Babywearing - my favorite carriers / wraps

I'm not an intense baby-wearing momma -- and by that I mean, I don't own a lot of baby carriers, I have two SSCs and I had two stretchy wraps.  I did a lot of research though about baby-wearing and which carrier or wrap would best fit our family.

Stretchy Wrap

My first stretchy wrap was a Boba, I chose this one because of the reviews I read about (compared to Moby) and I think the fact that it wasn't as stretchy as Moby was what drew me to it.  I bought mine months before I gave birth from a store in North Vancouver.  I picked the colour black because I thought it would be a nice and basic colour regardless of what I wear and my husband can use it too.

Wearing Zachary while he was just a few weeks old

​What I love about Boba:

• Wide panel
• Pretty easy to use
• You can (usually)wear them right after they are born (read the manual first)
• Affordable -- I think I purchased it for $40-$50
• I love the pouch it comes with so you can just stuff it in when you're not using it

What I didn't like about Boba:

• It was too thick -- which means you get hot easily! Babywearing can already make you feel really warm - body heat (and to think the boys were born during winter!) and the thick fabric of Boba can make you feel really warm.
• And because it was really thick, it is also bulky
• The color I chose (Black) got dirty easily in the sense that lint & dust (and other stuff) shows and that really bothers me. (I'm sure a lighter colour would solve this problem)
• This is more pertaining to stretchy wraps in general and not Boba specifically -- But because we live in Vancouver which is also known as Raincouver, it's really hard to put on the stretchy wrap outside, especially when the ground is wet -- the long wrap ends up getting dragged on wet floor.  I've tried putting them on in the car, but for some reason I'm not really good with that and I usually end up with a bad fit - either too lose or too tight! (ask me if this is not clear).  The only solution I found that worked was to pre-wrap before we leave the house, but it could get quite uncomfortable in the car and under your coat.

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My next and probably my most favourite stretchy wrap is the Solly Baby Wrap.  I've been eyeing this wrap even before we got our Boba, but I couldn't justify the cost.. it was a little bit more expensive than any other stretchy wraps.  Plus I couldn't find a retailer (at that time) that sold this wrap locally, so I couldn't even see or feel it first before purchasing it (I'd have to order from the US).  But my dad gave this to me as a Christmas gift so YAY!

Zachary in a Solly Baby wrap when he was a few weeks old

What I love about Solly:

• It is SO PRETTY - ok, I love stripes and I love grey! and I got the Natural & Grey Stripe colour - so enough said.
• It is soft and thin - it doesn't make you feel too warm when you wear your baby and it's just nice and soft!!
• It is not that stretchy - I know this is confusing for first-timers, but if your wrap is too stretchy, then once you put your baby in (and as your baby gets bigger), it will "sag" more - and which means you'd have to put it on really tight so that your baby will be more secure and will always be close & high enough to kiss (and won't hang too low).
• It has a small pocket in the end where you can roll it and tuck it in when you're not using it -- which means you don't have to worry about carrying a separate pouch.
• Because it is thinner & lighter, it's not bulky when you put it away. 

What I don't love about Solly:

• A bit more pricey
• Panel is not as wide -- but I didn't really have a problem with this, but I just thought I'd mention it

Here you can compare both stretchy wrap - I am wearing the Solly Baby Wrap and my friend Hannah is using the Boba Wrap

​So, I love the stretchy wrap because you can (usually) wear it as soon as your baby is born.  Our boys were born 4 & 5 lbs and I think I started wearing them a few weeks after they were born. However, being a twin mom, it took too much time to put on the wrap and take it off while two babies are waiting (I'm sure it'll probably work ok if you have one baby) - which is why as soon as our babies could fit our SSC, I mostly used that with them.  Another downside for me is that there is not much support, so if you're wearing your baby for a longer period of time (especially when they're a bit bigger & heavier), I found that it hurt my shoulder a bit.  Another downside for me is that I have never been able to successfully transfer them out of the wrap while they are sleeping (they always wake up!!!), I think mostly because there's not an easy/fast way to take the wrap off (plus my babies are ninjas and can sense when you are putting them down!!).  Another reason why I used my SSC more - one buckle and you can take them out

So, here are the SSCs we own:

Lillebaby - Lillebaby was our first SSC, I love it because I can wear our baby as early as 7 lbs. without an infant insert - not having to buy an infant insert mattered to be because carriers are already expensive, I did not want to have to buy an insert that I can only use for a few months.  I also love the fact that there are 4 ways of wearing the baby (forward, front-facing, hip carry & back carry) and the lumbar support is GOLD! -- we have the older Complete Airflow, and as far as I know, the only major difference is that it the older model doesn't have pockets on the waist band.

What I love about our Lillebaby:

• 6 ways of carrying the baby!! -- I love the options that we have of ways we can carrying our baby.  At this point we have tried all carries except the hip carry :)
• Lumbar support - I don't understand why the other carriers don't have this! It makes a whole lot of difference and makes carrying our heavy babes way more comfortable
• Easy to use

What I don't love about our Lille:

• I am not a big fan of the mesh fabric of the Airflow - I know it's meant to let the "air flow", but it's just not nice and soft.. it's not a deal breaker, I'm just being picky.
• Black - made the mistake of picking the colour black AGAIN!! - lint, spit up and dust are just so visible and it's annoying
• It's not that easy to adjust the side strap - making it hard to get the perfect fit.
• You have to take care of not losing the lumbar support when you take off and store your carrier (not really a con, but just a reminder I guess and one more thing to think about / remember)

Lillebaby in the busy streets of Bangkok

​Tula - I chose Tula primarily because I LOVE the print!! But after trying it on, I realized what the big fuss was all about - it's a pretty carrier and it's also comfortable and pretty easy to use.

Enjoying a nice walk on the beach with our Tula

What I love about my Tula:

• It so darn pretty
• The pocket (our older Lillebaby doesn't have any pockets, but the newer ones now have them)
• Adjusting the side and back straps is super easy - which means getting a nice good fit is easier

What I don't love about my Tula

• Compared to our Lillebaby, the buckle seems a bit more flimsy.
• No lumbar support :(
• Because the panel is wide, their legs have to be long enough so it can comfortably sit on the carrier without the receiving blanket.
• There's no way to put away the hood nicely, it just hangs there in front of the carrier - blocking the beautiful print!

I love both of our SSCs and they have been a lifesaver when we travelled to Asia (when the boys were 4 months old).  We used our SSC on the plane too (we had them on during landing and take off) and it is the reason why our trip went pretty smoothly.