When I was pregnant and feverishly researching baby gear, I learned all about "babywearing." Babywearing is the practice of wearing your child in some sort of backpack/frontpack/wrap/sling so that you nurture a close physical bond with your baby.

When my daughter was born, we tried the Baby Bjorn, a Hotsling, and a Maya wrap and just didn't like any of them or use them more than a couple times. I thought that was the end of that. But over the last few months, my 19 month old repeatedly asks for "Up, up, up" and there are days when I need both hands to do simple tasks like wash dishes, prepare her lunchbox for daycare the next day, or just put away dishes from the dishwasher.

Lo and behold, I stumbled upon the Ultimate Baby Wrap, which boasts that it can hold babies and toddlers from 5 pounds to 35 pounds. WOW! My Baby Bjorn only goes up to 25, so I had assumed the others were the same.

I picked it up from a discount store so it was $20 rather than the normal $40. I figured it wouldn't hurt to try it out, as it might provide a much-needed third choice other than toddler tantrums or not doing my household tasks.

OUT OF THE BOX
The box shows a parent wearing a child in various positions: a small infant in front across your body, a toddler in front facing outward, a toddler in front facing backward, a toddler in back facing behind, and a toddler in back facing forward. The Wrap is one long piece of cloth, with a ring sewn in one end and a pocket in the middle of the strip. A short written “manual” and a DVD are also included.

USING THE WRAP
My first concern was that there was no way this long strip of stretchy t-shirt fabric could hold my 26 pound daughter, let alone a 35 pound child. Are they crazy? Using the manual, I immediately tried the most basic wrap with the child in front facing outward. But in wrapping the fabric around my shoulders and waist and criss-crossing here and there, I realized the physics of it were actually quite strong. So, I pulled up my daughter and placed her in the spot behind where two pieces cross over my chest and plopped her in. Once she was firmly seated on that space, I pulled another part of the fabric over her crotch to form a “pocket” to hold her in.

Now, the instructions tell you to spread the cloth to make it comfortable for the child. But that’s difficult to do because the weight of the child causes the two pieces to “scrunch” tighter. Imagine sitting on 2 pieces of fabric that are in an X below you, while suspended from the ceiling. I don’t think that’s very comfortable sounding at all! Surprisingly, my daughter seems fine with it, but it may just be that she's distracted by the novelty of being held facing forward. We haven't used this for more than about 10 minutes, so while I marveled at how light she feels, it may be VERY different after 30 minutes. I didn’t feel shoulder or back pain and my arms had almost entirely free range of movement to the sides for putting away dishes) but not in the front, where my daughter is. Plus, having her facing forward means she can grab things and my arms aren't long enough for me to keep items in front of us out of her reach.

I tried bouncing up and down a few times, and she does move a little too much, so this is definitely NOT suitable for anything more than walking. If I were to go up stairs or hiking, I’d definitely want one hand free to support her just to make sure she doesn’t lunge or somehow fall out. As a toddler, she’s certainly large enough to be top-heavy. As such, I really don't use it for long periods of time even though it takes me a few minutes to put it on.

Since we didn’t have this earlier, I’m not sure how useful it is for holding infants or nursing them. The manual claims it is possible to nurse an infant in the wrap, but I haven’t tried it.

I think the biggest drawback is learning how to use this. I still need the manual to confirm I have it right (as my fear is missing a step and having my daughter fall out), but I haven’t yet watched the DVD so the other positions could conceivably be easier.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Some parents will love this, while others will be annoyed that it’s not a simple “plug-and-play” type model like the Baby Bjorns. If you can find it on sale, it’s definitely worth it!



Recommended: Yes