How often do you get to be THE VERY FIRST PERSON to try a new product?

Well, that is what has happened to me. Recently I got be the first person to try out the NEWEST carrier from Cosy Baby Happy Mommy, The Buckle Tai baby carrier.

Erin Heard, the creative force and CEO of CBHM brought me a prototype of her new carrier a few months ago and asked me for my thoughts! I gave her some feedback and she went and tweaked it a bit and VOILA!!

The new COSY BABY HAPPY MOMMY BUCKLE TAI!!

What is a ‘buckle tai’ you ask?

Well, it is quite simple really. It is a modified mei tai baby carrier with a padded waist that has a buckle closure and traditional long mei tai top straps. It combines the best of both a full buckle carrier (soft structured carrier) and a mei tai baby carrier.

And this my friends, is an AMAZING baby carrier!!

"Please tell us more Natasha..."

Well, OK then.

The buckle waist. This has got to be the most comfortable buckled waist band I have ever tried. It is wide and contoured and extends all the way around to the front of the hips. Why does this matter? Oh, it matters mamas! This means that the risk of muffin top over the waist strap is greatly minimized. It also makes for an incredibly comfy and super supportive waist band.

The mei tai straps. These are the standard Cosy Baby Happy Mommy straps. Wide, padded and nice and long. I don’t usually like to cross mei tai straps across my chest (think super cross your heart, here are the ‘girls’ look), but with the CBHM straps I don’t mind because they are so wide they ‘fit’ nicely over my chest. You can also do a nice lexi twist with the straps or even a tibetan tie (they are totally long enough) for even more support.  And with a front carry, the straps criss-cross over your back and spread out nicely to distribute the weight of your child.

And I got to find out first hand exactly how much support they do provide just yesterday. Princess L insisted on being carried on my front yesterday at the end of a long walk at the dog park. Now the thought of 33 pounds of toddler in a tummy to tummy carry may be daunting to some, but a mama’s gotta do what she's gotta do and I am happy to report that I did in fact wear her for about 20 minutes like this VERY comfortably in the CBHM buckle tai--and I attribute this mainly to the wide straps across my back (and of course the aforementioned superb waist band) !

The main body of the carrier. The body of this carrier is contoured just like those of the CBHM Third Generation Mei Tais. This contouring of the body gives a better 'hug' around baby’s body than the typical rectangular shape of most mei tais. The body itself is long and really great for bigger babies and toddlers. That being said, the CBHM Buckle Tai is NOT a carrier for a newborn or small baby, they would be swimming in it! I recommend this carrier for the babies who are at least 4-5 months old and up and definitely for toddlers of all sizes! This is the perfect carrier to upgrade to if you have been using a stretchy wrap and are finding that your baby is getting too big and too heavy for it (signs of this are sagging of the fabric, feelings of strain on your back, and having to re-tie over and over to maintain the tension in the wrap).

And just like all CBHM carriers, you get to custom order your Buckle Tai to your liking and if you have been following along on the Cosy Baby Happy Mommy Facebook page you have been seeing the daily release of all the amazing new prints that will be available as of October 4th, 2011. (Psst....We are especially excited for today's print release!)

AND.... I am super excited to tell you that along with all of these great prints (Seriously peeps, how much do you LOVE the LERYN one??), I will also have five EXCLUSIVE prints only available though Natural Urban Mamas! And they are all so darn pretty! Here is a little sneak peek for you!!

If you are really just itching to get your hands on one of these carriers and are in the Edmonton area, then come out to the Launch Party on Monday, October 3rd, hosted by yours truly, Natural Urban Mamas, along with the fine peeps at Cafe O’Play. Click HERE for all the event details and RSVP and reserve a ticket now (I do believe there still are a few left)!

But just remember, I tried it first!!

Happy Wonderful Babywearing Everyone,

Natasha~

Disclosure: Cosy Baby Happy Mommy provided me with a buckle tai baby carrier for the purposes of this review. All opinions expressed are my own and have not been influenced in any way.