Compare Baby Carriers – Mei Tai

November 9, 2010 by Attached Mama

The Mei Tai baby carrier is comfort and fashion all in one. Mei Tai is pronounced “may tie” and is also referred to as an Asian baby carrier. Unlike baby wraps and baby slings, a Mei Tai adds padded shoulder straps and waist straps to a small, square body to give the Mei Tai unlimited options for babywearing positions. Because the adjustability is in the long straps, a Mei Tai is a one-size-fits-most baby carrier, easily shared between Mom, Dad and other caregivers.

We LOVE this baby carrier in particular for its versatility in the extremely varied weather of Canada. It can easily be adapted to use over light clothing in the summer time, or over a big, bulky coat when you need to keep warm during a blustery winter day.

Mei Tai Baby Carrier is comfortable and versatile like no other baby carrier. You have complete control in the positioning of the baby within the carrier, based on how you tie the straps. Baby likes to be tucked in and hidden? No problem! Your toddler wants to be propped up to see the world? A re-tie here and there, and you’re set! Baby’s arms are out and he can watch as Mom goes about her day. This adaptability means it is easy to get a comfortable fit on any wearer.

This soft, strappy baby carrier is easy to use, comfortable for you, fun for baby, and stylish. What more could you ask for in a baby carrier?

This post is part of a series in which we give an overview of baby carrier styles, comparing the specific baby carriers available within each style. Despite the variety of baby carriers on the market today, nearly all fall into one of four basic styles.

Baby Wraps
Baby Slings (includes pouch slings and ring slings)
Mei Tai Baby Carriers
Soft Pack Baby Carriers

Mei Tai Baby Carriers

Advantages

our favorite for back carrying a young baby (less than one year), especially when there is a second child to attend to
weight is evenly distributed over both shoulders and hips
very supportive
very versatile, offering unlimited number of carrying positions
can be used front and back with a newborn to 30+ lbs (3 years or more)
big variety of beautiful fabrics available
higher resale value

Disadvantages

not as heavily padded as most structured carrier (but this can be an advantage for a parent that wants less bulk!)
straps are long and can drag on ground when tying (difficult in the rain or slushy weather)

Mei Tai Baby Carriers Compared

FreeHand Mei Tai Baby Carriers, also comes in Embroidered style
Style: Mei Tai Baby Carrier (Asian Inspired Baby Carrier).
Age: Suitable for newborn to toddler.
Carrying Positions: Front, Hip/Side, Back (all positions, infant to toddler)
Fabric: 100% cotton straps/structure. Printed fabric will vary.
Origin: Made in USA

Kozy Mei Tai Baby Carriers
Style: Mei Tai Baby Carrier (Asian Inspired Baby Carrier).
Age: Suitable for newborn to toddler.
Carrying Positions: Front, Hip/Side, Back (all positions, infant to toddler)
Fabric: 100% cotton canvas straps/structure.
Origin: Designed & created by work-at-home moms in the USA.

BabyHawk Mei Tai Baby Carriers
Style: Mei Tai Baby Carrier (Asian Inspired Baby Carrier).
Age: Suitable for newborn to 35+ lbs.
Carrying Positions: Front, Hip/Side, Back (all positions, infant to toddler)
Fabric: 100% cotton straps/structure. Printed fabric will vary. Reverses to solid (except camo).
Origin: Made in USA

Pikkolo Baby Carriers
Style: Hybrid Mei Tai & Soft Structured Carrier (A Mei Tai with Buckles!)
Age: Newborn to 40 lbs.
Carrying Positions: Forward Facing In or OUT, Hip & Back Carrying
Fabric: All cotton (exclusive of trim)

Interested in other Asian-inspired baby carriers? Wondering about pods and onbus? See our post comparing Podaegi and Onbuhimo with the mei tai.

Compare Baby Carriers – Baby Slings

November 3, 2010 by Attached Mama

Take a wrap baby carrier and sew it together (pouch sling) or add rings to enable easy adjustability (ring slings), and you have our next category of baby carriers: baby slings. A baby sling is as uncomplicated as any baby carrier gets.

Baby Slings are compact, sleek, and easy to use. Their simple design makes them one of the most popular baby carriers available. We firmly believe that NO new mother should be without a simple baby sling for an easier adjustment to life with baby. You will be an expert at babywearing in minutes.

