Mei Tai Carrier from Meitaicarrier.com

I did a lot of research while I was pregnant with my second child, I learned things I wish I would have learned before my first. I met a lot of new online friends that opened my world to the joys of attachment parenting and made me see parenting in a whole new light.

I joined a few online communities about attachment parenting and the more and more I read about babywearing; the more I was sure I wanted to wear my second child. We owned two different carriers when my first child, Bianca, was a very little baby, yet those carriers were EXTREMLY uncomfortable and full of confusing buckles. The carriers hurt my back and the buckles were so confusing to use I had a hard time putting them on. To make a long story short; I did not wear Bianca much as an infant. I now regret not wearing her more.

I found out a lot about babywearing through my research and I soon looked into different types of carriers. I weighed my options and spoke with different people about carriers they owned and decided that the best option to get me started on my journey into babywearing was that of a Mei Tai Carrier .

I purchased my first mei tai from a user on eBay. (BIG MISTAKE). My first Mei Tai was hard for me to figure out, yet after using online Tutorials I learned to strap my son on my stomach and back with ease. Yet my first carrier had many issues: while it was cheaper then most other mei tais I had been looking at, the quality was horrible! . It worked fine the first few times I used it on my son, yet the shoulders were only lightly padded and became flat after extended use and the sewing was coming un-done at the bottom of the carrier after only wearing it a few times. To be blunt the carrier was a piece of crap. To say the least, I was disappointed and angry that a person would even sell another person a carrier to use with their CHILD! that was so faulty.

My second carrier I purchased after reading a few recommendations from people online. Again the carrier was purchased off of Ebay but this time around the carrier was better quality. The carrier still had too little of padding for my taste, yet was a lot better on my back then that of the first carrier. The creator was very friendly also and gave me tips on wearing my son up higher on my back to relieve some shoulder pain.

I used my second carrier A LOT MORE then that of my first, yet I wanted something more. I then begun looking for a better quality carrier for myself and my son. After searching numerous sites and reading thousands of reviews I found the perfect carrier in my price range on a re-sale babywearing forum. It was a name brand carrier from Meitaicarrier.com (MTC) . While it was not the exact print I could have hoped for it was cheaper then if I bought it new and it was a thousands time better quality then that of my past carriers! I was highly impressed! The carrier made it to my house in record time and I was blown away by the comfort! The shoulders were a lot wider then my previous carriers and much more well padded! I had found love!

I started wearing my son more and more often. I took my carriers everywhere I went. I found it so much easier then pushing the stroller and they were so easy to just throw in my car or diaper bag! I was also receiving so many comments on my carriers! A lot of people were wondering where to get one like it??

My MTC brand carrier not only had thickly padded shoulders (made with foam padding so they do not flatten), the mei tai also came with many other perks. I had received a mei tai with a toy clip. The toy clip was great for hanging my keys off of so I would not loose or misplace them. The clip was also great in dangling off a toy for my son to play with while we walked. It kept him entertained and from pulling my hair out root by root while he was on my back.

The mei tai from Meitaicarrer.com also came with another great feature that I loved from the start; a sleeping hood. I had spent a few extra dollars to get the option of a sleeping hood and it was totally worth it. The sleeping hood can come attached (sewn onto the mei tai) or like the one I had received snapped on. My mei tai carrier's sleeping hood simply snapped on or off when I needed it. The sleeping hood was the perfect solution when my son had fallen asleep in the mei tai. I simply pulled up the sleeping hood and snapped it around the special loops placed on the shoulders of the mei tai and it was great for holding up my sleeping babies head, preventing it from flopping all about while we walked. The sleeping hood was also the perfect solution on rainy days. I could simply pull up the sleeping hood to prevent my child's tiny head from getting soaked. The sleeping hood was adjustable also so it grew with my child. I was glad I had paid the extra few dollars to get a sleeping hood for some days I don't know how I would live without it.

Mei-Tai carriers can literally be used from birth to pre-school. Because of their strength and the quality of construction, you can carry as large of a child as you wish.(meitaicarrier.com) I had been using my MTC with not only my young infant (6 months) but also on my daughter who had just turned 3 at the time. The mei tai was great on carrying both children with ease. I could barely feel them on me. I was shocked at how easily it distributed the weight and did not cause pain in my shoulders or strain on my back. I could walk a mile or more with my children on me and feel as fresh as new after the walk. No painful digging into my shoulders.

After getting my first MTC brand mei tai, I purchased another directly from the site for a gift for my cousin's baby shower. I enjoyed using the MTC brand's webpage and creating my own custom mei tai using the mei tai design wizard. There was so many amazing prints and strap colors to choose from. It was mind-blowing trying to get the perfect combination for my cousin's newest addition. Yet the design wizard was a god send and I could see what the finished mei tai would look like before the purchase.

Again for my cousin I added the special features that while cost a little more, were worth it in the end. The total finished mei tai cost me $75 new. While that may seem a little pricey to a lot of you that are not use to the price of these carriers, it was worth every penny. Some other brand carriers cost a lot more for less quality and less features. My meitaicarrier brand mei tai that I was receiving came to me sewn by hand with heavy duty quality construction, superior quality foam strap padding for maximum comfort and meticulous attention to stitch detail . Also unlike most other brands meitaicarrier.com brand mei tais had a sturdy 3 layer body composition.

I was very impressed with the customer service of the owner of MTC also. I emailed her to ask a question about sending in some custom fabric for the inside of my cousin's mei tai. I wanted to use fabric that would match the new babies bedroom and the owner quickly responded to my question and was very helpful even after I had received the mei tai in the mail.

Sadly, meitaicarrier.com no longer is open for custom mei tais. The owner of the company recently just gave birth to her second child and is taking a break from creating these amazing quality carriers. Yet, she still stocks her hyena cart rarely where you can pick up a brand new MTC. Also you can find gently used mei tais from MTC all over the internet by looking on cloth diapering and baby wearing forms. Some mothers sell these off a lot cheaper then you would have imagined. A great place to look is thebabywearer.com or diaperswappers.com. If you have live journal you may join the meitaicarrier.com community journal where some people offer their mei tais up for sale and you can keep up to date with all things from MTC.

Overall, I totally love my carrier from meitaicarrier.com. It is one of the mei tais I grab for most when out and about (right behind the mei tais I now make myself). I love the high quality design of these carriers and the amazing padding in the shoulders. I would recommend them to any mother or father who wants to start wearing their child. They are the perfect solution to affordable babywearing from birth to pre-school.

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