At Hugabub, we love babywearing fashion! And we are so excited to be nominated in the 2013 Kids Fashion Review Style Awards. You can vote for us here!

We have recently joined Instagram and think there would be no better way to celebrate the style awards than by having people share their photos of their babywearing style! To make sure we see your photos tag them with #hugabub.

To get you started here are some top tips to rock that babywearing style.

1. Do embrace bold colours

Sure, a lot of what you are wearing on top will be obscured by a baby carrier, so you might as well make a pop with your colour choice!

2. Wear shoes that you love

If you are confident wearing heels while babywearing, go for it! If you tend towards the clumsy side like myself go for the boots that you love or some fun flats.

3. Don't wear billowy tops

I love a good flowing top as much as the next person, but it will be lost once you are wearing your baby, save it for another time!

4. Necklaces might be out, but bracelets are in

Generally you don't want anything between you and that baby's head, not to mention the pulling that would happen if you were wearing a necklace! But bracelets are a great way to still wear your jewellery.

5. Don't expect anyone to notice anything except your baby

Babies are highly distracting, it's only natural.

We look forward to seeing your photos!

Piper was my second child, but she was the first one I used a Hug-a-Bub to babywear. And because it was so much more comfortable than other slings I had used, I wore her a lot. I wore her almost continuously up until she was 6 weeks old because she had colic and it was the only thing that seemed to calm her down.

And I wore her almost everywhere after that because having a 3 year old it just made my life much easier. And even when my 3 year old, Riley was at preschool I would often wear her at home because I could get work done or do some housework while she slept. She was quite comfortable in the Hug-a-Bub until she was about 18 months old. And she preferred it to any other type of carrier.

Myth 1: If you wear them all the time they won't learn to sleep on their own

If anything, I found the opposite to be true. Because she went to sleep in the wrap all the time, she seemed far more capable of going to sleep on her own and was putting herself to sleep from a very early age and didn't seem to need as much soothing to get back to sleep in between sleep cycles. She transitioned very easily from the baby hammock to the cot and then to a toddler bed. As far as getting to sleep, she was just easy.

Myth 2: If you carry them around they will never want to walk on their own

I would have been quite happy for Piper to take her time with crawling and walking but she was early with both. Now at the age of 2, I'd be quite happy to keep carrying her around but she insists on being put down to walk. And she's slowly getting the hang of the hand holding thing. Although that has been a very long process.

Myth 3: It will hurt your back

One of the great things about the wrap is the even distribution of weight. So even during periods of babywearing for over 8 hours a day, I didn't experience any shoulder or back pain from it.

Myth 4: If you carry them everywhere, they will be too dependent

Babies are relatively dependent anyway, so this is an odd one. But if anything, the security that Piper had from being worn everywhere meant that she became quite independent early on. She plays on her own a lot. She potters about the house doing her own thing and has never really had any periods of separation anxiety. When I leave, she doesn't really care. And when I come back she laughs.

Myth 5: It limits your freedom to do what you want to do

For me exactly the opposite was true. I didn't have to worry about whether it was nap time or not, I could do what I needed to do whether that was taking my 3 year old to the park, or cleaning the house or sitting down at the computer to get some work done. I was no longer tied to the baby's schedule. Which was great because Piper never really had much of a routine, so she was pretty unpredictable that way.

Myth 6: Closely related to Myth 1. If they sleep while being worn, they won't sleep in their cot when you need them to

Babywearing is great and I really enjoyed having all that closeness and cuddles with Piper. But there are times when you do want them to sleep in a cot or in a bouncer or in a bed. Because you want a break, or want to eat messy food or just want to take advantage of some down time. I never had a problem having the best of both worlds. I find the more different places she got used to going to sleep, the easier it was for her to go to sleep pretty much anywhere.

Two yeas later. I'm glad that I didn't listen to any of those things, and just did what I wanted to do. Because I don't have a baby anymore. I have a two year old adventurer. But luckily she still appreciates cuddles as much as I do.

"I found it so easy to use and after a few times found I could put it on in a couple of minutes. My bub is the most relaxed baby and I honestly put it down to the hug-a-bub and bub being so close. Didn't hurt my back like others and could wear it hours on end." - Edna, January 2013

"Just bought it for our newborn- she sleeps so easily in it. Takes a few goes to get the wrap right but once you got it it's easy! I got the green one with the pocket- the pocket certainly makes it easy to stow away- much recommended for hands free safe sleeping newborns!" - MummyN, November 2012

We love hearing from our customers and you can check out over 60 reviews of Hug-a-Bub carriers here.

Kidspot Best of Awards

We've been so proud to be part of the Kidspot awards in previous years and nominations are currently open until the 18th March.

We would love it if you would take the time to go to the Kidspot nomination form and nominate Hug-a-Bub. You can nominate us for our wrap carrier and our ring sling.

How to Win

To say thank you for nominating us, every week we will be giving away one carrier (either wrap or ring sling - your choice!) to people who have nominated us. So after you've nominated, come back here and leave us a comment letting us know that you have so you can go into the draw!

We are so excited to have Michelle sharing her story today!

Michelle is a blogger from rural Victoria playing mum to two little boys and wife to a bigger boy. Her blog, Raising Will, follows Michelle’s chocolate eating, rose smelling, parenting adventures. With a general interest in child psychology and development, Michelle also writes for happychild.com – a website that focuses on raising children with emotional intelligence.

