A day of playing with stretchy baby wraps...

So today we are poorly and full of cold, nanny took out the biggest little girl and I was left with the little one to rest play with.

 Meet Freya. Freya is a 17 month old monkey baby (not ready to call her a toddler despite the fact she has been toddling for 5 months) who loves to be carried around and watch the world from a sling. She is a very lucky baby as she has a Mum (and a Dad and a big brother) who like to carry her. 









These are our library stretch wraps.

We have (from top to bottom):

• Victoria Sling Lady (VSL)
• Joy and Joe (J&J)
• Moby wrap

There are lots of other makes of stretchy wraps out there including Karime, Hana baby, Lennylamb, Boba, Bali stretch (to name a few) but these are the ones we have in the library.



I used a Moby with Freya until she was 9 months old & approx 16lb. I moved on to woven wraps as I found that Freya could wriggle into different positions and I had to keep tightening it. I could still wear her in it now but it is not as comfy as a woven wrap as the material is not as supportive.


Here we have the VSL stretchy as modelled by the gorgeous Oana. Of the three wraps this one was the thinnest, lightest and narrowest. I put (now 18lb 8oz) Freya in this wrap but it hurt my back after 5 minutes, she really felt like she was bouncing in it and she was able to lean backwards and 'flip' out onto the bed very easily. It was however, very cool so I feel this would be best suited to a newborn baby and would ideal in hot weather thanks to the thin cotton fabric. These wraps start from just £20 to buy.


 Next up we have the Joy & Joe stretch wrap. This wrap was thicker and heavier than the VSL and thanks to its wideness I was able to get a much more secure wrap with Freya. I had this on for 15 minutes but Freya did manage to wriggle her arms out and wriggle the wrap quite far down. After 15 minutes I was ready to take it off as I did have to tighten it a few times. It was not making me ache (unlike the VSL) but it was not supportive enough to wear for much longer. Freya was also able to her back flip on the bed trick but not as easily and she had to wriggle the wrap quite far down. These start from £18.99.


Last but not least we have the Moby. This is not the one that is in the sling library (the one in the library is a charcoal grey colour). I wore the moby on for over half an hour and only took it off as Freya was bored and wanted to play. It was very comfortable but I did have to tighten it after about 20 minutes. The fabric is thicker, heavier and wide than the other two so it was more supportive and Freya found it harder to wriggle the wrap down. She was unable to do her bed back flip with the moby (much to her frustration) which to me highlighted that it was a safer option for a wriggly baby. However, it was very hot, the combination of the weight of the material an the thickness of the wrap made me feel very warm and I cannot imagine that it would that convenient in the height of the summer (yes I know, what summer?). Moby wraps start from around £38 so are more expensive than the other two.

Conclusion

I really liked all three for different reasons! I think if I was due a baby from April to - August I would be tempted to go for the VSL just for the early days and then move on to something more supportive when needed. Probably not the most cost effective way but definitely the coolest in warm weather. I think I would go for the Moby over the Joy & Joe purely as I feel it would last longer & is safer for older babies. I do prefer the patterns of the Joy and Joe wraps, they have all sorts of floral prints, spots, stars and stripes so I would be tempted to go for that over a VSL for heavier babies and it is slightly cheaper than both.

All three of these can be hired from the library for £3 for one week, £5 for 2 weeks & £8 for a month.

Important info: Never, ever carry your baby on your back in a stretchy wrap & do not attempt to encourage your baby to flip out of a stretchy yourself. I have a monkey-child with no fear and made sure she did this over a bed x