Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Okay, remember how on a different thread I thought I'd take the plunge and try a mei tai? (this one: http://www.etsy.com/listing/91631832/mei-tai-baby-carrier-sling-reversible.)
It's great! I looked up some different ways of tying it because when I first did the back-carry, I had the straps crossed over my chest, which looked all weird and smooshy, but now I figured out a different (and much better) way of tying it so the straps are like I'm wearing a backpack. I LOVE IT! We had a really old Karrimor papoose from freecycle and my kids always acted like they were going to dive out of it (so I was too scared to go out with it), but both the kids feel pretty secure in the mei tai. And it's pretty comfortable, considering they are older kids.

I don't have a better picture than this, but I'm posting it anyway.

Oh, good to hear your report! I just asked some lady at the grocery store the other day, about her wrap and it was a mei tai (i'd never seen one before). It looked like it had potential for freya who hates carriers of all shapes and sizes, sigh. Baby has a lot of freedom to move arms and legs. I think our local sling library has a couple so I'm hoping to hire one later this week and test it out!

Babynut practically lives in our mei tai. It is the only reliable way she will take a daytime nap lately. I'm hoping it will be somewhat cool in the summer, too (at least for her anyway).

Just a little caveat: I like our mei tai (from Baby Hawk) a lot, but when I am going out, I still prefer the Ergo, because it has buckles, so you don't need to fuss with the straps. Otherwise, trying to get the baby out of the car seat and put her into the carrier gets a smidge tricky for me (perhaps because of lack of practice) when I have to try and find the straps and tie them rather than just grabbing and buckling.

Both are magic nap inducers, though. I can't wear them for long because of my knee and even so, just a few minutes puts her out.

If your partner is very tall, sometimes a mei tai just isn't going to work...

Heh. Leela looks a bit disconcerted there. What does Mr tofulish like the best? One of my nanny girls dad really likes their Manduca, which is basically the same as an ergo. He's about the same height as Mr refinnej (6'4"ish). Bean hated it the most of all the carriers so fat though...lots of tears. My friend's partner loved the baby bjorn, which they'be passed on to us. We've used it a couple times but without much love from f. I worry about the hip dysplasia issue with the BB too.

Mr 'fulish is 6'4" too! He doesn't really try these on. I'd like him to give the Ergo a try (with the extender), but so far he likes just to balance her on his arm.

Dahlia's dad is 6'1 and will only use the Bjorn - I tried to get him interested in the Gemini, which I love, but he was put off by the waist strap! sigh. He finds anything more complex than the Bjorn too fussy. Hopefully I can get him to try again (maybe I will find a used Ergo, those look as simple as the Bjorn), because we aren't planning on having a secondary stroller seat or anything and I don't wanna have to be the only one who wears newbaby.

Nate's 6'4" too (firstly, what is up with that?!), and really liked babywearing when Ezra was smaller. He grew so large so fast though that neither of us do it much anymore. We have plenty of carriers, and we'd both go through phases on which ones we liked better, and for different outings (hiking vs. quick stop at the grocery store, etc.) Nate's favorites seemed to be the Beco and the mei tai. He thought that the Beco was less complicated than the Ergo (where I found the opposite to be true...) and thought that it supported his back better. When Ezra was little, he loved the mei tai. Even though it's tying vs. buckles, we both found it easier to get on and off quickly, get a much more custom fit, and easy to use with just one person.

We both decided that ring slings were ridiculous.









Ok, now I just want to look at pictures of little bub Ezra all day long!

Those matching hats are so cute, flavabean! Did you make those? My partner met me at work today and we walked home together with the baby. It got a little chilly and he whips out a hat I that i had knitted for her...a christmas hat. Red and white stripes with a pom pom on the tail, a damn elf hat! In April? I felt a little ridiculous walking through the park with my baby in Christmas garb. Turns out he's been using that hat with her all month. Oh well. Maybe now I need to knit them a pair of (more appropriate) matching hats.

Oh my gosh, flavabean, are those Cunning Hats?! You're pictures are too cute.

Flava, those pictures are amazing!

Yes, they're Jayne hats! They walk down the street together and everyone knows they're not afraid of anything.

