We love baby carriers because they allow you to keep little ones close while having free hands for doing chores, running errands, and blogging! It's all inspired, however, by cultures where it's an absolute necessity to carry babies while doing other tasks or leading a nomadic lifestyle:
Above, we've pictured a few baby carriers from cultures that have inspired our wraps, slings, and soft structured carriers:
1: Africa
2: a Peruvian manta
3: Laos
4: Thailand
5: South Africa
What looks most comfortable to you? Any you'd like to try out for yourself?
Images: Wikimedia Commons, Mountain Spirit Institute, Hybrid Rasta Mama, Flickr user aswhelan, licensed for use under Creative Commons, TravelPod
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These are all beautiful pictures! #3 & #4 are called Mei Tais and #5 is Khanga. They may look odd but they're all ergonomically correct - much better than the modern "crotch danglers" (snugli, bjorn, etc.). I am looking for a great printed Khanga to hang on the wall as a reminder of our babywearing days :)
There's a typo in the title
I think #4 may actually be a podaegi. It looks like the panel part extends downward rather than just forming a square seat (I'm describing this really poorly... but there are lots of pictures online: http://www.google.com/search?q=Podaegi) and I think that's the difference.
#2 looks like a rebozo to me. (Manta just means blanket in Spanish.) I love love love my wraps and short rebozos because I can get my baby nice and high on my back like the picture. He likes to look around!
The Baby Wearer forums were a great resource when I was just getting into baby wearing. Now I buy wraps for all of my expectant girl friends!
I have a mei tai that I made myself and a StorchenWeige wrap, I love both equally.
So what culture exactly is #1 from? Africa is a large continent with many cultural traditions.
#1 is from the Maasai culture in Eastern Africa (parts of Tanzania and Kenya).
just the other day I was wishing for a scarf or wrap that I could whip into a carrier for my 2.5 year old as needed. so much less cumbersome than a stroller or even an Ergo.
any pointers?
@fennpepper: I have a 2.6 meter Girasol wrap with fringe that I often wear as a scarf. 2.6 meters is a little long scarf wise, but I think anything shorter would be too short to carry my 22 pounder.
Anyway, Girasol is a brand of baby wrap and it should pop up in google. They have tons of really pretty colors. I bought mine used from the baby wearer forums, but there are plenty of vendors out there. :)
These are all really nice. I'm expecting my second in October, and my husband just asked me the other day if I wanted a rebozo, so his mom, who lives in Mexico, can make one for us. These pictures are making me quite excited about it.