Soul Mate: Doll Carriers

We only have a few warm days left before we have to bundle up to play outside. Maxine decided today would be a great day for her and Minerva to head outside to play.

Maxine suggested that they play with their babies outside, so of course I helped them get their babies uppy back! Maxine chose the Soul Imperial doll buckle carrier. I put the Eclipse Ikat doll meh dai on Minerva. Soul sent them these carriers and they are loved so much around here!

I think Minerva enjoyed having the baby on her back. Especially since she could hold the doll AND all of her chalk at the same time.

Do the children in your life have doll carriers? I’d love to see your pictures! Tag #BrittBrownMarsh on Instagram and Facebook so I can see!

 

This buckle has to be my favorite accent <3

 

 

Review: Soul Onbuhimo

 

Soul is a wonderful company based in Bangalore, India that has taken the world by storm! They offer so many various carrier styles. From slings to buckles–they’ve got it all! They even have some pretty sweet accessories to match their carriers. I first came across them on Instagram a couple years ago and since then I’ve been watching them explode! Recently I was sent a Maze Blues Jacquard Onbuhimo to try out.

Since Minerva is my main wearee, I tested this out mostly with her. I did wear this some with Maxine (40 lbs) and she fit in it well! Minerva is about 20 lbs and 28 inches tall.  She was juuuust big enough to fit well in the carrier. With onbuhimos, all the weight is carried in your shoulders, so one of the most important aspects of the carrier for me  is the padding. Soul hit it out the park with this padding. I have tried a few other brands of buckle onbuhimo and this one had the squishiest padding. It reminded me of memory foam. The padding is thicker than in their buckle carriers which is a good thing.

The Soul onbuhimo has perfect fit adjusters (PFAs ) which help get  the carrier to fit better. With Max, I preferred them all the way out. With Min, I liked them all the way in. The chest clip can be moved up and down to get to a comfortable spot as well. Everything on this is easy to adjust . The Soul onbuhimo fit great in my diaper bag and since there is so little fabric, it is pretty ideal for warmer weather as well. I got to wear it in 90 degree Virginia heat–it was not that bad!

Onbuhimos are recommended for wearees who have sufficient torso control to support their heads and sit up independently. I found that the carrier fit me pretty well. I am plus sized, so that is pretty important for me. It fit me with Maxine  with plenty of webbing to spare and made me very happy!

Be sure to check Soul out on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and  also Join their groups Soul Family/Soul Family US Edition on Facebook!

Review: Natibaby Pearl (wool)

Natibaby Pearl is one of the original Natibaby designs. Marsupial Mamas  did an exclusive  recently and wow wow wow!  This is a wool blend (30%) so I was hesitant to try it at first because I am sensitive to most wool items. I tried it anyway because I am a sucker for natty wraps. It did not bug my skin at all. That blew my mind because usually my arms start to burn when I wear wool.

Pearl was a size 6, so base -2 for me. Over the few weeks it was here, I used it with both Maxine (age 3 & 35ish+ lbs) and Minerva (13lbs) frequently. This was medium-thin in hand and actually was pretty supportive! It was super moldable and made a good chestpass which is something I love in a wrap. It had nice stretch–the kind where you can get things like you want but it won’t sag on you after a little while with a heavy kid. It had great glide. I wouldn’t call this wrap grippy at all.

I used this wrap mostly in double layer carries because that is what I prefer to use with both girls in a base -2 wrap. I did do rucks with the big girl in this wrap. I found the wrap to be very comfortable on my shoulders, especially when sandwiched in the ruck. This wrap rocks a torso carry. I mostly did double hammock torso with my rose finish. I did not have to do much adjusting once I got the wrap in place. The slipknot stayed in place once I tightened it very well. Since the wrap glides so well, if you don’t lock  it in place the slipknot may slip some. Pearl was the perfect kangaroo carry wrap too.

I recommend this wrap to babywearers of all types with all ages of kids. If you are nervous about washing wool wraps, click here for an easy tutorial on how to do it from the Marsupial Mamas blog.

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Review: Nona Woven Wraps Palmae Barbuda

Today I am reviewing Nona Woven Wraps‘ Palmae Barbuda! Palmae Barbuda is one of Nona Woven’s budget wraps. The wrap retails at $85 for a size 7! Here in the United States, you can get Nona Woven Wraps from Blossoming Mama out of Houston. Budget wraps are becoming easier to find and I absolutely love that! I’m a stay at home mom of one with one on the way, so budgeting is even more important to me now than it was before. Enough of my blabbing, onto the review!!

Palmae Barbuda shocked me. I didn’t know what to expect when it came to me, but when I opened the bag, I pulled out a wrap that could stand on its own! Immediately, I thought “yep, I will have no problem carrying Maxine for a while in this.” The wrap is on the thin and is grippy. There was next to no glide in this wrap. I found it easiest to do single layer carries such as the rucksack back carry and front wrap cross carry in Palmae Barbuda.  With a large dose of patience, I was able to do multi-pass carries.

With my 30+ pound 3 foot tall toddler, I have enjoyed front carries the most! Once I had her all tied into a front wrap cross carry tied at the side, Maxine did not BUDGE ONE BIT. The slipknot stayed where I put it and tight. It was a little difficult to make the slipknot because of how grippy the wrap is, but it was worth it. It didn’t even hurt my shoulders at all! PB takes a lot of work to break in. I have been ring dragging, knot dragging, braiding, ironing, and wearing all the time to help the breaking in process. This wrap still has a ways to go!

PB basically pleats itself. I love wraps that pleat on their own! The back carry I enjoyed doing most was Shepherds back carry. Though the wrap was a little long for shepherds at 5 meters even which is a base minus 1 for me, I just rocked it with long flowing tails. I usually do shepherds with a base minus 2 or 3.  The best part about this wrap was that it was super forgiving of terrible wrap jobs. There were many times that our uppies were frantic tantrum calming ups and those do not allow for precision tightening. Those are GET HER UP NOOOOOOOW types of carries.

Nona’s Palmae Barbuda is not a beginner budget wrap. I would recommend this wrap to intermediate and experienced wrappers. This would be great for wrapping heavier babies and toddlers. I would not recommend this for newborn wearing because it is not soft. If you like thin and super grippy wraps, you may like this one a lot!

Want to win this wrap? Click below!!

Britt Brown Marsh Blog’s Nona Woven Wrap Giveaway!!

Be sure to follow Nona Woven Wraps and Blossoming Mama on Facebook! Also, head on over to blossomingmama.com and use the code BBMNONAREVIEW to get 15% off of your order! Manufacturer restrictions apply.