I use the Baby-Tragetuecher from Hoppediz for our girl. I also have a Mai Tai, but she is still a bit small for it (or at least, I haven’t yet made it work for her). The Hoppediz carrier is something I had seen a few times on the street in our town in German, and I always thought, “I could never where that!”
Oh, how wrong I was. I was put off because it is basically 4 meters of cloth, and I thought it looked cumbersome, however, I LOVE it now. It comes with an instruction book that shows you 13 ways to tie it so you can hold the baby in a large variety of ways. I have found all of the styles I have tried so far offer fabulous support for my postpartum back. I mostly use two different styles — one that ties in the back and another that ties in the front. As the baby grows, you I can tie it differently to give her more freedom to look around. For small infants, the wrap offers a lot of support and can really serve as a little cocoon when they have had too much. My girl has a hard time sleeping in her stroller when we are out, but she can sleep through anything when she is tied onto me.
The wrap comes in multiple sizes from 2.5 to 5.4 meters. Our midwife had recommended getting one at least 4.0 meters so that both my husband and I can wear it. For some of the styles, it is a bit long, but I just get creative with tying up the ends.
One feature that I like about this particular carrier is that is also has a big pocket sewn into one end. It is large enough that I can carrier what I need for a diaper change, and I throw the rest of the baby gear in my purse. The pocket can be a bit bulky when full, so I don’t look so slick, but I really love not having to carry a bulky diaper bag.
If you live in a colder climate, it also offers a lot of warmth. I often let it double for a warm blanket in the car seat as we have heated it up together. I haven’t have the chance to use it in warm weather, so I don’t know how comfortable it is at higher temperatures. I’ve heard from one mother here that is is also comfortable in the summer.
It is not exactly a light, simple wrapper, but I love it. It takes a bit of practice to get the wrapping technique. I am reminded of my days sailing and learning to tie knots and fold sails when I am learning a new style, but it offers a lot of comfort for parent and baby. I highly recommend it!
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In the U.S., the comparable wrap is probably the Moby (based on your descriptions). I admit to being intimidated, but if I have another baby, I might borrow a friends to try it out. Thanks for sharing!
I actually planned on getting a Moby wrap, but somehow I never got around to it. When the Mai Tai didn’t seem to give Clair enough support in the first few weeks, I just went out and got the wrap the midwife had recommended. Since she had given us so much good advice up to that point, I figured that I would trust her on the carrier as well.
It sounds like a great choice! The Mai Tai, while they say you can use it for infants, seems like it is better for infants and older babies that are a little stronger. For my son, it would work early, because he was basically two weeks old and holding up his head, etc. For others it takes longer.
Clair could hold her head up at the beginning too, but she seemed to disappear in the Mai Tai. The back came up way over her head and she kind of sunk down into it. I think I just didn’t spend enough time trying to figure it out (the first six weeks was a bit of a haze). Surprisingly, the complicated wrapper was easier in the beginning because it fit her really well even when I first tried it out. I just tried the Mai Tia again yesterday (after lending it to a friend with a baby a few months older), and she fits in it much better. I’ll have to test drive it again.
I think with the next baby, I’d go with something like the Hoppediz or Moby. I’m not as intimidated anymore and they seem so much more flexible.
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