Beco Butterfly II

[FTMdowntownDC]

Hi. I'm a first time mom to be and working on my registry. After reading Baby Bargains and looking at them online, I'm very excited about the Beco Butterfly 2.0 as a good carrier for both my husband (6'1") and myself (5'8") to use. We live in the city, and will be spending a month in Paris with the baby when she will be 2.5 months, so a good sturdy carrier is important. Baby Bargains said babies can face out in the front carry in the Beco, but I haven't seen anything that confirms that on their website. Is this the case? Can baby face out in the Beco front carry?
Overall, are people happy with the Beco?
I also plan to register for a sling and pouch carrier, to see what works best for us, especially for nursing. I work from home and we walk everywhere, so I think I'll likely be a pretty constant baby wearer.
Thanks! Lauren

[MomToOne]

I love my Beco. I recommend it to anyone. It is fully adjustable between people of different body types. It is very supportive, distributes the weight of the baby well.

Not sure what the exact version of mine is but I do not believe any of them do a front facing out carry. The design is such that the carrier acts as almost a seat for the child. So instead of hanging off you and dangling their legs they are in a sort of baby knapsack with their legs wrapped around you.

You mentioned interest in a sling and / or pouch and those work for facing out carries in my experience. The babies are sideways but they can see out if they want. They can also choose not to and snuggle up with you in the dark and quiet of the carrier. One of the drawbacks I read about front facing out carries is that the child can get overwhelmed and are not able to turn away. I think that makes a lot of sense. So all that to say I wouldn't consider it a deal breaker.

Is there somewhere in your area you can try some of these carriers before the baby gets here? Good luck to you!

[krocodile]

You can't do facing out in a Beco Butterfly, apparently they have a new carrier coming out that will do facing out though (the gemini)...

You can do it all in a pikkolo! I had a Beco Butterfly but wasn't loving it so I tried a pikkolo and got rid of the Beco.

[JacksMommy]

PP is correct, you can't do forward-facing carry in the Beco. The new one (the Gemini) coming out in the Spring will be able to accomodate forward facing but will not have the safety harness that the Butterfly II has.

[AnnieW625]

I love my Beco. I recommend it to anyone. It is fully adjustable between people of different body types. It is very supportive, distributes the weight of the baby well.

Not sure what the exact version of mine is but I do not believe any of them do a front facing out carry. The design is such that the carrier acts as almost a seat for the child. So instead of hanging off you and dangling their legs they are in a sort of baby knapsack with their legs wrapped around you.

You mentioned interest in a sling and / or pouch and those work for facing out carries in my experience. The babies are sideways but they can see out if they want. They can also choose not to and snuggle up with you in the dark and quiet of the carrier. One of the drawbacks I read about front facing out carries is that the child can get overwhelmed and are not able to turn away. I think that makes a lot of sense. So all that to say I wouldn't consider it a deal breaker.

Is there somewhere in your area you can try some of these carriers before the baby gets here? Good luck to you!

I agree with everything that this poster has said. I didn't start baby wearing with a Beco Butterfly until DD was over a year old and we only did the back carry, but I was very happy with the carrier and can't wait to use it with the new one.

[newnewsmama]

I bought Pikkolo because it allows the facing out position. However, my son never felt secure in it. We eventually exchanged the Pikkolo to an Ergo and sacrificed the facing out option.

I would definitely check out the Beco Gemini and Cybex if facing out is important to you.

[jennilynn]

I have an Ergo, and like the Beco, babies can't face out. But it doesn't seem to bother DS one bit. He just swivels his head from side to side to see everything he wants to see. We LOVE it, and always feel kinda sorry for those babies hanging from their crotch in those Bjorn thingys.