My husband David and Bub 2 in our manduca.
I was perplexed. I was in New York city, a town not favorably renowned for friendliness yet people kept smiling at me. Not only that, they were saying hello. On the subway, and now, of all places, as I walked along Wall Street. If finally clicked. The reason that New Yorkers were delivering their friendliest greeting to me was 4 months old and being carried on my front. He looked so cute, snuggled close to me that people were responding warmly.
That wasn’t the reason I was baby wearing of course. I had decided to use a baby carrier for practicality. It left both hands free as I was negotiating airports and the subway. I was also nervous taking my new, precious bundle to the other side of the world to meet my sister, and I felt more secure knowing he was held close and safe next to me. My only regret was that my son outgrew his carrier at about 8 months of age, and I lost the convenience of baby wearing as an option when we traveled.
I recently discovered a carrier that leaves the option of baby wearing open from the early weeks into toddlerhood. Manduca carriers are useable for children up to 4 years and up to 20 kg. I use my own maduca carrier now with my 2 year old on our explorations. I am thrilled to be offering one lucky reader the opportunity to win a manduca carrier. To be in the running to win simply like manduca Australia on Facebook, and share a comment at the end of this post about your own experience of baby wearing during travel. While it is not necessary to enter the competition, while you are liking manduca Australia on Facebook you might also want to join Bubs on the Move to make sure you hear about our other competitions.
Terms and Conditions: Entries close on December 31st. Entries are open to Australian residents only aged 18 and over. The competition is a game of skill. The winners will be chosen by objective panel based on their skill answering the question. The winners will receive one manduca baby carrier from the standard newstyle range by the colour of her\his choice (RRP $159) The winners will be announced on the Bubs on the Move and manduca blogs when the game is complete. Prize is not transferrable and not redeemable for cash. Manduca Australia and Bubs on the Move will have the right to use the winner’s name on social media and newsletters.
Could not have survived the crowded streets of Hong Kong without our carrier, it was just impossible maneuvering the pram especially in the markets. Even getting in and out of transportation were so much easier without folding the pram. Would not have done it without the carrier!
I have hardly babyworn before but in my experience wearing a bub over a long period I wore them both my eldest and youngest once only in a generic cheap unsafe carrier. I did not know how unsafe they were at the time but I wore them for around an hour, we were both uncomfortable and hot. I suffered with back pain for around a week after wearing them even though it was the correct way for the carrier. I swore I would not put them in that carrier again regardless both screamed when I tried again later so the carrier got put away and I will end up throwing it out once I unpack my baby stuff for bub number 3 on the way. I am looking forward to trying a manduca and have only heard fantastic things about them. I have a busy year next year and am looking forward to the convenience of doing the kinder walk with bub in the carrier and even getting back to my low impact belly dancing class soon after birth with bub in the manduca joining in with me.
forgot to mention we have just started camping and hiking as a family which the manduca will be ideal for as its a bit hard to hike anywhere being bush or beach with a pram!
Recently DS2 had to have surgery in another town. Having our carrier with us made travelling so much easier and lighter. Having just weaned him from BFing it was great for both of us to be able give him comfort in the carriers s still be able to be hands free.
I’m on my 4th baby now & where haven’t I been with my carrier? from plane travel to hiking mountains, where you simply cannot take a pram, I like keeping my baby close for comfort and ease of care (it also stops strangers stopping to touch & spread their germs! – err I mean love..) I really could not live without it, it makes walking on the beach a breeze & I know I’m going to maneuver through busy markets with ease knowing my baby is close & safe.
Does travelling to the shops count? Travelling to the shops is a mammoth task with 4 kids under 6 so a baby carrier is essential for me. I need my hand free…in fact I could do with some extra hands too!
