Beco Toddler Carrier review and.... GIVEAWAY!

You may remember my previous reviews of Beco: their baby carrier (Gemini) and baby-toddler carrier (Soleil) are great carriers that each live in my demo stash and see a lot of love at baby wearing meets.

However, the Soleil tops out at 45lbs/20kgs, and for a lot of people who are still regularly wearing their toddler/small child, that's getting a bit close. It seems like more and more people are using carriers with their kinder and preschool kids, especially if they're city-dwellers or have a walking commute - and even if that's not you, perhaps a pram just isn't convenient when MOST of the time your little one wants to use their little legs ;)

Enter the Beco Toddler. The minimum age and weight is 18months, 20lbs/9kgs. You want your child to meet BOTH of those requirements, not one OR the other. This is a toddler carrier with a big body and it's not suitable for a child if their legs can't swing freely outside the carrier. (I measure the body panel at 43 cms wide). The body is 48 cms deep and the waistband another 14 cms deep. The maximum weight is 60lbs/27kgs. My 3.5 yo is about 15kgs, so realistically, I'm guessing this is a carrier that could have a place in our lives till 5yo. Obviously this will vary from family to family, but that's our situation. 

I'm an Australian size 10 and about 5'6 tall (165ish cms). I am always a little wary of toddler/child size carriers as their wider body panels can get boxy and uncomfortable. I feel like my shoulders need to be 10 cms wider!
Like the Gemini and Soleil, Beco's Toddler allows crossed straps for a snug, tailored fit. I took it for a test run with straps straight and had everything cinched to the minimum length - I then realised I hadn't used the adjusters at the top of the body panel and could actually get an even better fit by cinching there - oops! The learning curve is real!


Toddler features all the same things that make Soleil a GOOD and simple carrier.
Safety buckles that really do take two hands, flat, crossable straps that don't suffocate me, an ergonomic seat that keeps my child's weight up and close to my centre of gravity, and flexible adjustment - the moveable chest strap and perfect fit adjusters at the top of the body panel are really icing on the cake to ensure an excellent fit.
Shoulder straps will run between 19" - 41" (48cm - 144cm) (you can take another 4" or 10cms out by tightening the perfect fit adjusters) and the waist strap will adjust to fit from 26" - 59" (66cm - 150cm).


Happily, Beco are such nice people that they're allowing me to give away a brand new Arrows Toddler - head over to my Facebook page to enter ;)