Manduca or Boba 3G

[Elly1981]

I have recently had my first baby, he's now 7 weeks old. We have a dog so I'm keen to use a carrier for walks in the woods. We bought a close carrier but neither baby nor I like it much, no matter how tight I try to make it it seems to work its way so he is too low down. Then he can't really see out, seems a bit smothered by my (rather large) boobs and starts to cry!

So after some research I was thinking an SSC might be better for us and I liked the look of the boba 3g and the manduca. Doesn't seem a big difference in the features except the boba has pockets and the manduca seems not to.

So was wondering if anyone has any experiences or could compare them or recommend the best one for us. If it helps I'm 5 foot 7 and size 16/18 and DH is 6 foot and med build.

Sadly no sling library or meet anywhere near us, as we live in a rural area. So am hoping the wise MNers can advise!

Thanks

We tried on both but preferred the boba 3g because of the nice touches like the pockets. Also it's better for taller babies which I have. Dd is.12wo and I use a range of slings but I would definitely recommend the boba if you're thinking about it.

I bought the Boba for 9mo DD, having previously used a Moby but she got too heavy in it and I wanted to carry her on my back. I LOVE it, it is so easy to put on and take off, feels really secure and, most importantly, DD loves it. In fact, we were so impressed that DH insisted we buy another one for DS (2yo 9mo) and now we can go on lots of adventurous walks with them both.

Haven't tried boba, but manduca is brilliant. No pockets but love the zip-out height extension bit (is boba still taller compared with zipped-out manduca, or is it just the stirrups that make it better for taller babies?) Also like that you can cross the straps in a front carry, can you do this with boba and does it matter to you? What a nuisance you can't try, can you hire by post, someone has linked on here before...

A few sling libraries will do postal hires....I know the South London Sling Library do and I'm sure there are others.

The main pros/cons:

• Manduca you can cross the straps over your back in a front carry, Boba you can't and have to wear like a backwards rucksack. I much prefer straps crossed at the back but not everyone does.
• Boba has foot stirrups for when your little one gets big to keep their legs properly supported. They work very well but tbh the Manduca is normally fine until 2-ish (and beyond at a push / for short-ish periods)
• IMO Manduca works better from newborn than Boba (only 3g is 'suitable' from newborn and the quote marks are because they say it is suitable but I really don't love it for a newborn)
• Pockets over-rated imo. You can't get much in it without messing with the shape of the carrier.
• Boba is thinner/lighter/folds smaller but still very supportive.