Mums swing back into action on Britain's Got Talent
They won the hearts of the judges and triggered a nationwide craze 12 months ago and now they are back in the swing of things once more on Britain's Got Talent.
Thirteen mums and babies backed by eight small children aged four to eight put on an eye catching performance in the first round of auditions for the hit TV show at the ICC in Birmingham.
Now the group called Sling Swing, who dance with their babies strapped to them, are anxiously waiting to hear if they have got through to the next round of the selection process.
Last year they fell at the final hurdle before the programme was screened and are hoping to go one stage better this time and make it to the televised shows.
Their Charleston-themed act was split into three sections to the sounds of will.i.am's Bang Bang from the Great Gatsby soundtrack.
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It started with the gloves, shoes and bow ties of the mums and little white socks of the babies glowing brightly in the dark and moved on to a fully lit dance routine before they were joined by the eight youngsters each with a doll or toy in a sling that 'swung' just like the grown ups'.
Music teacher Carly Birchell, a 34-year-old mother of one from Penn, Wolverhampton founded the dance group that spawned a franchise that now has 20 other troupes in England and Northern Ireland and took part in the BGT audition with two-year-old son Noah
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She said: "We were disappointed not to get through to the final last year after getting four 'yes' votes from the judges and suspect it could have had something to do with babies needing licences to appear on TV.
"However we we were encouraged by the nice comments and the huge interest in Sling Swing dancing and so decided to come back bigger and better.
"We put more thought into the performance this year. It was slightly more professional. Everybody seemed to love it and so we are keeping our fingers crossed. Swing Sling has caught on because the movement helps to keep and baby quiet. We did not have a single scream during the show.
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"My son weighs a lot more than he did last year and is also a lot more mobile. He bounces so much I have to be really careful not to lose by balance but as long as you have a good sling you can carry on until the child is even older. I'm not planning to hang my sling up any time soon."
The Swing Sling craze also seems set to run and run after it recently won Mrs Birchell the title of Best New Business Launched since 2012 in the Bizmums national awards.
