Strange Machines

Following almost 6 years of baby carrying, here’s my take.

It’s been 2 kids and half a dozen baby carriers. Overall, I have to say that the Ergo Organic still is the best one for me. It is incredibly soft and cool (in this hot humid weather we have here) and is the most comfy for me, probably because of the material. We also have the original canvas Ergo but find it hotter and rougher on the shoulders.

For my husband who loves to back carry the 5 year old when he is tired, he swears by the Boba (1st gen). It has better back and hip support due to its thick and stiff waist band. The Boba is my go-to second and while it is hard for me to nurse it, it does support my back better and sits the little one higher. When he carries the little one, he does also prefer the Ergo Organic.

Bottom line is though, everyone’s body is different and their needs are different too. Ideally we should all try our carriers before buying (I didn’t). For my nomadic lifestyle where the kids go wherever I do on public transport, on my thin 5″8 frame, the Ergo Organic works best.

One thing for sure is, I have loved every minute of cuddling my little ones in our carriers and weaving through shops and supermarkets with ease. (Wish my back was as grateful though…)

Today we did an experiment. For the same distance I carried Kitten in the front in her Ergo Organic and Wolf at the back (yup, 2 kids!) with first, the Ergo, then the Patapum.

Comfort for Mom:

“The Ergo. Ergo on Ergo feels comfy. Weight is distributed mainly on the waist and very little on the shoulders. It was a comfy half hour walk.

The Patapum seemed to carry more weight on the shoulder and back which made it very uncomfortable for me by the end of the journey. The thick padded shoulder straps made my arms a little numb when not adjusted properly.

It also kept sliding up my waist, probably because of the stiff waist band and synthetic inner which makes it smoother. The Ergo tends to stay in place but bunches up with a bit more give.

On that note, I’d like to add that carrying 2 tends to generate quite a bit of sweat and it felt cooler with the cotton inner of the Ergo than the synthetic inner of Patapum.”

Comfort for Toddler:

“I prefer the Patapum because I like to put my legs through the hoops. More support. I like the Patapum for my back because it was very light (cooler).”

Asking Wolf, he said foot straps would help him sit a little more comfortably. As it is, his legs are dangling rather uncomfortably. He said later that he liked the Patapum’s additional leg support better than the Ergo. There, the ultimate consumer has spoken.

Ideally there should be a carrier that is comfortable for both Mom and Toddler, that’s why I’m keen to try the Boba which has loops for the toddler’s foot to rest in. Till then we’ll use the Patapum for very short journeys and the Ergo for longer walks but I’ll give his legs a boost by holding them on the side.

Summary:

Ergo – cooler for Mom’s waist, comfy for Mom’s back and shoulders.
Patapum – cooler for Toddler’s back, comfy for his legs because of support.

Recently, I purchased a Patapum (touted as better than the Ergo) as a spare carrier to bring out in case Wolf got tired and wanted me to back carry him.

I currently have 3 baby carriers. The Ergo Black with Cranberry lining is an at-home carrier while the beautiful Ergo Organic Carrier Black with Embroidery from my BFF figur8 is for going out.

The Patapum was cheaper at S$145 (before any discounts) and seemed a good idea to try a different carrier (the Beco was too expensive at S$250 or S$210 cheapest I saw it and was a nightmare to put on and unsuitable for toddlers).

In retrospect it was a bad idea. Being an Ergo user for about 3 years, it is easy to compare and clearly the Ergo comes out tops. Here’s why:

SUPPORT

Patapum – Adjust poorly and your shoulder blades will ache within minutes of carrying a toddler. Otherwise, both baby and toddler feel the same in it as the Ergo, fairly weightless.

Ergo – Good as gold, around the world. It feels soft yet stable for you and baby (and/or toddler, if x2). Although the stiff waist in the Patapum is supposed to be better support, I find the Ergo’s softer waist more comfortable with similar support.

BACK CARRY

Patapum – Particularly for toddlers and a back carry, it is imperative that it is easy to put the toddler in and remove the toddler.

Needing to insert the toddler’s legs inside 2 loops (of straps) to put him or her on the back is not easy on the fly. And it is absolutely hellish trying to remove the toddler whose 2 legs are now stuck in 2 loops.

