Once upon a time, there was a very hungry caterpillar….
It was a very merry Christmas indeed last year when I was offered this beautiful Mei Tai carrier custom made by the ever-popular Ocah.
This is a hybrid Wrap Conversion Mei-Tai-style carrier. What this means is it is a Mei-Tai, an asian style carrier made up of a panel with waist straps and shoulder straps used to secure your child to your body. It is a Hybrid Wrap Conversion because it is made from a wrap (A Hoppediz Toulouse wrap) and designer pattern fabric (Very Hungry Caterpillar by Makower UK).
Ocah offers custom conversions and to get an slot with them to get one of your own is akin to winning the lottery in the babywearing world so the next best thing is being able to score one in the Buy/Sell/Trade market online.
So, a few stats on this beauty.
This was created by Ocah in 2010. It has passed through a couple of owners and was kept in immaculate condition as is fit for this unique one-of-a-kind carrier.
It is a toddler-sized carrier with the back panel measuring 16’x17′. The waist straps is made from the wrap and is unpadded but has additional stitching. It will be possible to roll this up for a smaller baby.
The shoulder straps are padded for the first 16 inches. There is also additional padding on the top and sides of the panel.
It also has an adjustable hood. We didn’t try this because Emma does not like hoods but I can imagine this would come in handy for the new squish on the way.
Ocah is known for the quality of their workmanship and this is apparent in the detailed, perfect stitching. Close inspection shows no signs of wear or tear even though this carrier is going on three years old. It also helps that both the wrap and panel fabric is made from strong and comfortable 100% cotton.
We decided to give it a whirl for my afternoon vacuuming session.
Ignore my pajamas and bad hair
Emma is my 22 lb toddler and this fit her very comfortably. She had a very good knee-to-knee seat and the back panel was high up her back to give her the proper spinal support. The carrier was very easy to adjust to keep her nice and close to my body.
I am about 23 weeks along with Jr so I tied the waist straps above my bump and it was very comfortable.
My mirror could do with a clean
I wore her for about 2 1/2 hours while I took a few photos and vacuumed my whole house. Both Emma and I were very happy with our little test run.
The hype around Ocahs is definitely true. Not only is this carrier super-cute but it is beautifully constructed and very comfortable for long term wear.
I’m pretty sure this carrier will become part of my perma-stash and I would only consider giving it up if I had to trade for another rare carrier like Obimama.
Nom nom nom