Using a baby sling or pouch couldn’t be easier. Just put it on and take it off like a shoulder purse. The baby pops in and out quickly, making a sling the perfect choice for a little one who wants up and down (and up again!) all day long.

Slings are a favorite baby carrier for carrying a newborn and for nursing hands-free. When paired with a soft-pack baby carrier, you’ll have the perfect baby wearing combination from birth to toddlerhood.

Baby Wraps
Baby Slings (includes pouch slings and ring slings)
Mei Tai Baby Carriers
Soft Pack Baby Carriers

Ring Slings

A ring sling takes the simple wraparound cloth baby carrier a step further. Rather than tying the fabric and using knots to secure it, attach two large rings and you have yourself a ring sling.

When the length of fabric is threaded through the rings, a pouch is formed where your baby will sit. You can adjust the size and shape of the sling through the rings. Baby can be worn snuggled in, laying down, facing out in front like a kangaroo, on the hip, or on the back looking over your shoulder.

Sometimes padding is sewn into the sides (“rails”) or shoulder of the sling, and a tail is left from the fabric that has been pulled through the rings. Some ring slings include a pocket in the tail to carry your extras while out and about.

Pouches

A pouch is a tube-style baby carrier, generally one long circle of fabric sewn with a curved seam to provide a pouch for your baby to sit in. There are no rings for adjustment, so usually a pouch sling is sized to fit the individual who will be wearing it. This is perfect for a baby who wants to sit on your hip.

Innovations to the basic pouch sling design have included zippers or snaps to make them adjustable, and a hybrid pouch—a pouch sewn into a ring sling for both comfort and adjustability.

Advantages

short learning curve
very compact, so it will fit into a purse or diaper bag easily
most loved for the newborn stage – easy transition from snug environment of womb to compact sling
easy to move baby in and out of carrier
easiest for hands-free nursing
pouch has no extra tail fabric to figure out
tail of ring sling can be used for a nursing cover up

Disadvantages

Sizing is important in a pouch sling for the most comfort. Ring slings make this easier, but some parents find the rings more difficult to adjust.
only one-shouldered support, so a sling is less comfortable for extended wearing or for heavier babies and toddlers
a pouch is less versatile for carrying in different positions

Sling Baby Carriers Compared

Upmama Hybrid Baby Slings
Style: Adjustable Unpadded Ring Sling Hybrid (ring sling/pouch)
Age: Newborn to toddler (35 lbs)
Carrying Positions: Cradle, Kangaroo, Tummy to Tummy, Hip/Side, Back (toddler only)
Fabric: Cotton Sateen (97% cotton, 3% spandex)
Origin: Made in Canada

Maya Wrap Baby Ring Slings
Style: Adjustable Lightly Padded Ring Sling (padded in shoulder only).
Age: Newborn to 35 lbs.
Carrying Positions: Cradle, Kangaroo, Tummy to Tummy, Hip/Side, Back (toddler only)
Fabric: 100% hand-woven cotton
Origin: Hand-loomed using fair trade labor in Guatemala

Sakura Bloom Baby Ring Slings
Style: Adjustable Unpadded Ring Sling
Age: Newborn to toddler (35 lbs)
Carrying Positions: Cradle, Kangaroo, Tummy to Tummy, Hip/Side, Back (toddler only)
Fabric: 100% Irish linen
Origin: Made in USA

Hotslings Adjustable Pouch Baby Slings
Style: Adjustable Pouch Sling (one-size)
Age: Suitable for newborn to 30lbs+
Carrying Positions: Cradle, kangaroo, front facing in & out, hip carrying
Fabric: 97% Cotton Sateen, 3% Spandex
Origin: Made in USA

Keep Halloween Fun for Babies

October 25, 2010 by Attached Mama

Mother and Baby at Halloween

For a baby who can’t yet walk or talk, this Halloween is likely the first she will remember of familiar people putting on costumes and making scary faces. To make this a fun holiday for baby, be sure to give her an easy escape. If you are babywearing, a hip carry can give her choice.

Baby Halloween Costumes

Baby Halloween costumes are for us more than for our babies. We can’t resist how adorable they are, of course. Very young babies don’t care, though, so don’t convince yourself that Halloween is important to your baby. Dress up and costumes are for you and for your older children.