You clearly need someone to help you carry the toddler out of the carrier or to have a platform high enough for toddler to sit, remove legs, and not trip over the straps while trying to extract self.

Circle marks the spot your toddler has to slip legs through

No strap enclosures to lift your child out of

Ergo – With the Ergo, I get Wolf to stand on a chair or I squat down, pull up the shoulder straps and clip. He’s on. To remove, I just unclip and slide him down my body slowly.

If you look at the picture of the Ergo above, it is wider, so lends more support to the curve of baby’s bottom and you can release and slide the toddler down easily if you back carry as there are no extra leg hole straps to have to lift him or her out of, like in the Patapum.

The extra support from those straps, touted by Patapum, is really replicated by Ergo’s wider body design.

NURSING

Patapum – The waist straps are really difficult to adjust while carrier was being used. They are way too stiff to just slide loose with one hand (or with 2).

If I need to nurse and so, need to loosen the waist strap to lower baby down, it is impossible. I have to remove the carrier, use 2 hands to concertedly readjust the strap and then wear it again. By which time, baby would be screaming.

Ergo – All I have to do is loosen the waist strap with one hand, with baby still in the carrier, lower the waist strap so baby sits lower and nursing’s a snap.

SHARING

Patapum – As the Patapum is so difficult to adjust, my husband tried carrying Wolf in it just once and gave up after 5 minutes when his shoulders ached and he couldn’t readjust it. Swore never to use it again.

I remember reading how a family bought 2 just so they wouldn’t have to readjust the carrier. Not very user-friendly at all.

Ergo – We swap it in a snap. (Sorry, pun!)

MATERIAL

Patapum – The carrier had a strong chemical smell when I first opened it. Formaldehyde in the canvas and polyester? I don’t know. And it did not come out after the first wash but after the 3rd and about 3 days of airing.

While the materials are certified by 3 different bodies in 3 different countries, after 3 washes it looks 3 years old after only 2 weeks old and less than 10 wears.

The colour has faded a little, and worst of all, one of the snaps has rusted (click image below to see close up of rusted snap), and the 3 snap enclosures have loose thread hanging out of them.

The snaps are also distinctly misaligned (see pic below) and the workmanship not as well as the Ergo’s.

The canvas is so rough to touch and I hate the polyester feel in the waist (mothers sweat there too) and shoulders, and wonder why they used it.

Patapum snaps with threads loose after only 2 weeks!
Click image to see rusted snap up close.

Ergo – My 3 year old Ergo Black still looks good. Used but definitely still in excellent condition. It is poly + cotton but doesn’t feel hot or uncomfortable.

My Ergo Organic Black with Embroidery is still looking new after 4 months of wear, feels soft and wonderful, and I wash both Ergos weekly.

Excellent workmanship on both carriers and the soft cotton waist strap (even the instruction label inside is cotton) absorbs all my sweat when carrying Kitten.

Buy organic if you’re worried about chemicals in the material but I never had any smell issues even with the non-organic one.

In the pictures, the carriers haven’t been washed in days and this is with baby puke in them, and wear from use outdoors (excluding the Ergo Black).

3 year old Ergo Black with Cranberry Lining

4 month old Ergo Organic Carrier Black with Embroidery

2 week old black Patapum

PORTABILITY

Patapum – Wrap it up and snap, or so it seems. The snaps work so poorly that they take a while to match up and press down accurately. Still, once snapped, you can carry it on your shoulder, clip it to your pram, or hook it onto your backpack.

Ergo – With the organic Ergo, you can tie the hood straps around the waist band and clip. Same with the Ergo black. The soft material means you can stuff it in your bag. Not so, with the stiff waist strap of the Patapum.

CONCLUSION

Many look at the design and price when buying a baby carrier, but also consider your daily usage and how easy to use the carrier is. For me, having to navigate my toddler’s legs through a pair of hoops proved to be a tad too unusable in the end for my purpose. Whatever the case, always try a baby carrier before buying it, be it from a friend or store.

My main issues with the Patapum are the shoddy workmanship and the poor usability of the design, particularly since they actually designed a toddler version of their carrier, which I bought for carrying a toddler in the back. (Plus the store here that sold the Patapum does not take returns, even for this dreadful workmanship.)

The Ergo at S$160 (organic from S$210-S$230) costs only slightly more than the Patapum which retails for S$148. I’d tell you to forget the Patapum and go buy the Ergo as a main or a spare. You won’t be disappointed.

