pulled out the padded sling that one of the moms I babysat for had given me. However, before I gave birth, I discovered a Maya Wrap, which was an unpadded ring sling that offered infinitely more adjustability. Our daughter was a colicky, high-needs infant and needed to be held for hours on end. I don't know what we would have done without our Maya Wrap sling!! When she was about 8 months, a friend showed me her mei tai and I was instantly hooked. I could now carry my chunky baby for longer periods without my back hurting.
I've been sewing since I was 14 years old and once I found a place I could buy reliable rings for slings, SlingRings.com, I made my first sling in October, 2008 for a friend. Once people started discovering that I could make slings, the requests started coming in. I then started making mei tais and played around with various designs until I found a couple that I really liked. In the meantime, I discovered a whole world of babywearing through The Babywearer.com, a website with forums dedicated to all things related to wearing your baby. I spent hours researching different carriers, various ways to wear those different carriers and watching videos. As we approached the birth of our second baby, I was excited to begin trying out all the different carriers that I had learned about right from birth. I think our son was only a couple days old when he had his first ride in a mei tai (new guidelines now recommend waiting until baby is at least 7 days old before being worn). He is a poster child for a "sling baby." Whenever he is fussy, squirmy or tired, I pop him in a sling or a mei tai and he immediately settles down and either just hangs out or goes to sleep. I can then clean my house, get things done, or spend time with my daughter - all hands-free! Now we are we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our next baby, due in October 2011, and looking forward to exploring the world of German-style woven wraps. I don't think this next baby will be put down much, especially with two others to chase!
I started teaching about different carriers for a friend's childbirth class and helping out the people at my La Leche League group figure out their slings. I soon began to be known in my circles as the "babywearing expert." I now continue to teach babywearing classes for all of my friend's childbirth classes, a homebirth group, at a cloth diapering store, a birthing studio, and offer babywearing "home parties." In May of 2010, I expanded my business to not only include my own custom-made rings slings and babywearing demonstrations, but also several different mei tai companies, and I'm excited to now be offering Maya wraps as well. It is my hope that I can help parents wear their babies comfortably while helping them bond and be free to get things done!
Happy babywearing!
~Colleen
I've been sewing since I was 14 years old and once I found a place I could buy reliable rings for slings, SlingRings.com, I made my first sling in October, 2008 for a friend. Once people started discovering that I could make slings, the requests started coming in. I then started making mei tais and played around with various designs until I found a couple that I really liked. In the meantime, I discovered a whole world of babywearing through The Babywearer.com, a website with forums dedicated to all things related to wearing your baby. I spent hours researching different carriers, various ways to wear those different carriers and watching videos. As we approached the birth of our second baby, I was excited to begin trying out all the different carriers that I had learned about right from birth. I think our son was only a couple days old when he had his first ride in a mei tai (new guidelines now recommend waiting until baby is at least 7 days old before being worn). He is a poster child for a "sling baby." Whenever he is fussy, squirmy or tired, I pop him in a sling or a mei tai and he immediately settles down and either just hangs out or goes to sleep. I can then clean my house, get things done, or spend time with my daughter - all hands-free! Now we are we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our next baby, due in October 2011, and looking forward to exploring the world of German-style woven wraps. I don't think this next baby will be put down much, especially with two others to chase!
I started teaching about different carriers for a friend's childbirth class and helping out the people at my La Leche League group figure out their slings. I soon began to be known in my circles as the "babywearing expert." I now continue to teach babywearing classes for all of my friend's childbirth classes, a homebirth group, at a cloth diapering store, a birthing studio, and offer babywearing "home parties." In May of 2010, I expanded my business to not only include my own custom-made rings slings and babywearing demonstrations, but also several different mei tai companies, and I'm excited to now be offering Maya wraps as well. It is my hope that I can help parents wear their babies comfortably while helping them bond and be free to get things done!
Happy babywearing!
~Colleen
