Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Boba Organic Carrier review

Stinky is a mama's boy.  Pure and simple.  Mama can't be more than arm's reach away most of the time without the little guy being sad.  Super sad.  And mama doesn't like when babies cry, especially when there's an "easy" fix to the problem!  (You might call him spoiled.  I call him...well, okay, I told him today that he's spoiled.)

Stinky likes to be held.  A lot.  It's an inconvenience to him when I do things like, oh you know, make dinner.  Or use a public restroom.  Or brush my teeth.  SO many people have told me he wants to be held because I hold him.  The truth is, I don't mind!  The problem is that Stinky weighs 28 pounds.  28 is a LOT of pounds to hold in my arms 12 hours a day.  It's a little inconvenient cook or clean or do most anything with a toddler in my arms!

Enter, Boba!


Boba recently sent me an Organic Carrier to review.  I was so excited, I couldn't WAIT to open the box!  I'd heard so many good things, and so many people had told me that Boba was the only carrier they would ever recommend.  Surely it couldn't be that good, right?

The truth is, we have another carrier, a Mei Tai, that Stinky loves.  When he sees it, he comes running.  Literally running.  I hoped that Stinky would be as excited about the Boba as I was when it came out of the box.  Perhaps it wasn't my best idea ever to just pick him up and toss him onto my back in a new carriers, but I did just that.  And he fought, and he cried, and then he settled in and was happy as could be!


Yes, I cook in sweatpants.  No, my kitchen isn't always clean.  It's not even always as clean as this picture!  But that baby, snuggled up on my back?  As long as he's touching mama, he's almost always this happy!  Once he settled into the Boba, everything was smooth sailing.


I carried Stinky in the Boba for 8 hours about a week after I received it!  We went to a Renaissance Festival and he was my traveling buddy.  (Strollers are SO inconvenient at events like this.  I wish I'd had a Boba with the other 2!)  You can see he was content to ride around piggy-back style all morning.  He could peek over my shoulder or look beside me.  He loved it!

Then we made the "mistake" of eating lunch.  Stinky was no longer content to ride on my back.  His belly was full and he really wanted to snuggle up on mama's belly for a rest!  For the next few hours, I carried him on the front.


It took a long time with all the noise and activity all around him, but he finally cozied down into the Boba and fell asleep, right there in the middle of the festival!  Stinky is NOT the kind of kid that falls asleep if there's ANYTHING going on around him, so it was amazing!


As you can see, the Boba has gotten some good use.  What you can't see is what I think of it!  So here you go:

  • The Boba is VERY comfortable.
  • The Boba is very easy to adjust.
  • I LOVE the colors!
  • The hood makes Stinky really mad, even if he was already asleep.
  • Stinky is comfy in the Boba, and he now gets excited about it.  If I have it around my waist and he's not in it yet, he tugs at it and says, "Up" until I pick him up.
  • Stinky isn't a lover of the foot straps.  This is one feature I was most excited about.  They make him mad.  He can't kick his feet when he's using them.
  • Boba suggests, when putting baby on your back, that you put a strap on one shoulder and kind of "lace" the baby through the strap.  This doesn't work for me.  Stinky lays on my back and holds onto my shoulders while I place the straps. 
  • Did I mention the Boba is comfortable?  I love the padding in the straps!
  • I want a clip for my keys.
  • I just saw that Boba now has adorable Boba packs that attach right to baby carriers or strollers or can be carried messenger bag style!  I SO want one of those for my Boba carrier!
Overall, I LOVE the Boba!  It's become my go-to carrier because of the ease and convenience.  Stinky enjoys it, which makes me a happy mama!  It's so soft and comfy for both of us!  Boba has a new 3G Carrier that looks so amazing.  I would highly, HIGHLY recommend the Boba Baby Carrier to anyone looking for a carrier!  Thank you, Boba, for making such a great product!


I was given this product at no cost to me in order to facilitate a review.  I was not compensated in any other way.  All opinions are my own.

7 comments:

Misty said...

I have been eyeing the Boba for a VERY long time. I love the across-the-chest strap especially. I tend to hold my straps because, regardless of my rather wide shoulders, I still feel like they *might* fall off. I always held my backpack straps in school, so this is like habit to me!

I have never once heard anything bad about Boba's products OR their customer service. I hope to be able to splurge and get a Boba soon.

I'm so glad you were able to do a review AND take plenty of pictures! It really helps to see everything from a 'real mom' than just the 'models'. :D

Elizabeth said...

Misty, you'll love it! I should have mentioned in the review that Bugsy, who is 45 pounds, has comfortably ridden in the Boba a few times! (Not for very long, but one day when he was sick he was in it for 30-45 minutes while I made dinner and it didn't bother either of us.)

I definitely like the Boba. :)

MelissaH said...

How easy is it to get the baby on your back? Can you do this by yourself?

Elizabeth said...

I do it myself every time, Melissa...but my baby is a year and a half old and lays on my back and usually hold on to my shoulders. I think it's the easiest of the soft structured carriers I've tried as far as getting baby secured. The straps are SO easy to adjust one it's on, too, so if they're too loose or too tight once you get baby up there, you can fix it in a snap!

I actually think it's easier to put Stinky on my back when no one helps me. I've got a "system" and when someone tries to help, it sort of throws me off! ;-)

Unknown said...

I too have a Boba and LOVE it. I took it to Northern Ireland at Christmas when my daughter was 4 months old, and my brother want to use it everywhere we went.

April G said...

I have a Boba too and I adore it! It took a little practice to perfect the art of getting a baby in it for a back carry all by myself (my husband still can't do it by himself, haha), but it's so comfortable. When I'm wearing my petite 17 lb daughter in a front carry (never tried her in a back carry, just do her bigger twin brother that way) it seriously feels like I am not even carrying a baby. :) I'm so glad you got to try one and posted this review. Yay for Bobas!

Nicole said...

I love, love, love our boba!!!

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