Fidella "Shiva spirit" wrap review and GIVEAWAY

Fidella is a German company producing beautiful jacquards that are wide, thin, and 100% organic cotton.  My size 6 (a true 4.6m) arrived packaged in a matching dust bag and lightly fragranced. Whatever they washed it in, I want some.

This particular design -  Shiva spirit - is particularly appealing to me, garnished with Oms, lotus flowers, and Shiva depicted as a goddess sitting in the lotus position. Audrey was delighted with "Blue!" and promptly fell asleep ten minutes after being wrapped, so I'm calling that a winning endorsement from her.

At a generous 80 cms wide, this wrap is particularly suited to toddlers, and I'm looking forward to exercising it in something more strenuous than front wrap cross carry  to see how the "thin" holds up. I don't think I would love this as a shortie, but it could be a fantastic summer wrap and it's very soft and easy to work with straight from the bag (yes, I naughtily wrapped it BEFORE I washed... BAD me.)

In a beginner-friendly move, Fidella hem their rails on different sides, making it very easy to distinguish top from bottom and check nothing has twisted behind your back. The thinness of the weave let it spread easily across my shoulders and our bedtime FWCC that mutated into a weird cradle FWCC was surprisingly comfortable. I walked about the house and did a few odd tasks for about an hour with 12 kgs of unconscious two-year-old quite happily.

As you can see, the flip side is a stunning emerald green and my husband was quite taken with the colour (he has three green tee shirts. Every week I wash three green tee shirts) so I suspect he's eyeing this off as a bit of a daddy wrap.

My assessment? Fantastic baby wrap. Very soft and floppy and thin for new babes, is going to be great in summer (feels quite similar to Vatanai Koira), has a tiny knot, and a beautiful subtle design.
The best part? Thanks to the generosity of the lovely people at Fidella, I have one to GIVE AWAY!

ByKay Mei Tai - Review!

ByKay is a lovely mum of four, Kay Poelen, who is sending some very cool carriers out into the world. Her denim range is the bomb for mums who want to keep it simple and dads who want their carrier to blend in. She sent me a sample of her wares (oh yes, this means a giveaway for you lovely folk!) and I'm really impressed.

Personally I feel the only acceptable time to wear "double denim" is when your carrier is the second piece. The stonewash blue is clean and simple, the dark denim really sleek and sharp. They're fully reversible and look good either way. OH, and they're actually 48% linen, 52% cotton, so VERY supportive and summer-friendly.

Being a wrapper, I'm a fan of the wrap straps. I don't like drowning in padding or bulk and I really appreciated being able to  spread the straps easily and achieve fantastic support. The denim is substantial enough to wrap very smoothly and moulds very well. I liked the lightly padded waist - 12 cms wide, it didn't bunch or dig and I think the shorter waist sash (2m end to end) is a clean option for people who don't like excess dangling. The body of the carrier is quite tall (40 cms), and I can see that carrying a child (like a 3-4yo) is absolutely a practical option, especially using the wrap straps to widen the seat. 

Conversely, the clever design of the seat (oh hai buttons!) makes this an ideal carrier for small babies- not only can you roll or apron the carrier to shorten the body, but you can tailor the width of the seat by buttoning back the leg padding (28 cms to 45cms) - smart. 

The seat darts run nice and deep to help you get that good M-position seat every time.

The fuss-free sleep hood sits smoothly over the body of the carrier and can be anchored with loops situated behind the shoulder straps- more nice, minimalist design. I love this carrier because I can see it getting everyone wearing. It is as easy to care for as your jeans, it blends in and doesn't take great skill to wear comfortably, it has a long span of usefulness with your child (rated to 18kgs)... Win.  

As you can see from the dark denim pics, we took this baby on a lengthy hike (about 90 minutes) and not a thing shifted. Completely comfortable with 11kilos of toddler and bread for the ducks... In a FRONT carry. I'm sold. And  I'm really interested in trying out a ByKay denim WRAP, too! 

Oh, nearly forgot -  you can win one- right here:  YES! I want to enter this worldwide giveaway!

Just because we like the personal touch and spreading a bit of good karma, your light blue denim carrier is coming to you from Mornington Peninsula Babywearers - my local group of awesome people who like to wear their babies ;) This giveaway is open WORLDWIDE, so share some love and make sure you're in!