Questions and Reviews

I have been promising this post for months now to those who are actual interested. I'll tell you what the issue has been. It's not that I didn't have the information that I wanted to post, it's that I didn't have to answer to WHERE I wanted to post it. When I don't have an answer, my brain gets blocked and NOTHING happens. I go into total avoidance mode. Not the best move but whatever, it's just a blog. So the question was, do I start a whole new blog to attach to my business (cough, 512 Cherry Lane, cough) or do I just make it easy and write it on my personal blog that I use to share with family and friends. I himmed and hawed about sharing all of my back story with people who aren't family or friends but ultimately my laziness has taken over and I have decided I don't want to create another blog so here you are and we are just going to consider you all family and friends if you are reading this. Because lets be honest, you are taking your time to read the crap that I am writing so you must be some sort of family or friend!

So now that that is decided, lets talk about the other issue. My blog name. It was originally named and baby makes three 1. because I'm horrible at making up names and 2. because it was a simple explanation of my life at the time. Daddy + Mommy + Baby = 3! Well, now are are due with baby number 2. That makes four. How am I doing on my math? Since we know we want more than 2, I figure the title with once again make sense when we move on to child number three because then it will be counting off children. Totally makes sense right. I like to rationalize things out, again, to support my laziness. OK, on to this review that most of you probably don't know what I'm even referring to.

The Review

Here is the link to the review

In General

If your curious about the down and dirty regarding the baby carriers: Beco Soliel and Standard Tula here is what I found. The Soliel has shoulder straps that unbuckle where the Tula does not. Straps that unbuckle allow you to cross the straps when you want this added comfort as well as do a hip carry. This feature may or may not be important to you. The waist buckle for the Soliel is in the middle with adjustment on both sides. Tula's buckle is off to the side so there is only one strap to adjust. I recently found out that manufacturers choose to put the buckle in the middle because it allows for more adjustability with less strap hanging. On the other side, the buckle off to the side doesn't allow for less of a muffin top effect for us larger ladies. The shoulder strap adjustments are opposite on the carriers. The Soliel you pull back where the Tula you pull forward. This is really a personal preference thing and you get used to either way. Both have waist pockets, adjustable straps on the shoulder to make them even smaller and have a chest strap. Soliel buckles are all safety release buckles where Tula's are not. Both carriers come with standard hoods.

When I got picky

When I started to look closer, here is what I found. Tula waist padding is wider but slightly shorter. It is also more contoured and has three dfined sections to wrap around your waist where the soliel is one section of slightly denser padding. The pckets on both the carriers are nearly identical with Tula being slighly larger to the eye and Soleil having a toy loop and larger velcro. The Soliel has a lot more room to grow with the waist BUT both will easily adjust to fit a plus size frame easily. Both have safety elastic to go around the buckles in case they don't hold for any reason (most buckle carriers if not all will have these). Both also have darted seats to create a nice seat for your baby. Both also have legs out padding but it is noticeable thicker on the Tula and wider on the Soliel. Both have contoured head rests but Soliel's is padded. Tula's straps are thicker with noticably denser padding where the Soliel straps are wider. Soliel has hidden plastic snaps for the hood on the front of the carrier where Tula's metal snaps are on the inside body of the carrier by babies head. This may or may not bother you. Soleil's shoulder strap to body adjustment or perfect fit adjusters is much longer than the tula's, at least double the length and there is a toy loop on the strap.The Soleil's strap padding is a few inches longer but because of where the buckle attaches to the carriers, Tula' straps have fabric that is between you and the buckle to prevent rubbing. The Tula's chest clip has more adjustability and if wider than the Soliel's. The buckle holding the strap on to the Tula also seems more substantial. Both adjust up and down on the shoulder strap but Tula's has almost double the area to adjust up and down.They have an identical width across the seat area. 

The Measurements (in inches)

	Tula - Standard	Beco Soleil	Tula - Toddler*
According to the website	15.5 tall 14.5 wide	17 tall 16 wide	18 tall 19 wide
Soft tape in hand	15.5 tall 14.5 wide	17.25 tall 14 wide at bottom 15.5 wide at top	17.5 tall 17 wide

Tula's are reported to vary widely in measurements, especially the wrap conversions. Their canvas carriers are much more consistent from what I have heard. 

So Which One Did you Choose?

I get asked this question a lot. The funny thing is that we actually decided to go with a Kinderpack. My husband loved the Tula but when we checked the Kinderpack out we found that fit wise they were going to be similar on our bodies. I also had the opportunity to test a toddler size Kinderpack out before we bought one where I didn't have the opportunity to test a toddler Tula out and that made me nervous because Tula's are notoriously huge in toddler size. Aafter deciding that Kinderpacks and Tula's were comparable, it came down to patterns offered in both carriers and we had a lot more available choices in the Kinderpack at the time. Eventually, I bought a Tula for myself because I like the fit better but my husband LOVES his Kinderpack. We couldn't be happier with our choices and ultimately are glad we took the time and have an amazing local lending library to be able to try out the different carriers before we shell out the  money on them!