Neko Carrier (Toddlersize)

I am always on the lookout for new carrying aids, which are perhaps not yet really known. Therefore, I came across the Neko Soft Structur Carrier of the company Nekoslings. Babysun, a store from Austria, distributes the products in German-speaking countries and so I may now report here about the Toddlersize of this carrier.

Information about the carrier and first impression

Nekoslings was founded in Turkey in 2015. In addition to baby carriers, slings and ring slings are also available there. The manufacturer Nekoslings writes on their site that "Neko" is Japanese for cat. They want parents to carry with their carriers and slings easily and, as the instict shows us, close to the body. Further they write that GOTS certified materials are used.

The carrier is available in two different sizes. According to the manufacturer, the Babysize is suitable from 4 months (65cm) to 2 years. The Toddlersize is supposed to fit from 12 months (80cm). Since I myself could only test the Toddlersize, I can not judge the information on the Babysize. In the Toddlersize I find the bar width for a child with 80cm still quite a bit too wide, it would have to be reduced first.

The Neko Carrier belongs to the full-buckle carriers, because both the waist belt, as well as the straps are closed with buckles. Its new price is between 119€ and 139€, which is also in line with the price range of many other carriers.

The straps and the belly strap are both padded with foam. The belly strap has much firmer padding, which is probably to provide better weight distribution. Also, this is tapered, so it's a bit wider in the front than it is on the sides. The padding here is covered with the same sling fabric that the back panel is made of. The waist belt is closed with a centered buckle.

The straps are covered with a black cotton fabric. There are two adjustment options for the straps, at the top of the back section and at the bottom. The straps are firmly attached to the back part of the carrier. This is also the case with the baby size, thereby ensteht a higher pressure on the back of the Traglings. This is not quite optimal for smaller babies.

The connection buckle can be changed in height, which is convenient for switching to back carrying or switching between two very different sized carriers. The neck width cannot be adjusted. The head support can be gathered with the help of elastic bands and can also be attached to the straps with them. The fabric at the back of the child's knees is lightly padded. Unfortunately, the width of the bar is not adjustable, so an adaptation is necessary to wear in the squat-spread position.

When wearing

I was skeptical at first, since I'm not the full-buckle babywearing type. Because the bar width is not adjustable, I had doubts about the Neko Carrier. However, wearing it showed a completely different picture. With my 3-year-old son, who weighs just over 12kg, the carrier was incredibly comfortable.

The bar width was just perfect for his size (92/98). However, this also indicates that it might not yet fit smaller children and would be best to size down. The back of the carrier and also the width makes it very comfortable to wear with larger children. I did not get any back pain even when wearing it for longer periods of almost two hours. Wearing on the back, however, I felt due to its weight much more comfortable than wearing in front of the belly. Whereas wearing in front of the belly was also very comfortable. The harness system with only two adjustments makes it easy to put on and tighten. The headrest attaches easily to the straps, even when I'm wearing on my back.

Washing

The manufacturer, Nekoslings, recommends hand washing for baby carriers. For carriers made of pure cotton fabrics at 40°C, for mixed fabrics at 30°C. I have no problems with hand washing.

Conclusion

For me, the Neko Carrier Toddler is a very comfortable carrier for larger children who are still carried regularly, for hiking vacations or the like. Here, the non-adjustable bar width and the attachment of the straps to the back part are also no longer a problem, since in children of this size both the hips and the back are largely mature. For smaller children, the bar should be tied off so that the Anhock-Spreiz posture is possible. Price-wise, I find the stretcher reasonable, I could not find any qualitative defects. All in all, I find the carrier for smaller children, especially the baby size, not optimal, the Toddlersize, however, is well solved, if the bar width fits.

At the Kind und Jugend trade fair in Cologne, a new version of this carrier with an adjustable bar is just presented. I am very excited!