From now until May 11th, everybody who purchases a Sakura Bloom baby sling is automatically entered to win FOUR more of your choosing, a retail value of approximately $1200!

edit on May 15th: the winners are posted here

Happy mother’s day and good luck!

Click here to look again at the Sakura Bloom products page.

Details:

Purchase a Sakura Bloom baby sling from our website and you are automatically entered to win an entire baby sling wardrobe.

The baby sling wardrobe consists of 4 Sakura Bloom baby slings:

1 baby sling from the Hana or Pure collection

1 baby sling from the linen simple or linen essential collection

1 baby sling from the silk essential or silk artisan collection

1 baby sling from the tussah luxe collection

Buy any Sakura bloom sling between April 1 - May 11, 2008 to be eligible to win.
The retail value of this prize ranges from $1138 - $1280 depending on the slings chosen.

One winner will be chosen. The winner will be announced on Thursday May 15, 2008

http://www.tendercargo.com/catalog/Sakura-Bloom-Slings.html

Sakura Bloom baby slings were on ET last week! They showed celebrities who use the essential collection double-layer Belgian silk slings.

For the rest of us, Tender Cargo just added a new line of Sakura Bloom linen slings. They are the Hana and Pure collections, priced $80-$120. We have solid pink, blue, green, and black, and also there is solid brown with pink or blue silk accents. They are very soft and supportive and easy to adjust, so they make a wonderful first sling or gift to somebody who already uses other fabrics from another brand.

No matter what brand of baby sling you were given or are thinking about buying, if you are having any trouble figuring it out, here are two good sources of video instructions online.

Sakura Bloom ring sling company has videos on You Tube

Zolowear sling company has videos on their site

Using a sling can be very easy from the start, but some people need the visual help.

I promise, once you get going, it will become second nature! When my first child was several weeks old, I was stumped by the sling. I got help in person and suddenly it made so much sense! Baby was soothed and I felt comfortable and had my hands free again. What a lifesaver!

Here is a neat article from CNN.com about what it’s like to be a little baby. Click for their page to open in a new window.

Here are some excepts from the newborn section of the article

——————-

As she picks him up, he’s flooded with her scent and a dim memory of his other world — the place where his body floated and he first recognized the scent that’s hers alone. But now, two weeks after birth, he’s in a vast, dry place called home. She brings him close to nurse and he roots with his mouth, guided in part by the smell of colostrum and the smell from the scent glands on her nipples. Her scent links him to everything he craves: food, warmth, touch. He latches on and the sweetness of the liquid is vaguely reminiscent of the smell and taste of amniotic fluid — both are affected by his mother’s diet. Already, sweet is his favorite taste.
——————

He cries a high-pitched call for help. As he cries, cortisol, known as the stress hormone, and other hormones, like adrenaline, spread through his body, slightly increasing his temperature and heart rate. His mother lifts him from his crib and encircles him in her warm, familiar arms, and his cries immediately lessen.
—————–

With vision of roughly 20/300 — about 15 times worse than normal adult vision — he sees her as though looking through the thick, curvy glass of a vintage Coke bottle. Even up close, she’s slightly blurry: His eye muscles aren’t able to provide consistent focus. Intuitively, she holds him about a foot away, where his vision is clearest. Even then, what he sees in the blur are movement and contrast, the way her mouth moves to say “Hello” and the way her teeth flash from between her darker lips.

Perhaps it’s for the best that he has limited vision. Perhaps it keeps him from being overwhelmed by seeing every detail of faces, hands, tables, and lamps for the very first time. His eyesight seems to provide just the right amount of stimulation for his developing visual cortex, which takes the images he sees and tries to make sense of them. In the meantime, he is able to see (fairly well) what’s most important in his world: his parents’ faces, his mother’s nipple.

Sakura Bloom blogged a photo of a sweet little girl carrying her doll in a sling and a trick to hiding the sling tail for a tighter look, especially useful for men. Like this photo of a dad and his toddler.

And remember, their $1200 sling giveaway is running until the new year!

I have some exciting news- effective 12/1, Sakura Bloom lowered their prices across the board due to lower production costs! The permanent discount is about 25% off, so $60-100 less, depending on which sling it is.

From now until Dec 31st, everybody who purchases a Sakura Bloom sling is automatically entered to win FOUR more of your choosing, a retail value of approximately $1200! Happy holidays and good luck!

Click here to visit the Sakura Bloom products page.

Details:

Purchase a Sakura Bloom baby sling from our website and you are automatically entered to win an entire baby sling wardrobe.

The baby sling wardrobe consists of 4 Sakura Bloom baby slings:

1 baby sling from the Hana Collection

1 baby sling from either the linen simple or essential collections

1 baby sling from either the silk essential or artisan collections

1 baby sling from the tussah luxe

All baby slings purchased between November 18 - December 31, 2007 are eligible. The retail value of this prize ranges from $1138 - $1280 depending on the slings chosen.

One winner will be chosen. The winner will be announced on Monday January 7, 2008

The Sakura Bloom company blog has tips up about using a sling in cold weather- such as, should you wear it under your jacket? See their advice here Sakura Bloom Sling blog link.

There is a new blog post at Sakura Bloom today about how to get started with your sling.

There are so many ways to position a baby in there, what do you try first? what will baby want?

They give a very simple guideline- consider how you hold your baby already and then use the sling just like that! you don’t have to use a sling in some weird new “hold” and don’t get confused by names for different “carries”. Just put the sling on, put baby where you always hold her, and then pull the sling tight to hold her just like that, letting your hands go free.

And as usual, the photo illustrations are absolutely enticing :)

How many words are there for stunning? Breathtaking. Amazing. To die for.

I know you can see the dupioni silk, woven by hand exclusively for their company. maybe if you click for larger images, you could glimpse the exquisite detail. We also have 2 selections from their line of finest Belgian linen slings. All are handcrafted and reversible. The colors are amazing. The feel of the fabric, I couldn’t even describe. And yes, it’s machine washable, yes they withstand the messes and assaults of daily life.

Let me tell you, I’ve been using slings for almost exactly 5 years now.

I know my baby carriers, I know what’s out there, the good and the bad, the easy and the complicated. These slings are a DREAM to use.

Whether you’re buying for yourself or as a gift, I know you won’t be disappointed. I am thrilled to be carrying them. We’re starting with 6 colors and will continue building it up. Let’s see how long I can keep from taking one for myself!