Tag Archives: babywearing

For Sale: Ocah Full Buckle Baby Carrier, Didymos Black and White Indio Wrap Conversion

Posted on April 24, 2015 | Leave a comment

–SOLD–

Now that the littlest Baby Bird is running most of the time, I’m selling our much loved Ocah full buckle baby carrier, so that another family can enjoy it. This “Ocah” is a wrap conversion, made from an organic cotton Didymos black and white Indio wrap. Wrap conversions are made from wraps that are especially woven to be worn with babies, and to be soft and supportive. With a high level of attention to detail, Ocah is one of the very best converters. Operating out of England, custom spots are in high demand and the costs of shipping oversees and back can add up.

Here is the description from the maker:

I am so pleased with how this Ocah Full Buckle carrier (OFB) has worked out. The Wrap used for this carrier is a Didymos Black and White Indio. This is custom sized at 17″ tall and 18.5″ wide. It comes with a Pixie style sleephood, leg padding, arms out padding, matching chest strap, and it has additional top stitching on the waist.

You can see more pictures in a full feature of this wrap conversion on the Ocah blog here.

We bought this full buckle wrap conversion to be an easy to wear, but comfy, carrier, primarily for my husband. The custom-sized panel is wider than Ocah usually makes them. However, both my skinny/tall girls were still comfy. My husband is 6’2″ and I am 5’2″ and we both found it comfortable for wearing. We bought it second hand. The German-made wrap must have been perfectly broken-in and soft, but in excellent condition, when it was converted. The woman I bought it from (via the babywearer.com) only used it a few times. We didn’t end up using it much, because both my husband and I ended up having other carriers as our “favorites.” But this one has the adorable pixie hood, and is a good size for either small babies or bigger toddlers. We used Red Charlotte Suck Pads to protect against baby drool with our first, but the second left some drooly marks. I use super gentle detergent. They may or may not come out if you clean more aggressively. Detail picture of the stains available upon request.

: Here is a petite 6 month-old cuddled close.

: Little Bird is almost 2-years-old here and still comfy.

: Papa Bird, gardening and babywearing.

For the condition, asking $250 cash for local pick-up in San Diego. Message me for a quote for US or international shipping. For reference, having a carrier made with these features would cost £282 (approximately US $428) NOT including the cost of the wrap or shipping it to England. And not at all factoring in the time you might spend stalking a custom slot.

Send me a message here if you are interested in trying it on:

Additional information:

Our home is smoke-free, and until very recently was pet-free. We now have a cat, but the carrier hasn’t been used since she joined our home, and has been stored in a room she does not go in. Perfume-free and scent-free home, too. Links to buy/sell/trade feedback on the babywearer.com and FB available by request.

“Blessed Be the Inventor of the Baby Carriers” – Guest Post from Gill

Posted on April 16, 2014 | 2 comments

Recently I was chatting with a friend about baby carriers. After seeing my video review of the new Ergobaby 360, she reached out for advice. She has a new baby and was feeling overwhelmed with options. We talked all about wraps, slings and soft-structured carriers. Ultimately she decided to try out the Ergo 360. Gill is a great writer and shares her thoughts with us on why she chose it here in this guest post. You can follow more of her writing at True Stories with Gill and Google.com/+GillAndrews. Congratulations on your new baby boy, Gill! (I hope he is over his cold soon.) –xo, Abby

Two months ago when our baby boy was born our lives changed forever. Eight pounds of happiness. As well as sleepless nights, dirty diapers and screaming.

Like any first time parents with nobody around to ask for advice we’ve already managed to make some bad decisions.

Not moving into bigger apartment. (The baby is so small! How much space can he take?)

Not reading about breastfeeding in advance. (People have been doing it for thousands of years. How complicated can it be?)

Buying too many clothes for the first weeks that the baby grew out of without even wearing once. Getting a baby bouncer that turned out to be uncomfortable for the baby.

That’s why we quickly learned to appreciate everything that made our life even a bit easier so much.

Like the hermetic diaper bucket that keeps the air in the apartment breathable. Like his favorite mobile toy that buys mommy half an hour of peace every morning. And now the most recent item on my Blessings for New Parents list: the Ergobaby 360 carrier.

