Born to Carry

Developing excellence in baby sling skills

Hertfordshire

Lysanne Skinner

Lysanne is mother of two children and has carried both of them exclusively, often at the same time!  She runs the successful MotherRucker Carrying Consultancy in Worthing, West Sussex, UK and has done since November 2016.

Prior to having children and becoming a Carrying Consultant and Sling Library, Lysanne was a secondary school Drama Teacher teaching ages 11-18, and was a visiting GCSE Drama examiner for AQA.  She made the decision that she wouldn’t return to the profession after 8 years, following the birth of our eldest as she had a new passion, babywearing.

When the previous owner, of what was then Worthing Babywearers, announced she was selling, she knew instinctively it was the right business for her.  She had fallen out of love with teaching and wanted to help other parents to carry their children safely and comfortably.  Having gone through antenatal and postnatal depression and anxiety twice, Lysanne is in a unique position to be able to empathise and support those for whom this also applies.  She is also an advocate for responsive, gentle parenting and believes carrying underpins it all.

Lysanne completed her Slingababy Consultancy Course in February 2017 and has also taken the Slingababy Feeding in Slings course.  She has attended numerous CPD events to further her knowledge and she has led a tandem carrying workshop at The Wrap Show 2019.

Lizzie Start

Lizzie is an experienced educator and mother of two living in Essex. She has a passion for supporting and empowering parents, and is an advocate for responsive parenting. Her ultimate aim is to change the way people view parenting, to improve outcomes for babies and children.

Lizzie was born in England but grew up in Belgium, Austria and Saudi Arabia, before returning to the U.K. for university. She trained as a primary school teacher with a specialism in early years, and also gained a qualification in adult learning. After settling for a few years in London and Essex, she moved to Norway when her first baby was four months old, and along with a friend, founded Oslo Sling Library in early 2015. She returned to the U.K. in September 2016 and gave birth to her second son, before establishing her own sling library and consultancy in Southend-on-Sea. She is a qualified infant feeding peer supporter, and alongside her sling library work she runs a weekly parenting support group at Do It Like A Mother HQ, where she also manages the venue.

Lizzie has trained with several babywearing schools and has been teaching peer support courses since 2017. She joined the Born to Carry team in 2018 and has trained almost 100 peer supporters to date. She enjoys attending parenting and babywearing events, and has been invited to run workshops at large-scale events in London and Norway. Most recently she organised the education programme at The Wrap Show (June 2019) and spoke to a gathering of international babywearing consultants at the Norwegian national babywearing conference, Nasjonalt Baeretreff (September 2019).

Lizzie loves to travel and is thrilled to be able to offer peer support training across Europe as required, as well as around the UK. She also hosts regular courses at Do It Like A Mother HQ. She is able to offer bespoke training to childcare and education settings, as well as to babywearing dance teachers upon request.