Back pain? Not with the Moby!!

Like many moms, I have back pain. A lot of back pain. I've been to physical therapy for it, I've been to chiropractors, I've been on painkillers for it, you name it. So with a new baby, I was determined to find a product that would allow me to carry my baby andget things done, but not hurt my back. I had previously owned a hard-style carrier (ie Bjorn, Snugli), but it caused neck and shoulder pain, and my lower back would ache within ten minutes.

I began to research. There are so many carriers out there, it's hard to decide. Wraps, slings, hard, soft, pouch, mei tai. I tried on all of them, I went to fifteen different stores at least. I practiced with my daughter in them. It was a long process in choosing.

Then, I went to one store where the lady had a Moby wrap. The Moby Wrap consists of 5 meters of a jersey knit material (although there are some with silk panels and fleece panels.) It looked complicated, but I tried it. The owner of the store helped me learn how to put it on, but really, it's not difficult, you just can't slap it on like a pouch or sling. Once I had the baby in, I was sold!!! She felt weightless, and my back didn't even notice there was a 13 lb baby strapped to me! I walked around the store, figuring, it's going to start hurting soon; it never did.

Fast forward three months, and I still wear my baby everywhere. She is now pushing 18 lbs (she's a big girl!), and I can still wear her in the wrap for a three hour shopping trip with no problem. I have worn it walking, shopping, playing outside with my 5 year old, at the beach, track meets, you name it.

I think my favorite thing about it, aside from the pain-free factor, is the versatility. I have worn my baby in every way: kangaroo hold, front cross wrap facing in, front cross wrap facing out, hip carry, back carry, and newborn front carry. She loves them all! If she falls asleep facing forward, it's so easy to pop her out and turn her around so she can snuggle against me. If she falls asleep against me, I can cover over her head so she's protected. I have even folded it up and laid her on it to play on when I had no blanket for her!

The only downsides to this product are A) It is a little bulky to fit in a diaper bag, but to me that's no biggie and B) Putting it on in public can be tricky without dragging the tails on the ground. An easy solution to this, I discovered, is to stand next to your vehicle with the door open, then you can rest the ends in the seat of the car until you're ready to tie them. It's also easy enough to just put on and leave before you go anywhere, then when you get out of the car, you just pop baby in!!

Fantastic product, my favorite of all my carriers by far, I think EVERY new mom should have one!!

Update On May 25, 2008: I just wanted to add, one of the great feautres I forgot to mention is the fact that this carrier works on babies and children from preemie to 35 lbs., making it a great long-term investment!

Update On Sep 01, 2008: I added a picture of me and the baby in the Moby wrap- it's not a good picture of me lol, but you can see how happy she is to be in it and seeing everything I can see!