Love & Carry Babywearing & Maternity Coat Review

“ARE YOU SURE THAT’S BABY’S NOT TOO HOT!?”, screams the woman sitting in front of me.

“No,” I replied, “I think he’s teething. Sorry.”

“Tutt!…” , she retorts, turning back round.

Context - we’re sitting on a plane that’s been delayed for 3 hours.

Yes, we’ve been sitting on the plane, which has been sitting on the runway, delayed due to snow.

For 3 hours. Like, 3 hours with bums in seats.

We should have landed at our destination an hour ago (we were flying Denver to Minneapolis in mid-winter).

But, who decides to start to cut his first tooth right there and then?

That’s right, my 5 month old.

Now, a screaming baby is hard enough to deal with, that can be pretty intense.

A screaming baby on a plane? Well that’s another level of intensity.

A screaming baby on a busy plane that’s been sat on the runway for 3 hours? Well, that’s really intense.

Like ultra, ultra intense. It’s like all the intense’s rolled into one and then deep fried. Twice.

The judgy looks.

The tutting.

The angry stares.

The sympathetic, yet “oh-my-god-am-I-glad-that’s-not-me” looks.

That feeling in the pit of your stomach wishing a hole would just open in the ground and swallow you up.

Oh, do I get sweaty palms just thinking about it!

“Give him to me,” says the Hubs, who stands up, quickly puts on the baby carrier (it was an Ergo), and pops our son right in.

Now, Hubs isn’t one for breaking the rules, but let me tell you

THE SEAT BELT SIGN WAS STILL ON.

And off he marches up the aisle, ignoring the looks, oblivious to the stares.

And after 5 minutes of walking up and down, what happens?

You guessed it. Baby stops crying, baby falls asleep.

My hero.

(Oh you thought the hubs? No no, I mean our baby, for getting through the pain, managing to clam down and fall asleep. Duh).

Hubs strikes up a conversation with crew, they tell him how gorgeous our baby is, and how clever the sling is.

For now, everything is calm. I cam finally breathe. And relax.

That feeling, as a new mum, when you have a baby that won’t stop crying, when you’ve tried everything, but yet still they cry, can be so overwhelming it hurts.

You feel so out of your depth, so completely useless that you question your fundamental ability as a mother. In that moment, it’s easy to feel like the worst, most incompetent mum in the world.

But it will pass. I can guarantee you that. And I can also guarantee that a sling can make it all a whole lot easier.

By the time we landed in Minnesota, we had completely missed our connection, so we were directed to a desk from where we could organise transport and accommodation for the night.

Standing in the queue, the woman behind the desk spotted us and, calling us immediately to the front, gave us accommodation, transport and food vouchers right away.

I guess there are perks to travelling with a baby after all?

And as we were making our way through the airport to the taxi stand, who did we see walking in front of us?

That’s right, shouty woman! Who had simply been given a roll mat to sleep on and was off to find a quiet spot in the airport.

Ha! Karma!

So yes, slings are great for actually dealing with airport hassles (getting through security etc), or giving you the advantage of being able to look after your baby knowing they're safe and content whilst dealing with a stressful situation in an unfamiliar environment, dealing with luggage, or siblings.

But they're also a lifesaver if you have to deal with delays and situations beyond your control.

Like delays.

Or teething babies.