Yes! Dress up the baby. Just know that it’s for your benefit.

A Lot of Stimulation

You know your baby. Does he love excitement? Will flashing lights, glow sticks, and wailing ghosts be fun for him? Or, does he startle easily with load noises and surprises? Even a party baby might find his limit on Halloween.

Make sure your baby has a way to choose to participate or not.

Babywearing Hip Carry

If you wear your baby at a Halloween party or as you walk through your neighborhood with older children, having your baby on your hip will allow her to see what you are seeing if she turns one way or let her tuck into you and hide when it is all too much.

A forward-facing kangaroo carry doesn’t give the baby the choice to look on or look away. It’s all stimulation all the time, which could be great for a baby who loves action. A back carry doesn’t let her see everything at the young child height where a lot of interesting things happen, so an active baby might be straining to see more from over your shoulder.

Hip carry leaves the choice to participate in Halloween up to your baby.

NOTE: Only use the babywearing hip carry once your baby can sit well. Newborns or babies who are just gaining head control will need more support.

Image © Olga Bogatyrenko | Dreamstime.com

Colic: Remedies the Lazy Way

October 18, 2010 by Attached Mama

Crying baby

Inconsolable baby. Frazzled parent. Colic can be an overwhelming time for families. There are not only remedies for colic but ways of lessening the crying associated with colic through babywearing.

If I hadn’t witnessed colic in a friend’s baby and seen the devastating effect it had on her family, I wouldn’t begin to understand. I would just think that colic meant crying, but it goes far beyond that.

Colic occurs in about 25% of infants. “Colic” is the blanket term that describes the symptoms more than the causes, which are not always clear. From a few weeks old to 3-4 months old, some babies cry because they are in pain. They cry themselves into another world where they aren’t aware of their immediate surroundings. They are in pain, most often assumed to be digestive pain. This may be caused by food allergies or sensitivities, by reflux, or by other health issues. Colicky babies are in distress. Their cries are piercing and incredibly difficult for parents to handle day after day.

Colic Remedies

For more than a century, it has been common to give infants gripe water, a home remedy for colic that included alcohol, bicarbonate, and herbs that soothe digestion.

Motion and pressure can help—either the motion of bouncing, motion that gently manipulates the area of the pain, or gentle downward pressure of being carrying with weight on the belly—but carrying or physical soothing that starts after the crying has begun does not necessarily help. Babies are often unresponsive to these efforts.

Parents should definitely track what the baby or mother eats, note any changes, and cut out anything that they associate with periods of crying. There are other steps that can reduce crying. Rather than dealing with the symptoms once a baby is in pain, parents can take steps to prevent some amount of the pain their baby is feeling.

Research on Babywearing and Colic

Research has shown that babies who are carried more throughout the day cry 54% less during the evening hours when colic tends to peak. “The relative lack of carrying in our society,” wrote study authors, Drs Hunziker and Barr, “may predispose to crying and colic in normal infants.” They looked not only at carrying in response to a baby’s crying but to “supplemental carrying” during the day. Carrying during the day even when the baby was not crying reduced overall crying by 43%.

Although constant carrying is unlikely to become the typical infant care-taking practice in our society, we hypothesized that the “normal” crying pattern might be changed by supplemental carrying, that is, increased carrying throughout the day in addition to that which occurs during feeding. If so, such carrying might have anticipator.- soothing effectiveness in normal infants and therapeutic or preventative value in relation to infant “colic.” Urs A. Hunziker, MD, and Ronald G. Barr, MDCM, FRCP(C), Pediatrics (1986).

I think of babywearing as the lazy colic remedy because it takes so little effort to carry a baby more during the day to reduce their distress, or reduce the amount of time most babies are in distress, in the evening when most crying occurs.

Babywearing Benefits

In addition to other benefits of babywearing, the closeness of baby and parent can be soothing for babies before they get to the point that they can’t be calmed. Babywearing allows a baby to be comforted by people rather than by things. Babywearing is less about the baby carrier and more about the relationship that this tool enables. With the help of a baby carrier, your arms are your baby’s safe haven away from the stimulation of the world.

