Solly baby wrap!

I posted previously about baby carriers and my favorite at the time was the Ergobaby Sport carrier. I still really like the ergobaby but only without the newborn insert, which means I can only use it with a baby who is at least 5 months old.. As a mom of three I really needed to be able to wear my baby right away and have my hands free to get other things done. After looking around at all the soft wraps on the market I decided to try Sollybaby. I have to say I was really skeptical about it initially but I am gradually loving it more each day.  Below is a detailed review of my experience using the Sollybaby wrap.

Pros:

Quality: At first glance the solly wrap is nearly identical to other wraps out there like the boba and moby wrap, however there are definite differences in quality. The solly wrap is one long strip of Lenzing modal fabric, while most other wraps are made of a cotton blend. Lenzing modal is a super soft, super strong, luxurious eco-friendly fabric; the perfect combination for cradling a precious newborn baby!  Additionally the solly wrap has a built in storage pouch to make it easy to fold up and carry on the go; it fits easily into any diaper bag. The dyes used on the wraps as well as all their packaging are environmentally conscious and locally made so I can feel like a decent human being by supporting this product.

Comfort: Wearing my baby in the solly wrap is so much more comfortable than the other structured carriers I have used.  There are no rings, buckles, or straps to cut into your back or shoulders. The wrap is very lightweight and the baby's weight is evenly distributed. Best of all this wrap allows my baby to be held in a natural sitting position rather than the dreaded crotch dangling of the baby bjorn style carriers.

Product Support: Solly baby is a fairly new business that started in 2011 and is still run with that small business feel. They offer free consultations if you have issues figuring out how to use the wrap properly, as well as being super responsive to questions, comments and concerns. Their social media presence is warm and inviting with a constant stream of inspirational posts for new mamas with lots of giveaways, and encouraging messages. They recently did a  tutorial and pampering tour with Nordstrom and gave away free swaddles to each mom!

Colors & Prints: I simply love the range of options available, the current collection features the sweetest colors and prints, I wish I could have them all! But instead I have two neutral wraps; one in black and the other in marengo (smokey heathered grey). My reasoning for choosing neutral colors is to be able to wear them with any outfit and not worry about it clashing. With the upcoming sales I have my eye on a few other colors like cerulean, creamy gingham, and custard.

Cons

Care:This is one of my biggest issues with this wrap. Due to the soft fabric, it has be washed with special instructions which is just a major hassle to a busy mom. The instructions require that this wrap should not be washed with any clothing that has snaps, buttons or zippers to avoid holes being poked in the fabric. Seriously? Snaps are the basic ingredient of baby clothing.Additionally I have two other kiddos! Requiring me to regularly run a separate delicate laundry cycle and sort out all the buttons and zippered items is just so bizarre to me! 

Head & Neck Support: As soon as I put my newborn baby in this wrap he gets into what I call the "push-up" position and holds his head and neck up away from chest so he can look at my face. Sollybaby claims this counts as tummy time and is perfectly normal.

 The only problem with this theory is that because the stretchy nature of the fabric after some time of this "tummy time" my son is able to pull his head back even further to the point that his head and neck are way too far back. This means I have to keep trying to support his head and bring his head back to rest on my chest. In fact if you look up the sollybaby hashtag on instagram you see many moms with their hand supporting their baby's head in the wrap which to me defeats the purpose a bit. Once he falls asleep however, I can tuck his head into one of the shoulder straps which offers full support,  but for now he won't let me do that while he is awake. Even when his head is tucked in for support I need to keep checking that his airway is clear because his face can get smushed against the other shoulder strap. Overall for the newborn stage this wrap just doesn't offer the 100% handsfree experience that you can get with a more structured carrier.

Learning Curve: Structured baby carriers are "easy" to use because there isn't much of a learning curve, you just match up the buckles and straps and are good to go. Since the solly is just a long strip of fabric there is a steeper learning curve to really figure it out. Very subtle changes in the way you go through each step of tying the wrap can result in the wrap being too high, too tight, too loose etc... Its great that they offer the free consults that I mentioned above to help you get it figured out, however the consults are by video and only at fixed times. I simply didn't have the patience or time to wait for a consult so I relied on their video tutorials to get it right. 

Availability: Currently these wraps are only available on the solly baby website  with $5.95 standard shipping fees and at least a week and half wait! Needless to say in this day and age that doesn't feel quite right! I'm an amazon girl and I need things to be available on amazon with free two-day shipping! 

Price: The solly baby retails at $65 per wrap which is on the higher end of the spectrum for soft wraps. Additionally their wraps are all the same price regardless of color or print whilst other brands offer basic solid colors for a lower price than the prints which makes sense to me. The good news is they offer 15% off your next purchase if you leave a review that includes a photo and with black friday around the corner they have a big sale coming up!

Giveaway spamming: While I love how frequently they have giveaways, they seem to always require you to tag your friends in separate comments under a post. With each comment counting as a separate entry. This requires you to either have many mom friends who have infants young enough to use solly products,  or you have to just spam people who have no interest or use in the product. I understand that from a marketing perspective the idea of tagging people to a post directs traffic to their page but if I kept getting tagged in something I didnt need, I would just start to ignore that person and be annoyed.  I prefer they have more giveaways that don't involve spamming your friends to win. Rant over. Maybe I'm slightly bitter I haven't won anything yet!

Overall I love using this wrap, I use it daily to go out for walks, as well as to get things done around the house especially when my two older kiddos get home from school and we are racing through dinnenr and bedtime routines. If you are on the fence about trying this I say go for it!