Oscha Cairis stretcher

The slings from the Scottish manufacturer Oscha are quite well known and popular in the "babywearing scene". But from Oscha there are besides the slings also carrying aids that are sewn from their own cloths. One of these carriers is Cairis and I have now had ample opportunity to test it.

About the manufacturer Oscha

As I have just written, Oscha is a Scottish manufacturer. It was founded by Mike and Zoe Masters in 2010. On the website www.oschaslings.com I can read that quality, functionality and elegance are important to them in their products. They now have Cairis, Coorie<, Nook and Bairn carriers in addition to the slings. The carriers are sewn exclusively from the company's own baby slings.

About the Oscha Cairis

The Cairis baby carrier is difficult to assign to a single system. First of all, it belongs to the half-buckle carriers with a belly strap with buckle and straps to tie. However, it could also be counted among the wrap conversions ("sling conversions"), with the straps not yet fanning out on the shoulder, but more on that later.

Price-wise, the sling is roughly between 219€ and 249€. When buying through the online store of Oscha, appropriate shipping costs are added. In Germany, the carrying aid can be purchased at Helden-tragen, for example.

Cairis is available in two sizes. According to the manufacturer, the Babysize size fits from 0 to 30 months. The Toddlersize should fit from 2 to 5 years.

The waist belt is sewn to the side of the back panel and is rather narrow with very little padding. However, the padding is very long so the strap rests on top of the padding. It is closed with a buckle on the side.

The back section can be folded in for small babies, making it smaller. It does not have an integrated adjustment for the width of the bar. For this purpose, a fabric strap is included. To a certain extent, however, the fabric can be pushed narrower, due to the lack of a belly strap at this point. In the upper area, the back part is slightly padded.

The large headrest can be gathered. It can be attached to loops on the back section with snaps. Therefore, the carrier can also be worn without the headrest. When in use, the headrest is pulled through loops on the carrier and fastened there.

The straps are padded on the shoulder and cannot be fanned out there yet. After padding, the straps can be fanned out wide, which allows for more flexibility when wearing.

When wearing

I have the stretcher now again and again with my son, as well as with my daughter could test. My son was between 2 and 3 years old during the test period. With my daughter, I have also tried the Cairis from the time she was born until now, which is around 4 months of age.

With my son, I used Cairis mainly on his back. I fanned the straps out over his bottom while doing so, which supported his weight even more. At the same time, this variation creates more pressure on the back when tightened really tightly, which is why I didn't do the fanning with my daughter.

Due to the wide weight distribution and also in combination with different closures, I found the carrier very comfortable with my son. Here it was not noticeable that the waist belt is only very little and at the back part not at all, padded. I found the combination of narrow straps on the shoulder and the fanning option after padding to be very practical.

With my daughter I used the carrier rather in front of the belly. Without fanning out, I quickly noticed pressure on my belly that I couldn't get rid of even by consciously tightening and tightening. The abdominal belt really cut into me. A little looser it was more comfortable on the belly, but I still got neck pain when wearing it for a long time.

For my daughter, the back part length and the bar width could be adjusted well by twisting in and tying.

Washing

The carrier should only be washed by hand. I have not experienced any problems with this. The choice of detergent depends on the material of the sling.

Conclusion about the Oscha Cairis

The carrier is very comfortable for carrying on the back and with larger children. I personally found carrying in front of the belly without fanned out straps uncomfortable and would prefer a more supportive belly strap.

But, as always, this is my personal opinion and I would always recommend trial and error to gain your own experience.