Mensore means "welcome" in local Okinawan dialect.
Mensore Baby offers moms, dads, and anyone else stationed on Okinawa the opportunity to come in, get information on babywearing, and try out our products. While the internet is wonderful, it just doesn’t compare to seeing/touching the fabric that will surround your most precious commodity.
Mensore Baby offers moms, dads, and anyone else stationed on Okinawa the opportunity to come in, get information on babywearing, and try out our products. While the internet is wonderful, it just doesn’t compare to seeing/touching the fabric that will surround your most precious commodity.
Please feel free to make an appointment to come by, get information, try on products, or just chat! Appointments can be made by calling 633-1795 or by emailing heather@mensorebaby.com.
Mensore Baby was created with the Okinawa Military Spouse in mind, out of my own personal experience.
My Story
I moved to Okinawa 7 ½ months pregnant with no knowledge of babywearing. After my son was born, it seemed like it was always time to nurse right when I sat down to dinner with my husband. I thought how nice it would be to be able to nurse while sitting down to dinner with my husband and actually enjoying a hot meal! I tried just holding him, but I’m not very good at eating one handed! I had seen a few other people carrying their babies in slings and thought that would be the solution. Since I knew nothing about slings and was too shy to actually go up to someone using one to ask, I started my search at the Bx. No luck there! One day I saw an ad on Japan Update for Mamma’s Milk baby slings, so I jumped on it. I was so excited to try it out, but the one I got was too small. It would be another two weeks before one in my size was available. By the time I got my sling my “little one” was 10 weeks old. He was a big boy and by then too big to nurse in the pouch sling. Still I used the sling everyday for trips to the post office, commissary, even for doing chores around the house, etc. Then it really paid off when I made a trip back to the States, just the little one and I. There’s no way I could have managed hauling luggage and the baby without the sling.
At this point I’m thinking, “Oh man! I wish someone would have told me about slings and babywearing BEFORE I had a baby!” I would have loved to have my sling right from the beginning. Plus, I had all the time in the world to do research before Anders was born, but my time was a bit limited at that point. With the time I could spare I began researching other types of carriers as Anders was quickly becoming too heavy for long periods of time in the sling. I ended up choosing a Soft-Structured Carrier and fell in love with it. I also started making some homemade slings to increase my stash! I had so many people compliment me on and ask me where I got my slings that an idea popped in my head.
I thought of how nice it would have been to have someone on-island to get information about the various baby carriers, as well as actually try them on/see them before making a purchase. I had also been thinking of some type of work I could do from home to also take care of my son. Starting a business selling baby carriers seemed like an ideal solution.
And that’s how it all began...
