Beco Butterfly II

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I've attempted to keep baby items limited to necessity items only. One can easily be overwhelmed by the selection of baby carriers out there. Slings to front packs, back packs, front & back packs, wraps, the list goes on. I would have never known all the options there are out there. And now we arrive to the title of my post.

After polling other mommy friends for what baby carrier they liked best, I arrived upon the Moby Wrap. I love my moby wrap. It was heaven when Claire was really small. She could get oh so snuggly and close to me. The Moby could calm her almost instantly in the first six weeks of life or so. I could wrap her up and go about housework, she would snooze. It was amazing. Its flexible as she has grown. There are several different tying options so I can wear her on my hip, facing out, facing in, on my back. So versatile. Ok, the one complaint I have and I had heard of before I got the moby was the practicality of it. Its essentially almost 20 feet of fabric that you wrap and wrap around you to create these different carrying positions. So if you are out and about its pretty impratical to use. You either have to wrestle and wrangle all this fabric so you don't drag it on the ground while attempting to tie it OR you have to get it all arranged at home. Setting it up at home can be quick and fairly easy but my personal experience was that traveling with it in the car in a seat belt and then attempting to put baby in it didn't work well. So I've pretty much limited my Moby use to around the house and short stints to and from the house by foot.

I had been steered away from the Bjorn because of the uncomfortable arm staps. When one was handed down to me it came as a pleasant surprise. Its ease of use is probably the simplest of all baby carriers except for maybe a sling. Claire seemed to enjoy the Bjorn and as she developed liked facing in and out. I have noticed that as she gets bigger, the weight distribution on the straps does make the Bjorn uncomfortable for long stints.

As Claire continues to grow and our family ventures further and further from home, I was considering how we would transport her. We have one possibly two plane trips coming up and I'd prefer to travel with the least amount of gear possible. (Especially given that one of our trips is to New York and we'll need to be as portable as possible). I considered getting an umbrella stroller but I don't love the idea of Claire being down in a stroller on the busy streets of New York city. I could take the Bjorn but we'll be doing a lot of walking and that's not going to be so comfortable for all the walking we'll do. The Moby is not really a good option for similar reasons. I couldn't imagine standing on the streets in Manhatten trying to tie up the Moby to transport Claire. Enter the Beco Butterfly II. A friend of Brieanne's (with whom I've consulted on many things baby from teething to baby essentials to feeding baby solids, she's a wealth of helpful information) recommended the Beco Butterfly a few months ago. After doing some additional research I decided to give the Beco a try. I'm in love. The features I like best? The soft soft cotton that its made of, the straps are comfy, the waistband evenly distributes Claire's weight. Its almost as simple as the Bjorn to put on. It will carry Claire up to 45lbs (not that I'll be carrying her like that when she weights 45lbs). I can put her in it while she's lying on the changing table or couch or floor and then put it on me. I can transfer her from me to Josh or whomever else without having to take her out of it. I can wear her on my back or front. Its great. So, that's how Claire and I will be gallavanting around NYC...stay tuned for the photos.