I forgot that we also have a Boba, which we both loved the most for carting around a toddler. It's a little less bulky than the Ergo. The mei tai we have is made by Eden, which has since gone out of business, but it was seriously our favorite when he was a little baby. You can find them used sometimes on eBay or TBC.

I wanted to add to this old thread versus opening a new one..

The Hold Me Ring Sling is probably only good for a small chested short person..very tight on me! (It comes up on Zulily/Totsy a lot, so thought I'd mention that)

I like my Mei Tai for Ada..she's 1 month right now and finds it snuggly close to me but it gives me pretty decent support. Not too hard to put on. This is the one I have: (and btw they have revamped their designs) :
http://www.etsy.com/listing/98750583/me ... ier-robots

I still need to get a picture of Ada in it!

I have a Cuddly Wrap, a locally made sling, and an older Snugli pack. The sling will only last a month or so, because it's TINY, but super useful because I won't have to juggle a newborn and trying to wrap/tie/etc. The Cuddly's like a Moby, and I've never used it, but I'm excited to try it out. We liked the Snugli last time, especially my partner, for an older baby, but I kind of want to try out a Mei Tai after seeing them so much here. It seems like anyone who carries their baby here is using one! They're really cute.

I've been using the boba a lot lately after a kind of hiatus from babywearing over the winter. Tzipi fits super well in a back-carry even with my 5 month belly. She is really enjoying it too, i guess after a really independent spell she likes the feeling of being babied a bit. Suffice to say, having my almost 2.5 your old pass out on my back after a pretty frustrating morning with her was a nice feeling.

We haven't tried a back carry yet, but I'm psyched to make an attempt with my mei tai. My question is: what do you do when the kid falls asleep on your back? With a front carry, I can still sit in a chair and do whatever with her asleep on me, but if she's in the back, how do you deal with not being able to sit down (or at least in a normal chair) for as long as they're napping?

FYI, I didn't feel safe doing a back carry until Walter was at least a year old. He was just too floppy before that, and I didn't trust him not to try a back bend and fall out. And getting a baby onto your back without another adult requires a little bit of assistance/cooperation from the baby, and Walter just didn't get it before about 13 months.

If he falls asleep I can usually put him down on a bed without waking him; I sit on the edge of the bed and lean backwards until he is down but I'm not crushing him, then unbuckle, then leave him sleeping on the boba until he wakes up.

He is 30 pounds now and the boba is still very comfortable for back carrying.

Cool. Malka is the opposite of floppy, but she does wriggle and squirm and climb a lot so we'd have to be careful about it. On the other hand, we actually carry her on our shoulders a lot either holding on to her legs or reach up and holding on to her back and she is totally great at that and doesn't try to squirm off - she loves the view and the unique opportunity to pull hair, she be really chill in a back-carry situation.

My faves are the Beco Gemini & the Maya Tai.

I carried E on my back in the Ergo from about 9 months on, when he got so big that a front carry in any carrier was just too much for me. Carried him like that til about 3 days before M was born. Well, I still Ergo him occasionally, but I'm usually carrying the baby now.

My goal for this baby is to figure out how to carry him on my back with my (homemade, by a friend) woven wrap. I find t much more comfortable and body flattering than the Ergo, but back carrying... So tricky.

I've been trying the back carry in my woven wrap around the house. I still need my partner's help to do it. My issue is the access to my hair! She is all over my hair trying to pull it (and succeeding). It is making the back carry MUCH less appealing.

We have a Manduca and I can sit down even when I back carry F. and she takes a nap. I switched to back carrying when she was about seven months old and she seems to like it better than front carrying. She can have a better look at the people around her and it's much easier on my back that way.

At first I thought I'd never manage to back carry, it sounded so complicated. But then I watched a video on youtube and was amazed how easy it was to get F to the back without any help. I am sure I wouldn't have managed it alone with our woven wrap.

I should add that of course it's not the most comfortable sitting. I try to make my back very straight and lean forward. But definitely better than standing. And with the manduca it's also easy to just let her glide onto the bed without waking her.

Are there any carriers out there that are made for hot weather? I feel like Scarlett is so hot and sweaty when I take her out in my moby, even though it has UV protection, so I figured it must be meant for using in the sun! After a little while she starts making little moaning sounds and I don't know if it's because she's hot or what.