Baby wearing – whether it’s travelling to the supermarket or further afield has changed my life. I don’t have to look for elevators in shopping centres, ramps in airports or smooth footpaths on the way to the beach. With baby in the Manduca I can go anywhere, and play with my 4 year old at the same time 🙂
The Manduca we’re using is on loan from a generous friend, I would love to have my own 🙂
I had to make an emergency trip home to New Zealand a couple of months ago with my 15 month old. It was a no brainer to take my carrier rather than a bulky pram. It made all the waiting in lines at the airport bearable and then left me with my hands free to wrestle with our bag and car seat. I could throw the carrier into my handbag so I always had it on hand when I needed it.
Closer to home I use my carrier to carry my toddler when I’m doing my grocery shopping. She is very content to sit on my back and watch whats going on and nod off when she gets sleepy. And it means I don’t have to take another person with me to push a pram and I have an empty boot to put my groceries in.
I travel from Central Queensland to Sydney every 6 months alone with my two kids a 1 year old boy and a 4 year old girl. A baby carrier is the best thing I have found! It gives me my hands back! Now I can hold my daughters hand, carry my son and hold the plane tickets! (And I don’t have to think about how I’m going to fold up the pram while doing all this!). Mine too is on loan and I would like my own 🙂
I have a sleepy wrap that I have used for both my children (2yo and 5mths). My most recent trip to New Zealand with both boys by myself would have been almost impossible without the wrap for the 5month old giving me hands free for the 2 year old, bags, tickets etc. I love that he easily goes to sleep in it, I actually put it back on after we took off to get him to sleep and so I could eat my dinner.
Though it can be used well into toddlerhood, my 2 year old is to big for the front and its too difficult to get him wrapped on my back, the Manduca is just what I am looking for to extend my baby wearing.
There is just no other way to travel with bubs & toddlers! I recall walking along the beach one evening with a toddler on my back and a newborn on my front – and yet I still felt free as a bird.
We travel every year to Sri Lanka prams are not practical. We use a baby carrier for our children when they were young to enable us to shop, explore and be hands free but still have our little one close. We are now expecting our third child in March and needing to visit in June for DH’s brother’s wedding. A Manduca would be the perfect carrier as it is light weight with built in infant support and cover for that unpredictable monsoon rain.
Yet to travel with my 4 week old bub but this would be perfect for when we do. 🙂
I love the closeness and bonding that my 17month old and I have with the carrier. I currently have a different type of carrier and would LOvE a manduca!! I love that my hands are free and I can breast feed him on the move. He can nap close to mummy and I can still move about. Wether travelling far or just to the shops it’s by far the safest, easiest and best way to keep you baby safe, close and happy 🙂
I’m expecting my second bub in 2 weeks! I loved my pram and didn’t have a lot of opportunity or need for baby wearing first time round, however we’ve decided (at this stage at least) not to upgrade our single pram, so baby wearing is looking like my best option! I love and desperately want a manduca, I love that I can use it for my new bub and my toddler, and it’s designed to benefit both of us!
On a recent holiday we used a sub-standard baby carrier to get around hands free and off the beaten track with our daughter, 11 months. Yes, we got to see more than we would have with a pram, but my back was suffering pretty quickly and my little one wasn’t too comfortable either. I’ve been looking into carriers like the manduca and know how much more we could see and do, comfortably, with one.
I wasn’t aware of the benefits of baby wearing when my first was born. She was a refluxy baby who had to be constantly held and for whom sleep came slowly. Now, with another on the way, I am better informed and know the many benefits of carrying my baby in this way. Oh how I would love this carrier!
Baby-wearing is great during traveling because it frees up the hands to navigate crowded places and to hold more shopping!
My baby carrier saved my life and my sanity. Bubba number 4 was a huge adjustment. He had reflux and would literally scream all the time. Nothing would calm him down. He hated baths, seemed to hate sleeping, he hated the pram and the only way to calm him would be to carry him and rock him. I was at my wits end especially with other children to care for. So I strapped him in his carrier and got on with it. I vacuumed, did the dishes and went for walks with him strapped to me. And miracle upon miracles, sometimes he would actually sleep. I did this for the first 8 months of his life, until he grew out of it. I wish I had a carrier that went up to toddler hood, would make things a lot easier. especially when travelling. I am now pregnant with number 5 and would love anything that would make my life easier!
