Babylonia BBTai Review

What's a BBTai? Easy - a Mei Tai made by Babylonia Carriers. When I unfolded it (thanks, Nova Natural Toys, for your lovely packaging!) I was kind of uhhh what? 

Then I got the hang of what was going on. First, the carrier comes in a nice shoulder bag with zip closure. Brownie points right there. Once I got it out and had a full look, the origami became a bit clearer; the fold across the back is able to be flipped up and secured through the shoulder tabs to provide head support for a sleeping baby without covering their face or rendering them 'hidden'. Shoulder straps are pleated, a generous 2m long, 39cms wide, and waist sash is flat and lightly padded (and 185cms) without rows and rows of quilting.

The body panel is quite square and flat, (40cms wide, 40cms tall) without darts or shaping, but there is a reasonably brilliant solution for small babies - a seat insert that velcros in and can be removed once outgrown. The lower limit for this carrier is 8lbs, and I found it could work quite well for my 4kg/9lb 'newborn' demo doll.

When trying this for my 6kg/13.5lb doll, I was in the awkward stage of too tall for insert, but too small for the body panel. This was easily solved by aproning the carrier once and then popping baby in. I wanted to cinch the body width a little and that was easily done with a ribbon.

Graduating to my "heavy baby" (trust me, 9kg/20lbs of aquarium pebbles feels MUCH heavier than an actual child of the same weight!) this was a nice fit. Baby was knee to knee in the unaltered panel and the wide wrap straps are great support. 

With Audrey (15kgs/34lbs) we were right up against the upper weight limit (35lbs) and it was easily supported with spread straps.

 I like using a chest belt or a knotless finish to help spread the weight through my whole torso (after all, that's a fair weight to hang from one's shoulders!) and once everything was spread this was totally comfortable in a front and back carry. We did a 3km walk in complete comfort, no digging, nothing. It was SO comfortable and I will admit to being amazed by how the simple square panel could be so mouldable and easy.

The cross-twill cotton has a nice amount of give and cush and softens up very quickly. Good to note that Babylonia carriers are manufactured using non-toxic dyes by a fair trade project in India. 

Great simple design and unfussy color schemes for uber-practical baby, toddler and child carrying on the go. Highly recommend for an instock, easy to purchase, simple to use and long-lived budget-friendly carrier.
Want to see it in action? Click here :)