Hey all.

Just to inform ya, I’m moving my stuff over to another site.

if your interested…

http://ummibrahim.blogspot.com

Same theme and “vibe”. hehehehe

    bei is Mandarin Chinese for “back carry”…and so, as can be guessed with that start, this post is about a type of Chinese baby carrier called the beibei.Now, I asked a professor of Chinese here at University about the terminology of babywearing in Mandarin Chinese and unfortunately, he wasn’t much help. He asked a graduate student who was fresh from China about it and he was equally of little help. Which leads me to believe that outside of rural areas and minority groups, most Chinese (Han nationality) don’t babywear all to frequently. Additionally I asked about the names of baby carriers and again…the professor and grad. student had no idea. So I’ll leave that, at that.

This is a type of babycarrier used in Yunnan China which is like a large “blanket” of fabric with ties coming from the top and normally the child is wrapped up in the blanket with the strap going under their behind supporting them and the child’s legs hang straight down. The one I have is a velvet beibei from mybeibei, although it was made in China the straps are different from the ones normally found on them in that they are much wider and don’t dig into the wearers shoulders when worn. The fabric is a yummy, soft, warm velvet and the designs are really beautiful. I totally love it when cold weather comes because that means I can drag this baby out and actually use her! This is probably one of the best cool weather baby carriers around!

Unfortunately, the mama who runs MyBeiBei no longer sells these as I guess they aren’t as popular as her hemp version. But irregardless, a beibei is a beibei and whatever I say about the velvet Chinese style ones are probably true for her hemp ones. (of-course the hemp ones are much lighter and suitable for all weather, not just nippy conditions!)

I got this one when my son was 4 months old and it was towards the end of winter. It was a great carrier to use with a young infant because the fabric is quite supportive and substantial and the child’s legs don’t splay but hang straight down. I figure this is probably an ideal carrier for back carries with a infant who doesnt like to splay their legs. (although my son has always been OK with wide leg splays, even as a newborn). These can be used for both front and back carries and the straps can be knotted at the waist, above the bust or “Tibetan” tied. I find this one of the most comfortable carriers I own, I just wish I had one in hemp (hopefully soon!) because this really is a very comfortable carrier and is very easy to use. Also as the child gets older you can splay their legs if you’d like to do so.

Really, I have racked my brain trying to think of any cons…and the only one I can think of…is because the one I have is velvet its too toasty for warm weather and can be a bit difficult to put on because velvet isnt exactly the easiest fabric to manipulate…but once you have the child in, on your back and the ties tied…they stay! No loosening or budging here!