I went through a lot of different kinds of baby carriers with my first son and never found anything I loved – it was mostly the dreaded sling loaned to me by my MIL that never seemed to fit me right and never failed to make me feel like a complete new mom idiot (of course being an exhausted new mother could have had something to do with this…) and a lot of cheap knock offs of the baby bjourn, one each for every carrying position you can think of (and maybe some you cant?).
Now that we are planning about planning for baby number two, the issue of baby wearing is creeping up again – despite my disappointment with previous carriers I am a big fan of babywearing – I think those gorgeous baby wraps are so chic and sensible and no longer being a brain dead new mommy, I think I could even figure out how to wear them! But there are so many different kinds and they range in price from $30-200 at least. Are those expensive ones really worth all that extra money or just made by famous people or something?
My latest online obsession, mom4life.com offers a clever comparison chart on a lot of the major slings and wraps out there, namely the ones they sell on their website. It lists the major differences between the different styles and the makes it easy to narrow down your search to the perfect babywearing solution for you. My three personal favorites (at the moment) are the Moby wrap ($39.95-44.95) a very traditional and inexpensive wrap which seems like it’s very popular within the “wrapping” community, the Baby Ktan ($57.75) which has a unique figure 8 design that intrigues me and claims to be easier and better to use and the Maya Wrap ($49.95) which looks like what would happen if a baby wrap and a sling had a very stylish baby, who incidentally was born to hold your baby…
Anyway, they all seem stylish, fairly inexpensive and well reviewed. All allow for discreet nursing and evenly distribute your little one’s not so light body weight – two very important factors for me. Another wrap I’ve seen recently elsewhere is the Sleepy Wrap which is made in an uber stretchy material so that all babies fit snugly without having to guess how much room to leave for the little one – very sensible and also another affordable option at only $33.95.
So now I’m turning it over to you, readers. What are your experiences with baby wraps, slings, and other carriers? Which of the slings / wraps above would you recommend? Or perhaps you know of another fabulous option I haven’t mentioned? Do tell!
Mommablogsalot 
7 responses to “Babywearing Is So Chic”
[…] 8, 2008 – babywearing is so chic – back before my blog got a lot of hits, this post did really awfully well for my purposes – I have […]
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lmao – oh so true – again thanks a lot! 🙂
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You’re very welcome! I believe the Bali Baby Stretch retails at $67 … I think I saw that at ATB today. Hmmm, some more reasons you need two (helpful with the husband, maybe):
– one on your body carrying the baby, one in the washer because baby spit up on it;
– baby carriers will be your most used baby purchase, so dollar for dollar they’re a tremendous bargain;
– “I wear my baby every day and I wear shoes every day … surely you don’t expect me to get by with just one pair of shoes!”;
– “I need at least one I can wear to a wedding/church/a nice restaurant;” and lastly
– no one will notice that I’m having a bad hair week, am flabby, and have spitup on my three-day-old t-shirt if I’m wearing a fabulous silk sling. 🙂
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This info was so helpful – thank you so much! I will definitely look into all this, especially the link for http://www.thebabywearer.com – do you know what price range the Gypsy Mama is? If I end up getting a sling and a wrap, I’m sure I’ll be put on a budget by husband. 🙂
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Get two. 🙂 Here’s why: the Moby (or Sleepy Wrap) will give you two-shouldered comfort, and you will hardly be able to tell that your baby has weight. Awesome, awesome, awesome for around the house or, say, taking a long walk in pleasant weather. But say you want to pop in to the post office, or the dry cleaner, or the drug store … a ring sling is still really comfortable but it’s quicker than a wrap, and you don’t have to deal with wrap straps in the parking lot.
I love the Maya Wrap lightly padded (the lightly padded, not the older style, which just doesn’t work as well) ring slings; they are great, workhorse carriers. The undyed ones are the softest (ivory and a colorgrown green). So I’d say you’re definitely on the right track with that one.
For the wraparound sling, many people love their Moby wraps, and Sleepy Wrap has its devotees too. Six of one, half dozen of the other, pick based on color. 🙂 For a less-stretchy stretchy wrap (as opposed to a woven wrap), consider a Gypsy Mama Bali Baby Stretch. These are a slightly different concept than the Moby and the Sleepy Wrap in that you tie them like a woven and they are really strong and will support your baby very well even when she’s a toddler (whereas the stretchier Moby and Sleepy Wrap can get annoying when they get bigger). The Gypsy Mama Bali Baby Stretch is also a thinner fabric (go figure … stronger but thinner … but it’s true), so a lot of people like it better than the Moby for warm weather.
You can find reviews and tons of information in the forums at http://www.TheBabywearer.com if you haven’t already been there. Also, Attached to Baby is having an awesome sale at the moment … I just got a mei tai and a silk ring sling for my babywearing group, both about 50% off. (I don’t work for ATB … just passing on that they have this sale.) If you like any of the Oopa Baby ring slings, they’re really nice and definitely chic, and they’re half off at ATB right now, so they start at $39.50, which I think definitely brings them into the range of “not sure whether I’ll love babywearing” sling purchases. (But you will love babywearing.)
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It does help! Moby wrap has been a huge contender for me for awhile. Tell me, the sleepy wrap talks about how you don’t have to guess how much room to leave for baby, and how this is so much easier and safer – did you ever feel like that was a big deal?
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I love-love-love my Moby Wrap. Seriously, to the point where it makes me sad that my almost-two year old really doesn’t want to be carried anymore…I’d almost have another baby just to be able to use it again…
And, I’ve used it on occasion to lug my 4yo around, and it’s not incredibly uncomfortable. For the newborns, I liked it much better than the Hotsling or the ring sling. It distributes the weight evenly across both your shoulders; I didn’t like the Hotsling as soon as my dd got bigger, because it pulls too much on one side.
They are also reasonably priced.
Hope that helps!
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