When she’s not blogging or glued to Twitter, Michelle enjoys writing lists, taking photos, drinking wine with friends and generally being creative. 

Feel free to drop in and say Hi to Michelle on Twitter or Facebook. All cheesecake donations will be accepted graciously...

Babywearing with Hug-a-Bub

Last week saw the art of babywearing celebrated across the world with International Babywearing Week. One of my very favourite baby products threw me into a great little challenge for the week but before I talk about that, I want to tell you about how Hug-a-Bub became my ultimate baby accessory.

Welcoming our new little guy into the world was so exciting, but I totally underestimated how hard it would be to get stuff done when I had another mini human to worry about. I found Xavier needed to be held all the time, but I also needed my hands free. So I dug around in the wardrobes and pulled out our old Baby Bjorn Synergy that I purchased when we Will was little-r.

As I pulled on the stiff contraption over my sore, breastfeeding chest and my twingey Caesar incision – I winced. ‘I remember why we hardly used this thing. What a waste of money‘ I said to myself. Alas, I picked up screamy Xav and placed him in the carrier. Major Fail. The poor boy hated it. Where Will had thought it was the bees knees (even though his Mum did not), Xavier’s reflux and temperament had rendered the thing useless. He fought it every minute, never relaxed and just screamed more. I took my cuddly boy out of his Swedish nightmare and tried soothing him the old fashioned way – in my arms. Everything else would have to wait.

Two hours later, I’d finally calmed the storm and Xavier was asleep. I however, was not.

My mind reeled. How could I possibly cope with having to hold a newborn constantly and entertain a demanding toddler/clean the house/do the grocery shopping!?

Vowing never to use my Baby Bjorn Synergy again, I put out the call on the Twitters as to the best babywearing products for a cuddly newborn. The gorgeous Zoey from Good Googs came at me with:

What the Twitters said…

So off I went to research on the Hug-a-bub website. Within seconds I was in love with their organic wrap carriers. They looked divine and so very snuggly. Best part about the whole thing was that Hug-a-bub had a great deal happening at the time for their Facebook fans – it was a sign! Out came the credit card. An order was placed. By the Post Office I waited!

One very quick postage journey later, I had my divinely soft Organic Cotton Hug-a-bub wrap in my arms. Straight on it went as the little fella began to make his drama known to the whole street.

Five minutes later – screamy baby turned into dreamy baby:

Dreamy Baby… Thanks Hugabub!

The more I used the Hug-a-bub, the better I got at tying it correctly. I always underestimated the tension I needed but after a few test runs I had it figured out. After weeks of baby-wearing I now have it down-pat and could probably do it with my eyes closed; and lucky, because the Hug-a-bub is pretty much Xav’s favourite place to be. He sleeps soundly and twice as long than if he was in his bassinet.

For a practice that can be seen on ancient murals in the Pyramids of Eygpt, babywearing has had a long time to prove itself. It has been found to increase maternal (and even paternal) bonding, lower rates of post natal depression and it encourages a calmer infant as their needs are often instantly met. And don’t even get me started on all the things I can now DO!!!!

Babywearing in ancient times…
Image Credit: Marie Parsons

That brings us to last week - International Babywearing Week. The challenge was set on Hug-a-Bub’s Facebook page to take a photo each day inspired by different words – very similar to the Photo A Day Challenge by a favourite blogger of mine: Fat Mum Slim. I had my trusty phone at the ready and Instagrammed the shiz-nit out of last week. You can see the results below:

Our photos for Hugabub Week…

So the last few weeks with our new son has been amazing – made all the more so by this brilliant, simple piece of baby equipment. Xavier is most of the time happy and content – and when he isn’t he goes in the Hug-a-Bub and GETS himself happy and content. I am definitely recommending the Hug-a-Bub to all of my friends (that includes you guys!) – The Perfect Baby Shower Present – Amazing.

*Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post and I have not received any incentive for writing it – I have just been so impressed by the Hug-a-Bub that I wanted to share it with you all.

Thank you so much to Michelle for sharing with us! This post was originally posted here and is republished with full permission.

We are always so pleased when we hear from users our Hugabub Ring sling!

Tara from Our Whirlwind Adventures wrote about her babywearing experience here! 

She writes:

"And all I can say, after having it for an hour is, I am in love! Forever love. I can actually breastfeed while doing the dishes!"

You can read her full review here.

Once you are registered, you can login

 and head to the consumer voting page.

And to say a very big thank you we are giving away a chance to win one organic Hug-a-Bub wrap carrier to everyone who votes for the next week. Once you've voted just leave us a comment letting us know and you will go into the draw.

If you are anything like me, when you first had a baby you bought all kinds of things that where a complete waste of money. And some things that you bought that you didn't think you would ever use ended up being a real life saver.

I then repeated a similar experience with my second baby when I found what she liked was so very, very different from her sister. So I suppose the most essential baby item will vary from child to child.

My Child Magazine is running My Child Excellence Awards in conjunction with the national baby shows and Hug-a-Bub is in the running for the Best Travel Product category. We have had some fantastic feedback about the carrier and know that many people feel it is the absolute best thing that they bought for the baby stage of their parenting, so we would love for people to vote for us in these awards, so even more people will be able to find out about these babywearing benefits.

By voting you also go in the draw to win an amazing family holiday valued at over $1,600. To vote you have to register first. Once you are registered, you can login and head to the consumer voting page.

Thank you Hug-a-Bub community - we appreciate you taking the time!