Composition: 100 % cotton
Weight: 235 g/m² according to the manufacturer, 240 g/m² counted by us
Size: 7
Strangle proof back cross carry
To be honest, this was the first time I ever heard about the British Sycha Slings when testing this wrap, kindly provided by the FB “Nosíme a testujeme”, i.e. “Babywearing and testing” group – hereby we want to thank them for the opportunity. I am getting a bit ahead of myself right in the beginning but I need to say this – although it is not super trooper extra wrap (well, in fact it is not even supposed to be a super trooper extra wrap, but about that later), Sycha brought me to my knees because of their story.
I could start my “historic overview” as in case of most of the other babywearing brands. “This brand was founded by one babywearing mum, blah blah blah etc. etc…” Yes, this is true – BUT! What a wonderful babywearing mum in this case! Her name is Sally Sycha (also known as Sling Sally), a sympathetic mum of two wearies, a babywearing consultant and owner of a sling library – nothing so special about it so far, either, right? What brings the Sycha Slings backstage story to a whole other level, is that this lady is disabled in a wheelchair. Just a brief look at her Facebook profile and you can see that this admirable woman achieved so much and lives such a fun and full life as not many completely healthy people do! Moreover, part of the profit from the sale of her wraps goes to different charitable organizations – for example cancer research, ecology or a local NICU. Concerning this particular wrap we tested, Frogs Spring Sky, the money goes to Alzheimer society supporting the research of this disease.
The aim of Sycha Slings is to produce affordable wraps so that anyone can wear their baby – the prices of the basic “Main line” wraps (simple thin all-cotton wraps woven in Turkey) begin at 64 pounds including Britain-wide shipping (which is cca 75 Euro). “Studio line” wraps (although there is only one design in this line) are woven in the Great Britain, with higher weight of 290 g/m². Frogs Spring Sky belong the to first, “Turkish” line.
Just as Sally says herself, the Main line wraps are not supposed to be luxury wraps, but the first, “starting” pieces for babywearing beginners who are not skilled and sure about babywearing yet. That I would agree about. What you see “on the paper” and in the photos, that is what the Frogs are like when you touch them and tie them. They are thin, very very soft and smooth – and therefore too little grippy; to be honest a bit too slippery for my taste. The wrap cooperated well while tying and tightening, but its extreme smoothness was nothing that could contain my hyperactive 13kg toddler – it took about 3 seconds of hopping up and down and she was dangling on her crotch, despite I tied her in my favourite 3-layer carry. Although the wrap is pleasantly wide (I measured a wonderful 71 cm) it would not be my first choice of a toddler piece – despite its width which partly compensates for the low weight it was not very comfortable after a while for me. One positive – it seems very little prone to pulls, but speaking of maintenance, I cannot forget to mention that it wrinkles a lot. A LOT. Like something I probably have not seen in any other linen-less or hemp-less wrap, yet. It is true that we were the first testers after the wrap was washed, so it might come around in this aspect with time and some more wearing – well, I hope it will, otherwise this is a wrap for ironing-lovers only.
But what I really must praise about this wrap is its design. Although I always say that naturalistic animals are not my cup of tea, this particular frogs are cute in my opinion and the detail on the hem of the wrap, well, this is just priceless! It depicts the evolution of a frog from the eggs to tadpoles and adult individuals. I love fun, witty and somewhat hidden details in wraps! Just great!
