My name is Kate and I’m not a shopaholic (except in garden centres…) but even I recognise that tiny babies take impulse buying to a whole new level. There is something about the tiredness, the desperation when you will try anything (or buy anything) to try to stop a baby screaming, the boredom when alone with a silent house and snoring baby who isn’t comfy anywhere except on your chest and the oh-so-easy access to the internet on the smart phone nearby…
This time around my weakness is baby carriers. I set out, as you may recall, to buy a new baby carrier for our new arrival. We still have our Hugabub from last time but as that was second hand to us and we used it so much and until Roo was a pretty heavy toddler, it was a bit big and stretchy for a really tiny baby and so we thought we would treat little one to a new one and eBay our old one.
After much research, we still loved the idea of the Hugabub for a newborn so ordered a new one but all that reading got me wondering what other slings and carriers are like and about the overwhelming minefield which is discovering the right carrier for you. So I started lurking on eBay in search of a bargain so I could test an alternative. As of this morning I now own four different baby carriers. All absolute bargains I hasten to add, in case my husband is reading this…
The excessive carrier buying is not without good reason. At least I have now come up with a good reason to retrospectively justify the fact I’m an eBay addict. I thought I’d write a comparison review for Baby Routes, possibly even with a video version if I’m feeling brave and then when I’m done I can sell on my spare slings for a similar price to those I bought them for given as second hand slings don’t depreciate nearly as much as new ones! Maybe the review will be of some help to those making a quick decision and without easy or fast access to a sling library and at the very least it will satisfy my curiosity about the different merits of slings.
This is where I need your help!
I’m planning on putting each carrier through its paces both indoors and outdoors and want a checklist of things to test each one against to provide a bit of consistency. Maybe I’ll even rig up a kind of obstacle course!!!
So – can you help with the following:
- what do you wish you had known before buying a baby carrier?
- what are the most important considerations for buying a carrier? e.g. back support, speed of putting it on or maybe ease of bending down to pick up something off the floor
- what baby carrier do you own, or would recommend and why?
- If you have a carrier I can borrow to take for a roadtest, let me know! So far I have a Hugabub, Wilkinet, BabaSling and MabyLand Snuggle Trek – I’ll update this post if I get access to more.
If you have any other ideas for the reviews then let me know and of course, any anecdotal evidence would be great to add in if you have experience of any of the carriers I’m testing!
