Moving on from Close, keen to try a wrap. Thoughts...?

[LaTristesse]

I've had DD, 8 mo, in a Close Baby since birth and we've loved it, but as she's getting heavier and it's stretchy I'm thinking it might be time to move on. I have a Patapum (cheaper version of Ergo) which I used with DS which was very comfy, but I'm keen to try a wrap - something I never mastered with DS - as they look (to my old hippy eyes) like an earthy, natural solution!

I'd like something warm (I guess you can't get knitted ones?!), and either pretty or ethnic looking. And they're probably all the same, but something easiy to tie (for my cack-handed impatient self!)

Any recommendations people?

You can get some blended with wool if you wanted something very warm, but personally I find them too warm generally :)

The first wrap I used was a Lenny Lamb with bamboo which was fantastic - the bamboo means its soft straight away so don't need to break it in (often linen blends or 100% cotton are quite stiff at first, and you need to play with them to get them floppy enough to be comfortable). Lenny Lamb are also very cheap for a wrap - size 6 (4.6m) was just over £50.

If you are happy to pay more than this, natibaby and didymos are lovely wraps to use, all wraps tend to have a good resale value so are often not much cheaper to buy used (Natural Mamas FSOT board, but the acronyms take some gettin used to) but means if you don't get on with the one you buy, it's easy to swap for another one.

Size 6 is a good size to start with, unless you are a larger lady in which case a 7 (5.2m) may be better - you can do pretty much all the carries with these. YouTube is your friend for learning different wrap carries.

This was my first wrap :)

Oo that's nice Rock! thanks for your reply. Interesting about the fabrics, I'd been looking at a 100% cotton one thinking it would be the best, but might take a look at some bamboo ones now. I did find a gorgeous Natibaby wool blend one, but I decided I'd like something that would do for the summer too, so I guess I best avoid that if the wool can be too warm...
And thanks for explaining the sizing info. Size 6 sounds like it'll do fine! I'm going to try and find some local baby wearers for some tips but yes YouTube looks like the answer! Thanks again, really hope we get on with it...

I love wool blend wraps for their slight stretchiness and cosiness, but they are a little harder to care for than cotton as need hand washing etc. something like a Girasol would be a good solution - they get flannelly soft so have that cosy warmth but really easy to look after.

As pp said, you can learn from YouTube, but check out local sling libraries and meets if you want to learn in person. Start with a front wrap cross carry (Fwcc), get that mastered, then see where you go from there...