Your baby feels secure and calm near you, physical closeness helps a baby regulate her systems, and this closeness helps lessen the symptoms of colic.

References

Hunziker UA, Barr RG. Increased carrying reduces infant crying: A randomized controlled trial. Pediatrics 77:641-648 (1986).

Barr RG, McMullan SJ, Spiess H, Leduc DG, Yaremko J, Barfield R, Francoeur TE, Hunziker UA. Carrying as colic “therapy”: a randomized controlled trial. Pediatrics 87(5):623-30 (May 1991).

What Is Kangaroo Care?

October 15, 2010 by Attached Mama

Kangaroo Care of Newborn Baby

Kangaroo care of infants involves a parent, usually the mother, holding the baby skin-to-skin on her bare chest. The steady warmth, easy access to breastfeeding, and simple, physical closeness benefit parent and baby.

All babies benefit from closeness to a parent, and premature babies need the most help.

Kangaroo Care Helps Baby Regulate Systems

Among the most important measurable changes for a baby during kangaroo care are regulation of body temperature, oxygen saturation levels, and respiratory and heart rates. As Dr Sears writes, babies spend a period of time after birth “getting organized.” One aspect of a baby’s organizing is the synchronization of heart rate and breathing, also referred to as “coupling,” and it can take as little as ten minutes in kangaroo care.

Because this closeness to parent is helping the baby regulate systems, there is more energy to be spent on successful breastfeeding, restful sleep, and growth.

As kangaroo care has become a common practice in hospitals, it has developed its rules and guidelines: baby wears only a diaper, baby is placed upright on the mother’s bare chest, baby is covered with a receiving blanket and held snugly to the mother. As I read the guidelines in several places, I wondered whether there was a place in this procedure for a mother’s instinct. I hope that these procedures aren’t meant to engineer away the need for a mother’s love and connection. Whether a parent follows these guidelines or not, their baby will thrive on sking-to-skin closeness.

Baby Saved by a Mother’s Love

A story that was in the news last August has astonished many. When an Australian mother was told that one of her two babies, born prematurely at 27 weeks, had not survived, she instinctively took the time to hold him, to tell him his name and what she would have liked to have done with him during his life. She undressed the baby and held him on her chest for two hours. Doctors told her that his periodic gasps were just a reflex, but she fed him breastmilk on her finger and he breathed. Though he weighed only 2lbs and doctors had declared him dead after working to save his life for 20 minutes, he lived. His mother’s warmth, touch, loving voice, and nutrition saved him. The story was published after she appeared on an Australian television show, carrying her five-month old son to interviews to help people understand the importance of kangaroo care.

That this baby was saved by his mother’s love may seem like a sentimental interpretation of the story, but the extensive research on kangaroo care bears this out. The benefits of skin-to-skin contact with babies are physical, but they are also far beyond the physical.

Babies Thrive on Kangaroo Care

Marsupial care, the idea of nine months in and nine months out, is not at all new. In last week’s post on babywearing around the world, I mentioned research by a British prehistorian who found that a mother’s marsupial care of babies—babywearing—was essential to human evolution.

In one tiny baby we can see the benefit of putting energy toward growth rather than the effort to regulate systems. The mother isn’t just an added bonus in this situation. The continued physical contact between mother and baby is essential to the individual baby. In the case of the baby in Australia, his mother’s closeness saved his life. Maybe this is true more than we realize. If this is true person by person, it makes sense that such care scaled up to a species level helped to focus development. More babies survived. More babies put their energy into growth, and everyone who followed them benefitted.

Babies thrive in kangaroo care. Kangaroo care isn’t a nice addition or a recent phenomenon but a necessity for all babies to reach their full physical and emotional potential.

Resources

Baby Carrier Industry Alliance, “Position Paper on Babywearing and Kangaroo Care,” October 2010.

“Kangaroo Care,” Cleveland Clinic, 1995 (reviewed January 15, 2009).

Holly Richardson, “Kangaroo Care: Why Does It Work?” Midwifery Today, volume 44, Winter 1997.

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Tag Archives: Babywearing

Compare Baby Carriers – Mei Tai

Compare Baby Carriers – Baby Slings

Keep Halloween Fun for Babies

Colic: Remedies the Lazy Way

What Is Kangaroo Care?