I’m typing these lines on my phone while pacing in the room with my baby sitting (hanging?) in it. He is a curious little guy who constantly needs attention when he is awake. Now he is looking on the emerging lines on the screen as if he could read.

When the eight pounds of happiness became fourteen, it was clear to me that I couldn’t bounce him in my arms any longer without ruining my back. We had to get a baby carrier.

Couple of weeks ago I saw a woman on the street carrying her baby in one of the Ergobaby carriers. It looked so comfortable for both, the mother and the baby, so I immediately set my eye on it. But I was determined not to make this decision one of the way too many bad ones on my list.

After some online research I decided to ask somebody who had more experience in it for advice. Abby was extremely helpful and wrote me a long answer listing all the categories of baby carriers along with their peculiarities. After this it was decided: Ergobaby 360 will be moving in with us.

Four things led me to this decision.

1. Comfort for the baby

This nowadays so popular word “ergonomic” did its trick on me again, the way the label “organic” does it in regards of food. And as far as I can judge, Ergobaby 360 keeps its promise. Although made of textile, it consists of multiple pieces sewn together. This way the shape of the carrier is flexible and will adjust to the shape of the baby.

2. Comfort for the parents

I could not believe that wearing 14 pounds of baby on me can feel so good.

Before, while bouncing him on my arms, my back started to hurt after a couple of minutes, and soon I would stop feeling my arms. Now, because of the wide and robust supporting belt, my back doesn’t feel anything, and my hands are free.

Of course, I can’t run a marathon or jump on a trampoline like this, but I assure you my body feels as comfortable as possible in this situation.

3. Easy handling

I don’t know about babies in general, but my baby has zero patience. If he wants something it has to be now, better 5 minutes ago.

So the only way to get him into a baby carrier would be if the adjustment phase – back and leg fitting as well as fitting of the cords – is as short as possible. Otherwise he’ll have a melt down.

I tried tying him with a baby sling I bought, fooled by videos of smiling relaxed mothers and calm cooperating babies. Unfortunately, it never worked out, no matter how hard and how often I tried.

With Ergobaby, it’s a completely different story. First time the baby tried his screaming-kicking scheme again, but as the whole fitting procedure took half a minute, he calmed down quickly as soon as he was seated. Now it takes only couple of seconds for me to put him in and take him out, all by myself.

4. Flexibility

Why the 360 model? We are talking about a quick and curious child here who gets quickly bored. So I wanted to have as much flexibility as possible, as we are also planning a couple of trips this year.

Today, while making lunch and having him in the carrier on my chest I realized how great the hip position would be when he gets old enough for it. If I carry him on the side I could stand closer to the stove and won’t have to feel like Shaquille O’Neal on the court throwing the veggies in the frying pan!

***

I’m typing these lines after I brought one agitated and cranky baby (he is currently dealing with his first ever cold, breaking my heart into pieces with every sneeze) to bed.

We went through the changing-playing-feeding-bouncing circle multiple times, but nothing seemed to help. So I put him in the carrier, threw on a coat big enough to cover us both, and stepped out on the balcony.

Cold air made him sleep in minutes, but I stayed there longer, slightly bouncing him from side to side, watching him sucking on his little hand growling like a cute baby bear.

One of the precious moments that make it worth a hundred times all the trouble.

It’s still before midnight, and the house is already silent. It doesn’t happen too often, so I’m going to hit the hay now as well. Tomorrow everything will start over again.

But now I know it will be easier. Blessed be the inventor of the baby carriers.

***

Disclaimer: Baby Birds Farm is now participating as an affiliate of Ergobaby Baby Carriers. This means that any sales (from the USA) that are made after clicking through a link on this site may result in a small advertising fee being paid to us. Your price is not increased in any way. I only register as an affiliate of brands I sincerely recommend.

2 Comments

Posted in Parenting

Tagged babywearing, ergobaby, guestposts, parenting

Video

Video Review of the Ergobaby 360 Carrier

Some big news here! We made our first Baby Birds Farm video! Mama Bird, Baby Bird, and Little Bird all decided we liked our new carrier from Ergobaby and decided to give the world a preview and do an Ergobaby 360 video review. The Ergo 360 won’t be for sale until next month (mid April 2014), but you can still peruse the specs by clicking here.

