Everyone’s talking about sustainability these days. But is it even possible to raise a baby sustainably? If you or someone you know has just given birth, you may be noticing more stuff than ever piling up in your house.
Thankfully, there are some quality sustainable baby brands out there. But sometimes, being more environmentally-friendly simply means buying fewer things. If you’re planning to raise a baby sustainably, Snugglebundl could play a role in your journey.
You can use your Snugglebundl as a feeding cover, a soother, or a wrap. It has many uses, but it was originally designed as a baby lifting blanket.
But wait, why do I need a baby lifting blanket?
After David Solomon’s wife had a complicated birth, she struggled to bend and lift her daughter. It fell to David to help out. But with his bad back, bending down was hard for him too. He started laying the baby on a blanket and picking her up using the four corners. It made life for the young couple much easier. And from then on, David knew he was onto a winner.
In 2011, David made a prototype and showed it to his neighbours, Mike and Heidi Edwards. Mike recalled struggling to move his daughter without waking her when she’d been a baby. Being a product designer, he instantly fell in love with the idea.
Heidi had worked in nursery nursing for years and she knew a good product when she saw one. She took out her sewing machine and painstakingly modified the prototype until they had an updated one that fully supported the baby’s head.
Not everyone has a difficult birth. But everyone struggles to keep their baby asleep at times. That’s because of the Moro reflex. Babies under two months will tilt their heads back when startled. This means when you pick up your child in the traditional way, the chances are, the infant will wake.
What difference does the Snugglebundl make?
Because the head support wraps snuggly round your baby’s head, you can pick up your child without activating the Moro reflex. And since you pick up your baby around 50 times a day, keeping him or her asleep on at least some of those occasions is probably quite tempting.
“It means you can go about your day without breaking your baby’s precious sleep routine,” says Heidi.
Weight tested to hold over 30kg, the Snugglebundl will easily hold a baby of 18 months. It’s completely safety checked. And its hammock shape replicates the way you would scoop up your child using both hands.
What the Snugglebundl isn’t
Wonderous though the Snugglebundl is, Heidi is quick to add that it’s not about changing the way you behave with your baby. It’s not a carrier or a swaddle. “It doesn’t replace what you do naturally with your baby,” says Heidi.
What makes the Snugglebundl a sustainable baby product?
Made of the softest, organic cotton, the Snugglebundl is long-lasting. A quick trawl through the Trustpilot reviews will tell you that people re-use them time and time again.
And they’re not just for babies. If you’ve been out for a meal and it’s late at night, you don’t want to wake your toddler. Use your Snugglebundl in the same way you did when they were small. Creative use like this honours the reduce, reuse, recycle mantra that is at the heart of any sustainable vision.
What else can I do to raise a sustainable baby?
To raise a baby sustainably, there are many things you can do. Here are our top tips:
- Opt for reusable nappies
- Reuse items or buy them second-hand (but be careful about safety features)
- Buy sustainably-sourced clothing and baby items
- Breastfeed and create your own baby food
- Most importantly, teach your child the importance of caring for the planet