(Note: 1 USD = + – 1.5 SGD)

I’ll have to admit I am a little addicted already. I found myself scouring Loveybums if they have any seconds I could get and was relentlessly clicking through Whoopeekiddies to look at the BumGeniuses (and very very heavenly hemp wash cloths, supposedly cloth wipes but I stuff them in my cleavage to soak up excess sweat when I carry Kitten and emergency burp cloth).

Then I realised this was the perfect time to try different diapers. I had enough diapers for 1.5 days really, and seriously needed another night cloth diaper for Wolf because it was his diaper that I had to wash and dry daily so he could wear it again the next night and another wool cover because his Loveybums XL cloth diaper seems to keep peeking out of the XL wool cover. Not good cos it caused one leak already.

I found some wonderfully soft bamboo hemp diapers from the awesome Twig & Vine I plan to order soon when some money comes in. I like that the elastic at the back and legs are not sewed as crunched up tight as the ones on the Loveybums ones which cause Kitten to have red marks in those areas when I carry her in the Ergo. Don’t the Twig & Vine diapers look heavenly?

That brings my count to:

1 NB/S organic cloth diaper (which might retire soon)
5 M organic cloth diaper
2 L organic cloth diaper
1 XL organic cloth diaper
4 organic wool cover (1 for each size)
7 BumGeniuses
To order another 4 bamboo hemp diapers (still deciding on the sizes but most likely 2L + 2XL)

Total: 20 diapers for 2 kids (half the stash is shareable)

That should tide us through washing once in 2 days + air drying the laundry rather than using the dryer every day. Our electricity bill has gone up $50 since we started cloth diapering but we save that $50 too on not buying disposables.

Hemp is tons more absorbent than cotton and bamboo is somewhere in between. I was thrilled that a single insert (hemp or bamboo+cotton) is sufficient stuffing for the kids overnight and by day they don’t need any stuffing.

Why organic? I figure if we go cloth, we go all the way. It is better for the planet and for our kids. The process of making cotton and even bamboo fabrics is pretty darned harmful to our planet, so supporting the organic textiles industry is the way to go.

DH says that cloth diapering and laundering indulge my OCD tendency to clean. Well, it should feel good to be good to our children and our planet, no?

First off, Nicole Kidman gave birth today to a 6 pound baby girl named Sunday Rose Kidman Urban. She’ll be needing lots of cool baby gear now. Congrats to the happy parents and their lovely new addition.

I always find heavily pregnant women trawling the baby section of Isetan and feel like telling them when they pick up that armful of useless baby things, “You won’t use those! Save your money!” But I don’t unless they pick up a BPA bottle. Then I get upset.

Anyway. The important thing is to be prepared. Shop around first. Surf the net. Lots of stuff and information there. A good place to start is a wiki for baby stuff. Yup, there’s one. It is called ShopWiki and under their critter section, you’ll find tons of cool baby gear, all objectively crawled from online stores all over.

Don’t waste your money on the Baby Bjorn. Get the Ergo or any other one with waist support. Then buy a baby sling that is light and you and other male relatives would actually carry. There are nice ones that actually fold into themselves and wrap into an attached pouch. Forget the rest.

Of course if you travel with your child a lot, here are nice baby moving equipment to consider. Your pet can probably sit inside with it.

Curiously Wolf loves to tip his head back when he is being carried in the Ergo. Today he exposed his two growing front teeth! One has emerged fully width-wise, the other has a tiny edge peeking out. It was so cute I tried taking a photo but he was moving so much I missed.

We spent the evening in town and walked over to Taka for a change. I strapped him on my back with his Dad’s help and sped us down the pathway much to Wolf’s sheer delight. He shrieked with laughter all the way.

These days he naps easier when outside. Of course it helps if the place is quiet. I rock him gently from side to side and he dozes off. Even outside he can nap for an hour if there are no interruptions, which is great.

We went to Best to check out some laptops and put some to the “touch test”. There was an ASUS laptop that cost $1400, gorgeous black and tiny, 12″ screen and very light at 1.6kg, and with a 0% interest payment… but there were only display sets for sale so I had to politely decline.

All in all, it was a wonderful evening and we all have a great time out as a family.