Baby wearing made easy with the Lalabu Soothe Shirt

I discovered the Lalabu Soothe Shirt on Instagram when I was just a few weeks pregnant. At the time I thought it looked like a cute and simple way to care for a little baby. What I didn’t realise was that this top would become a lifesaver for the first 7 weeks (so far!) of George’s life. You think I’m exaggerating, right? I know, it sounds a little dramatic to love a simple top so much but I can’t stress how much I love this Soothe Shirt.

I wanted to tell you about the Soothe Shirt because I think it’s such a great top for travelling with a young baby.

I put this photo on Instagram and I’ve had more DMs and emails about this top then I’ve ever had about any other product. Ever! So I knew I needed to speed things up and get a review written because so many of you are interested.

 

 

The Lalabu Soothe Shirt

The Lalabu Soothe Shirt is a top that makes baby wearing easy. It isn’t a wrap or a harness or a scary looking contraption with lots of straps and buckles. It’s quite simply like a kangaroo pouch.

On first glance it looks like a regular women’s vest top. It’s casual and comfy but also smart and can be worn with pretty much everything.

Then look a little closer and this top has a secret.

The pouch at the front is where you slip your baby inside and they wiggle into a snuggly froggy position. This means their legs are bent and tucked up on either side of their body.

The top is made from a really strong but soft material. It doesn’t stretch or pull, it just keeps Baby snug and secure in the pouch.

You’ll probably want to support your baby’s head (and the label recommends you do) but, realistically, you don’t really need to because baby is so snug and secure inside the pouch. Yey, this means you get your hands free!
The top also has a little flap that folds out from the top of the pouch to support Baby’s head. At the minute George doesn’t need it, he wriggles low enough into the pouch that he’s supported in there but once he gets a bit bigger it will come in handy.

I’ve been wearing the Lalabu Soothe Shirt nearly every day and I wanted to tell you a few reasons why I love it.

 

Reasons I love the Lalabu Soothe Shirt

George loves it. Happy baby = happy mamma

As soon as I place him in the pouch he instantly settles and usually goes to sleep. Even if he doesn’t sleep, he’s completely calm and quiet in there. He snuggles down with his head between my breasts and a hand on each boob, this boy knows where it’s at!

New-mum confidence

It’s scary being a new mum, especially the first few times you go out alone and have the fear your baby will start screaming in the most inappropriate of places. When George is in the shirt I can be pretty sure he’ll stay quiet.

Hands free!

Ahhh, two free hands. What a luxury. Even making lunch can be tough with a clingy baby.

No wriggles

George is small and light so he’s easy to carry but he wriggles like a dancing bean making him difficult to hold while you’re doing anything. The Soothe Shirt holds him in place and he’s so calm he doesn’t get wriggly.

No stretching

I wear this top all the time. As in I need to wash it at night time because I wear it at some point every day. I expected the material to stretch because he’s in there so often but it’s still good as new.

It’s easy

If I’m just popping out with George this is the easiest option possibly. I don’t need to bother with the bulky pram which makes it easier to pop out – something that becomes pretty difficult when you have a baby!

I can walk on rough ground

This is a personal one to me but I live in the countryside and walk my dog through the fields everyday. I couldn’t take a pushchair and I walk too far to carry George in my arms so the Soothe Shirt is perfect. It also gives me two hands for lead holding and stick throwing.

It looks nice

Let’s not forget the fact that this top looks nice. Other baby carriers don’t look nice and wraps end up with loads of extra material. I’m happy wearing this even when George isn’t in it and you can’t even tell it’s a baby wearing top.

Anything I don’t like?

It’s difficult for feeding

The Lalabu Soothe Shirt is meant to be a nursing top too but unfortunately this doesn’t work for me. It fits me perfectly in every other way but it’s too small to comfortably get a boob out to feed George. If I’m out and about I have to wear a vest underneath and then take the Soothe Shirt off to feed him.

If you do manage to use it to nurse then it isn’t very discreet as you have to get your whole boob out.

We get hot

We’ve had a couple of really hot days recently and George and I have both got pretty hot. I know this is to be expected as the material is so strong and I’d get equally hot carrying him.

 

Why use the Soothe Shirt?

Have you heard about the fourth trimester of pregnancy? We all know about the first three but not so much this final fourth stage – probably because it’s not actually a real stage but every mum will know what I’m talking about.

It’s the first few weeks (possibly months – I don’t know, I’m still pretty new to this!) when the baby basically still wants to be in mum’s tum. They want to be warm and cosy and close and tucked up in a tiny ball where they can hear their mother’s heart beat and the rumblings in her belly. It’s only natural they want this as it’s all they’ve ever know, Suddenly they’re plugged into this big, bad and scary world where it’s cold and noisy. No one would be ok with that!

So they want to be picked up and cuddled all the time. This is amazing at first. It’s such a special time when you bond with your baby with constant cuddles and kisses and naps together. You can’t really do anything but you’re so smitten with your new bundle you don’t care.

And then one day you look around your house and realise it’s a complete tip. You haven’t cooked a proper meal and barely brushed your hair in weeks. You need to put this baby down! Of course the second you put them down they cry so you attempt to pick them up and do everything one handed. Anyone who has tried to make and eat a sandwich with one hand will know that it’s near impossible. If you do manage it, your baby is going to end up with a lot of cheese on their head.
You could wait until nap time or you could make life easier for yourself and pop them in a soothe shirt. Don’t fight this natural instinct for your baby to stay close, just find a way to make life easy for yourself.

 

Self employment and the Soothe Shirt

This might seem a bit off topic but I can’t tell you how helpful the Soothe Shirt has been in terms of getting work done. As I work for myself I didn’t have the luxury of taking too much time off. It’s not so much the financial aspect, it’s more about losing clients and falling out of the loop. So when I need to sit down at my desk I need George to be happy and quiet for a few hours and the Soothe Shirt is the only thing that does this. Even if he has a nap or someone else is constantly cuddling and shushing and singing and rocking, it’s unusual for him to stay quiet for more than an hour. The Soothe Shirt just makes life easier.

The Soothe Shirt is made in the US but is now available to order from other countries. It costs $70 and you can find out more about Lalabu here.

This post is not sponsored but I was sent the Soothe Shirt for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and options are my own.