*I was provided with a Boba wrap. All opinions are my own.

I was in the delivery room when my nephew Drew was born. I heard his first cry and fell in love with him immediately. From the time that he was first able to play, my favorite way to spend time with him is just playing. Sitting on the floor or running around the backyard, forgetting about all of the adult things going on in my life and just  taking his lead and playing. He is well aware of my love of playing with him and has grown to assume that I’ll play with him in every situation we’re in – whether its a doctors office or grocery store (which requires a lot of creativity!). While I love that he lets me join his little world each time I see him, I was nervous how he would adjust to his baby sister Kelsie interrupting our play time once she was born. He’s bonded with her really great considering he was only 2.5 when she was born but I found that whenever I was babysitting them, I’d lose track of how many times I’d say “in a minute” or “just a second” or “After I….” to him. He has yet to appear frustrated or angry with me for interrupting our play a million times, but I still felt bad and I didn’t like being away from Kelsie while playing with Drew – but playing one handed (So that I could hold her with the other) wasn’t very effective and my arm would get tired so quickly.

So, I decided it was time to try a baby carrier. I have a very large family that has such a large range of ages in each generation that the next generation starts before the other was ended – resulting in a constant supply of babies. Yet, I had never seen anyone in my family baby wear except for in rare situations like a visit to the zoo. So my lack of knowledge about baby wearing made me a bit nervous and I wanted to go with an option that didn’t seem super artificial – I was afraid of a bunch of straps or padding or options. I wanted something that seemed like it was more a part of me than a big backpack that I put on to put the baby in. So, the Boba Wrap caught my eye and I’m so glad that I was able to be sent one to try out.

If you aren’t familiar with the Boba Wrap, it’s a stretch wrap that is basically a really long rectangular piece of fabric that you manipulate in a way that allows you to hold a baby or toddler up against you without keeping hands on them. The wrap comes with an instructional booklet with pictures of each step but I found a youtube video slightly more helpful because I could see all of the steps in action. I tried tying it without the baby a few times and the first time that I put Kelsie in it, I kept two hands on her all the time just in case. She seemed to be okay with it from the get go, but after a few more tries I learned a few things that made things even better. The first time I tied the wrap, I didn’t tie it loosely but not tight, either. I expected that I had to leave space for Kelsie to fit in. However, the material is quite stretchy so you want to tie it tightly around yourself to keep the baby from sagging or jiggling around as you move. Even when tied tightly before putting her in, the wrap never feels too tight once she’s in it – it really has a lot of stretch. Another thing I learned after a bit of trial and error was that keeping the fabric over your shoulders and back very spread out (I pull the shoulder fabric down almost to my elbows) distributes the baby’s weight across a larger area which makes the wrap super comfortable.

Even before spreading the fabric out, I was surprised at how little stress Kelsie’s weight put on my body when she was in the Boba Wrap. When holding her in my arms without a carrier, even after 10 minutes I start to feel the stress on my arms or wrists, and start occasionally shuffling her from one side to the other. On my fourth or fifth try with the Boba Wrap I babysat for about 8 hours and I carried her in the Boba Wrap for more than 4 hours over the course of the day. She is old enough now that she gets tired but fights sleep. When I first put her in the Boba Wrap, I knew that she was tired and fighting sleep but I was shocked that she was literally in the wrap for less than a minute before she fell asleep. She stayed asleep for over two hours while I played basketball, frisbee and made lunch with Drew. I was able to pull the shoulder fabric over the back of her head to help support her neck while asleep, which would be great for newborns without head control as well.

The second time wearing the wrap, I was so surprised at how content Kelsie stayed while in the wrap. She’ll easily go 1.5-2 hours in the wrap without making a peep. She’s a fairly “easy” baby to begin with but it was so neat to see how much comfort it seemed to bring her even though she hadn’t been worn at all in the first six months of her life. To be honest, when reading about baby wearing, it totally made sense to me that newborns would like it, and then if they were worn from birth that they would continue to like it. I was surprised at how well Kelsie enjoyed it even though she was six months old the first time she was ever worn. She’s very wiggly and tries to reach out and grab anything within her reach. So I was a bit surprised that she’s content to stay so close to me for so long. I think her being up at an adult level and experiencing life from my view is more stimulating than positions shes usually in (like on a lap, laying on the floor, in a swing, etc) because she’s higher and closer to everything. I have noticed that after a while she will pull her head in really close to me and just stay there. I think she might get slightly overstimulated so she quits looking around and just snuggles instead. So I like that the Boba Wrap gives her the freedom to look sideways and see everything to stay entertained when she wants, but she can also self-regulate her over stimulation by just snuggling in close and laying against my chest or face my chest if she is too stimulated.

One day she was awake in the wrap and Drew and I were playing with his toddler sized basketball hoop. He does great making shots up close, so he took a step back and tried to make a shot, and was successful. So he kept stepping back and making shots in that spot until he was successful. He got back far enough that he was having a hard time making shots and after several unsuccessful tries finally landed the ball in the hoop. He jumped up, clapped and squealed “I got it! I got that one!” – Kelsie squealed happily in response to his noises, kicking her legs and wiggling. Drew noticed and said to me “Sissy is happy for me? She’s happy I made it?”. It was such a simple moment but it was so sweet and made me realize that there are huge benefits beyond just keeping Kelsie content – it truly allows her to experience life with us in ways that she wouldn’t have if I had her in a bouncy seat or on a blanket outside because I would have left her a few feet away from the hoop.

Drew asked me if he could get in the wrap after seeing Kelsie in it. The wrap does have a weight limit of 45lbs and he weighs in at 33lbs (he’s 3 years and 1 month old) so he’s still well within the weight limit so tried it. I did only try once, but I didn’t get it tight enough to keep him high up. I did try to tight it tighter than I had been with Kelsie but it wasn’t enough. I’m sure it’s just a matter of taking the time to practice and get it right. Of course, wraps are going to be used a lot more by infants anyway, but it’s nice to have the high weight limit options anyway. If you’re looking for a carrier to primarily use with a toddler, The Boba Carrier seems like a great option and it works with babies too, I’d love to try it out someday.

Drew even seems to see the benefits of the Boba Wrap. The first time I wore it he asked me to put Kelsie down. I asked why and he said “So you can play with me.” I explained that I can play with him and wear her, but he still didn’t’ believe me until I took both hands off of her. “She won’t fall?” he said. “Nope, she won’t fall.” Since that conversation, he’ll now ask me to put her in the Boba Wrap when he wants me to play with him. One day when playing with his doll Andy, he asked if I would put the Boba Wrap around him so that he could carry Andy in it.

I’m so glad that I gave the Boba Wrap a try, I plan to get tons more use out of it with Kelsie, at least until she can walk really well and keep up with Drew and I. It’s been so nice to have and I don’t babysit without bringing it along now.

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Emily

Hi there! I am Emily Evert, the owner of Emily Reviews. I am 28 and live in a small town in Michigan with my boyfriend Ryan and our two pugs. I have a large family and I adore my nieces and nephews. I love reading memoirs, and learning about child development and psychology. I love watching The Game of Thrones, Teen Mom, Sister Wives and Veep. I like listening to Jason Isbell, John Prine, and other alt-country or Americana music. I created Emily Reviews as a creative outlet to share my life and the products that I love with others.

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