Mei tais - are padded straps essential?

[frazzledgirl]

Seen a gorgeous one made by a WAHM on etsy, but straps don't seem to be padded.

DS and I adore our Toddlerhawk (he's 17 months and not small), I just fancied one in another colour (I am a sling addict).

This is cheap, but as I say, unpadded. How much of a problem is that?

I would say that padded straps are quite important, esp as the DCs get older/bigger. We have toddlerhawks which we still use with our 2.4 and 3.11 year old. I think the straps would be quite uncomfortable without padding.