Beco Butterfly 2 vs Beco Soleil

[Meringue33]

Has anyone tried the (relatively) new Beco Soleil? Is it better than the Butterfly?

[Meringue33]

Bump?? :)

[dowhat]

Hi Meringue33 What did you decide in the end? I'm also looking at the Soleil or maybe the Gemini. Has anyone else got any advice (sorry for hijacking)

[pootlebug]

I've not tried the Soleil. But from what I've heard it is a bigger carrier than the Gemini or Butterfly.

I'm not a big fan on the Butterfly - I don't think the internal harness makes it very easy to get the baby well seated in the carrier. There are ways to do a back carry very safely that don't require an internal harness too. Beco have discontinued the Butterfly.

The Gemini is excellent if you want a structured buckle carrier that can be used from small baby upwards - it beats many of the rival soft structured carriers (Manduca, Ergo etc) for the 6 weeks to 5 months stage IMO, because it can be adjusted to fit a small baby well, but still adjusted to fit a bigger one too. That said, I think you'd grow out of it sooner than other carriers too - my 16 month old is still well supported in it, but another 3-6 months and I suspect it will lack sufficient support for her thighs, whereas the Manduca/Ergo etc would still support her well for a while longer (the Butterfly is also narrow and I'd face the same problem).

Hoping to get a Soleil for the sling library I run soon but suffering from the endless wishlist-versus-funds problem!