In the meantime, here is our video!

Many thanks to Papa Bird for making the video for us. Baby Bird thought it was fun.

Disclaimer (and also an announcement): As I mentioned in my last post, I received the Ergobaby 360 and a wrap from Ergobaby free of charge. The review was my idea, however, and all opinions are my own. Since meeting with Christina from Ergo at the Baby Blogger Boot Camp, and trying out several of their products, I have decided to become an affiliate. This means if you click through an Ergobaby ad or link on my site and go on to purchase anything I will receive a small percentage. (Your price doesn’t go up, and you buy directly from the makers.) I am very picky about what I chose to promote and wouldn’t share anything I wouldn’t buy myself.

2 Comments

Posted on March 31, 2014 in Contests, Giveaways and Promotions, How To, Parenting

Tagged babywearing, ergobaby, review, video

Baby Bloggy Boot Camp

Posted on March 24, 2014 | 1 comment

What is “Baby Bloggy Boot Camp”? Or #BabyBBC? Besides being really fun to say, Baby Bloggy Boot Camp was a mini-conference I attended here in San Diego. It was a half day event, part of the larger Women Get Social blogging conference put on by Tiffany and Francesca of the SITS Girls. As you may have guessed from the “Baby” in the title, the mini conference was focused on babies (yay!) and attended by pregnant women and new moms with their babes. My first year of blogging for this site has been fun and meeting other bloggers was a great experience. I was also able to network and get ideas for my site AbigailBurdLCSW.com, which is connected to my private practice as a therapist and focuses on mental health and wellness during pregnancy and postpartum.

Disclaimer: Although the larger conference was a paid event, other participants and I were able to attend the Baby Bloggy Boot Camp for free because of the sponsors, including Ergobaby and Liz Lange Maternity for Target. We also got the best gift bag ever (more on that below). Despite the booty, all opinions expressed are my own.

The baby bloggy bootcamp socializing

I sat next to Suzanne (@frugalorganic) from Frugal Organic Mama. We had a lot in common, from raising girls to making goat cheese. She even reached out to me afterwards to let me know she had linked to my post on setting up a cloth diapering station in one of her recent posts. How cool is that?

Other awesome people I met can be found on Twitter: @BriGeeski, @Ergobaby, @joyinthemidstof, @CrazyCasaK, @MommyCrunch, @TLaborn, @PalmsandPigs, @SoCalSavvyMom, @TNL634, @Newmommabeckers, @AbabyAtree, and @TheFunthusiast.

The baby bloggy bootcamp swag

It seems somehow impolite to brag about the giveaways, but the gift bag at the end of the conference was well worth the trip out in the torrential rain. The products were right up my alley! Christina from Ergobaby, who makes a very popular soft-structured baby carrier, was there demonstrating three of their new products and sent us home with one of each. 1. Ergo has started making a swaddler for wrapping up new babies for sleep. 2. They now make a semi-stretchy wrap, out of yoga pants material. I have quite a number of woven wraps, made from different fibers, and I actually prefer the Ergobaby Wrap. I can tie it on and take Baby Bird in and out all day without it losing shape. And 3. (This isn’t even on the market yet) The Ergobaby 360 is a soft structured carrier that is designed to carry baby traditionally (facing a parents’ chest), on a parent’s back, or facing forward. I’m very leery of the risk of hip dysplasia with forward facing carriers, but since it is designed by Ergo, I’m more confidant of the safety. I own a wrap-conversion soft structured carrier, but have been getting a lot of use out of the Ergobaby 360 as Baby Bird finds it very comfy. Yay for babywearing!

Our gift bags also included a dress from Liz Lange Maternity for Target. I was already a fan. I’m embarrassed to say how much I spent in an expensive maternity shop at the mall when I was first pregnant with my first baby before I discovered I liked the maternity clothes at Target (especially the dresses) much better! I personally love maternity clothes, so comfortable, flattering and feminine. (ps. I have a Pinterest board just for maternity fashion.)