Name: Patapum Toddler Carrier
Library: Weekend/Weeknight
Type:Soft Structured Carrier
Size: Toddler
Color: Sand
Reviewer: Kat
Retail Price: $60-100
We have a *ton* of new carriers, and we want to get to know them ourselves and help you get to know them. (Most of the pictures are stock photos from Patapum, because the pictures I took came out terribly. Note to self---striped shirts don't work well for babywearing selfies!)
For context, I'm tall (5'10") with broad shoulders, and I have a both heavy and tall baby. I tried out the Patapum carrier with Josh, primarily in a back carry (my preference unless nursing or out in the cold, since I don't have a back-wearing coat I like).
The first impression I have of the Patapum is that it's solid. The straps are very padded,and the waist belt is heavily reinforced with very stiff padding. A short-waisted wearer might not like that. In a back carry for me, though, it felt great, like a lumbar support cushion. In a front carry, I couldn't sit easily with him in the carrier, and I couldn't lower the carrier to breastfeed until I unsnapped the side straps (more on those in a minute).
The very padded shoulder straps are quite comfy. There is stretch in the cross-chest strap, which made it easy to buckle, even though I had one of the side straps in the wrong place at first.
Speaking of side straps, this carrier has two sets:
For context, I'm tall (5'10") with broad shoulders, and I have a both heavy and tall baby. I tried out the Patapum carrier with Josh, primarily in a back carry (my preference unless nursing or out in the cold, since I don't have a back-wearing coat I like).
The first impression I have of the Patapum is that it's solid. The straps are very padded,and the waist belt is heavily reinforced with very stiff padding. A short-waisted wearer might not like that. In a back carry for me, though, it felt great, like a lumbar support cushion. In a front carry, I couldn't sit easily with him in the carrier, and I couldn't lower the carrier to breastfeed until I unsnapped the side straps (more on those in a minute).
The very padded shoulder straps are quite comfy. There is stretch in the cross-chest strap, which made it easy to buckle, even though I had one of the side straps in the wrong place at first.
Speaking of side straps, this carrier has two sets:
One is fixed, like the Boba (so no crossed straps or hip carries), and goes under baby's leg. (This is pretty unusual---most carriers have the strap going above baby's leg.) The other has a buckle, and should probably be unhooked when putting the carrier on---it's supposed to go between baby's armpit and leg. I initially had Josh's legs on top of that strap, so it was pulling his knees up, but I don't think either of us was comfy. When I looked in the mirror and fixed the strap, I could see why they included it: the carrier is very tall (15", an inch longer than my Boba 3G) and a smaller baby could fall out the side without the straps. I had to unbuckle the straps in order to lower Josh enough to breastfeed, but, once I'd done so, I could get him low enough.
The last thing about the Patapum that was important, for me, is that it is not as wide as I'd expect given the height---Josh didn't quite have knee-to-knee support despite it being so tall that he was arms-in (or, more accurately, arms-out-the-sides) and despite this carrier being marketed at toddlers. Measuring, it is 12.5" edge-to-edge, which is .5" more than my Boba 3G---but without the darts that let baby sit deeper into a pocket, so less of my baby's leg was supported with this carrier than with my Boba.
The last thing about the Patapum that was important, for me, is that it is not as wide as I'd expect given the height---Josh didn't quite have knee-to-knee support despite it being so tall that he was arms-in (or, more accurately, arms-out-the-sides) and despite this carrier being marketed at toddlers. Measuring, it is 12.5" edge-to-edge, which is .5" more than my Boba 3G---but without the darts that let baby sit deeper into a pocket, so less of my baby's leg was supported with this carrier than with my Boba.
This looks like a great carrier for a tall baby who leans back---I'm remembering watching a kid at the Aquarium leaning out of an older Ergo whom I was terrified was going to invert and splash right into the penguin tank... This is totally the carrier for that family. It might be quite unpopular with a baby who is shorter and wants to look around, and it is too narrow for my big guy. He didn't seem to mind having his arms out the sides, though, despite usually preferring to have his arms out.
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