I travelled from country Victoria to Sydney with my DD when she was just 9 weeks old . Having to sit on a train , a bus , a plane and another train to get to my destination with a baby , a pram and a suitcase which took around 8 hours , would have been hell without my baby carrier . I put the suitcase in the pram and wore my baby . She slept most of the way which kept me relaxed too.
I could not survive travelling along with a newborn and toddler without a carrier. It allows me to keep my hands free to juggle the luggage, nappy bags, toilet stops. A carrier makes a stressful time run that little bit smoother.
I’ve flown a couple of times alone with my son and don’t know how it can be managed without babywearing! I don’t have a full buckle, though, and travelling with a ring sling can make it a bit tricky to balance bub and luggage with one person. I’m yet to try a manduca but have heard so many wonderful things that I’d love one of my own!
We wear our son almost daily just around the house and to the shops, and are hoping babywearing will make our planned trips to next year and maybe Europe to see family the year after a breeze.
I couldn’t have made it through the first six months without my sleepy wrap. We travelled to my parents house several hours away, and the wrap helped her sleep in an unfamiliar situation and we were able to go for walks and shopping without lugging the pram up and down the big hills.
So far we have been using a sling, generously gifted to me at my baby shower, and a god send while my babies have been little. It’s been especially beautiful to have for my little premmie owl, who is still so little that he snuggles in to me and just seems to need me more than my two girls ever did. With a healthy active toddler, and an in need of closeness little premmie, I often find that I pull out the sling to carry Seb while pushing Lolly in her stroller. This has made day trips out and about so much more feasable when on my own, but it would be lovely to have a manduca (have been trolling their facebook page for 6 months+! and the globe trotting photo’s make me so jealous) to pop the toddler into so we can ditch the pram entirely when out as a family, as well as my sleepy little owl as he gets bigger.
Great prize, from a great company xx
Yesterday we visited Wallaman Falls Australia’s tallest single drop waterfall we took our 3month old baby and other 2 children. Friends told us it was a 20min walk down, turned out they were wrong and it was a very hard going 1.5hours down. There is no way we could have done that trek without babywearing and baby slept soundly most of the way down and up. A manduca would have made it even easier to carry baby, I haven’t tried one but would love to and have been recommending them to friends when they ask which carrier to buy as I hear they are the best full buckle carrier and versatile able to carry small baby’s in the built in insert.
Towards the end of my pregnancy with my third beautiful daughter I began to feel an overwhelming anxiety about how on earth I would cope with the day to day logistics of being a Mumma to 3 little ladies! How would I get ANYTHING done, how does one go shopping with 3 children??!
I had already purchased a Mei Tai for wearing my little bundle but little did I know just how much wearing my children would change my life for the better! Not only has my baby girls entrance to our world been truly sublime, but I am the most calm, confident and content I have ever been in my role as a Mumma!
Going shopping with 3 little ladies is easy with bub in her Mei Tai – my hands are free and I feel like I can take on the world! Baby wearing has taken us far afield to weddings, visiting family, and on great adventures making fabulous memories as a family.
Prams have always seemed a little foreign to me – and now I know why, nothing is better than having my baby close enough to kiss!
We are of to Thailand in a few months and taking our 1 year old grandson Nate for the trip. I wish that we had a manduca to make the trip a bit easier. We have travelled in the past with babies and have used carriers which always allow more freedom and as in your story the friendliness shown when you wear a baby is unreal keep up the good work with your great products
Hi Jayne. Thanks for entering the competition. Unfortunately the closing date has already passed but keep a watch out for other competitions in the future.