New Carrier

We recently went to visit my hometown to attend the annual festival that is held there. It is a typical small town festival, with food vendors, performers, and local people selling their arts and crafts. While there, I met the owner of a work at home mom company called The Addiction Baby Company. She hand sews unique mei-tei style baby carriers with her mother. What makes her carriers unique, besides being made of either fleece or all natural hemp materials, is that the carrier has a blanket that tucks inside a sewn in pouch.

I was looking for a new carrier that I could wear on my back, and easily get through airport security with. The choices that I had narrowed it down to were a mei-tei style carrier, a Baby K'tan, or an Ergo. The Baby K'tan interested me, because I like the sling style, but it seemed a bit complicate to me, and I would need help putting Jonah into it. I need something that I can put on myself. The Ergo seems to be the mother of all carriers. Anyone I asked told me that the Ergo is the most comfortable carrier, and easy to use without a second person. When I tried a friend's ergo, the straps seemed to confuse me, and I worried about getting through airport security quickly while wearing it. If they were to make me take the carrier off, I might hold things up, and that only makes people grumpy. I try to avoid making people grumpy in airports, at all costs. That left one option- the mei-tei style. This was the only style carrier that I have never tried. I wasn't sure if I'd like it. I put off buying the new carrier, because I just couldn't make a decision.

So here we were, at the festival, looking at mei-tei carriers. The owner of the company, Misty, came to show me how they work. She showed me how with her son, a wiggly young toddler. I was impressed to see that no matter how her son wiggled about and moved, he was so secure. Daryl and I looked at the different patterns of fabric, and decided that we liked the neutral look and lighter feel of the hemp fabric. Misty walked me through putting Jonah in a back carry so I could see how it felt with him in it. As soon as Jonah was secured, he started laughing hysterically. I was surprised that Misty invited us to walk around the festival with it to make sure that it's the rigth carrier for us. It only took us about five minutes of walking around to know for sure. We bought the carrier, and Jonah stayed on my back for the entire three hours that we were at the festival. He loved it. He waved and laughed as people said hi to him. He played with my pony tail for a little while. On the way home, he even fell asleep. I was amazed.

I really like the sewn-in blanket. In the fleece carriers, the blanket is quite large and can be used for picnics etc. The blanket of our hemp carrier is smaller, though, because of the size of available fabrics. The only drawback to this is that sometimes it unfolds out of the pouch as I'm putting it on. The blanket is great padding, and offers extra support for Jonah's back and neck. It will definitely come in handy if I ever find myself with a babt in the winter time. I also like that I can keep items like a diaper and a couple of wipes inside the pouch with the blanket. It is always a hassle to try to carry a diaper bag on my shoulder along with Jonah in a carrier.

I also feel a very deep connection to this carrier, because it came from my hometown roots. I am very close to my town, and the people in it. Whenever anyone asks me about my carrier now, I can tell that person that it is a little piece of home for me.

This carrier is by far my favorite. I have not worn any of my slings or even the Bjorn since I brought this one home. It is so comfortable for my back and shoulders, and Jonah loves being carried in it. I promise that I am not getting anything from this woman to promote her product; I just really love baby carriers, and I especially love this one.