UpSpring Baby {Review & Giveaway} Walking Wings help baby learn to walk and save parents' backs - 2 winners!

{This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to those who entered!}

I think those lists of milestones stating what babies "should" be able to do at certain ages were created just to give new moms more added stress. As if it isn't enough to be overwhelmed with the monstrosity of taking care of a completely dependent little person, now you have to worry every minute if they are developmentally matching up to their peers and what it might mean if they don't sit up on their own or call you Mama exactly on time.

Needless to say, when all of the other kids that were Big Sister E's age were walking and she was still content to crawl, I began to get nervous. My pediatrician reassured me that she was just fine and would do it on her own time, but I figured that a little extra practice couldn't hurt anything and besides, Big Sister E seemed to like the idea of walking even if she couldn't do it. Therefore, day after day, I hunched over and let her hold onto my hands so that we could slowly walk around the house. And around. And around.

What came of all of our extra work? For Big Sister E, she enjoyed being helped here and there and eventually those long-awaited first steps happened just fine. For me, I had a continual backache for months from bending over to be down at the right height and would end each day sore. But... that's just what you do when your child is learning to walk, right?


Walking Wings from Upspring Baby is the unique solution that was designed specifically to help babies and parents during the learning to walk phase... and boy, is it a great idea! The fully padded vest adjusts to custom-fit your baby and the straps are easily lengthened or shortened as well, meaning anyone can take a turn giving your little one a stroll around and not have to bend over.

Now 13 months old, Little Sister B is following in her older sister's footsteps by still crawling around while her little friends walk right past. She likes to walk along furniture, has decent balance and has plenty of motivation, but just seems to need a little more practice before branching out and trying the real thing on her own. Fortunately, Walking Wings is the perfect thing to make everyone in our house happy.

Here are Daddy and Little Sister B showing the traditional way that parents have been helping a baby practice walking:

Neither of them were very excited about doing this.

As I held the Walking Wings in front of her, Little Sister B seemed to already know to put her arms in the holes so that I could securely strap her in. In a total of around a minute from taking it out of the box, the Walking Wings and Little Sister B were up and ready for a test-run:


After pausing for a few moments to realize that yes, she was indeed standing without holding onto anyone or anything, Little Sister B was more than excited to go for a walk. Laughing the whole time, she wobbled, took little steps, took big steps and explored her newly-discovered freedom with extreme enjoyment.

I love that Little Sister B is safe in her Walking Wings and falls far fewer times than if she was attempting to try her unsteady walking on her own. In the short time we've been using it, I think her balance has improved quite a bit since she has her hands free to walk more naturally and now I don't have to worry about her arms being accidentally tugged on when she's holding someone's hands.

Recommended for babies six months or older, the straps on Walking Wings can actually hold up to 155 pounds and the buckle up to 200 pounds, so this would be a great product for an older child that may have delays with learning to walk. Top it all off by Walking Wings being 100% cotton, machine washable and dryer safe and it's no wonder that it is recommended by pediatricians and an iParenting Media Award winner. In case you can't tell by her face in the pictures, Walking Wings are also highly recommended and approved by Little Sister B.

Walking Wings come in two color options, one with bright, solid pink on the outside and a coordinating flower interior and one that is blue on the outside with cute stripes on the interior. Retailing for $24.99, Walking Wings are available on the UpSpring Baby website or at a wide selection of retailers nationwide (and even internationally). However, thanks to the generosity of UpSpring Baby, two people will get to try out Walking Wings for themselves or will have a really great gift for someone with a baby, because...

Two lucky people will win Walking Wings of their own! One winner will receive the blue and one winner will receive the pink Walking Wings!

To enter to win Walking Wings from Upspring Baby: Check out all of the wonderful products that Upspring Baby offers and tell me which one is your favorite AND tell me if you would like the pink or the blue Walking Wings. You MUST leave your color selection because I will be drawing a winner for each color.

Do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile, I have to have a way to contact the winners.

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed; please leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them to be counted. For example, if you subscribe, leave one comment saying "I subscribe #1" and a separate comment saying "I subscribe #2")

1 Extra Entry (per method) if you follow UpSpring Baby on Twitter, subscribe to the RSS feed for the UpSpring Baby blog and/or tell me the closest store location to you that carries UpSpring Baby's great products.
1 Extra Entry (per giveaway entered) - Enter any (or all) of the giveaways running on Thanks, Mail Carrier for the duration of this giveaway.
1 Extra Entry if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below and leaving me the link. Tweet daily for an extra entry every day!

Walking Wings help babies walk and save parents' back! *2 winners* @thxmailcarrier from @UpSpring_Baby http://bit.ly/aSLxy3 #win #giveaway

2 Extra Entries (per follow method) if you follow me with Google Friend Connect, subscribe to my RSS feed or subscribe to Thanks, Mail Carrier by email.
3 Extra Entries if you put my cute button up on your blog. I've moved! Please update your button code! Please leave an address where it can be found.
3 Extra Entries if you blog about this giveaway linking back to Thanks, Mail Carrier and UpSpring Baby. Please leave an address where it can be found.


Giveaway will end on February 25th at 11:59pm CST. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.

A big thank you to UpSpring Baby for providing Walking Wings for me to review as well as two for two lucky giveaway winners. My daughter and my back thank you, too! The opinions shared are my own and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.