Gemini

Last week, my friend Emily posted a link to PaxBaby on Facebook.  It is the coolest site!  Along with the link, she shared that she'd rented a Beco Gemini.  I love (LOVE) our Beco Butterfly, so I decided to read more about the Gemini.  I should also share that I take Emily's likes to heart... years ago I was at her house and she had the most amazing candle ever (pineapple cilantro) and long story short, she basically got me hooked on this candle company called Illuminations.  Fo' real.  Real as in, I won't even think of a candle from another company.  Except, she recently mentioned another company, oh brother...

Back to the Gemini...

My friend Shelley is who originally introduced me to Beco.  We were pregnant at the same time and would often swap thoughts, tips, etc... She had great things to say about the Butterfly, so when Oliver was too small to use our other carriers, I got the Butterfly too.  I have really enjoyed it.  I also have an Ergo Performance.  I got it because it was mesh and I thought it would be much cooler than the organic cotton Beco.  The problem with the Ergo is that while he doesn't need the infant insert anymore (which I didn't order, I just used an Eeyore stuffed animal at the bottom!), he's still a little too small for it.  Bummer.  

For some reason, I thought I'd done a pretty thorough review on our collection of carriers, but when I pulled the post, it was lacking.  Oops.  I guess Oliver was only a couple weeks old then so that was a lot for me to write at that point!  I need to do a better post now that he's older and we've been using them for a while.  And when I say 'a while' I mean every day.

All this to say... I checked out PaxBaby and found that you could rent a carrier for two weeks for - get this, NINE dollars!  Nine bones.  Nueve.  Score!  I had to try it.  Click, click - done!  The confirmation email mentioned that they only had a few loaners so they'd let me know when one was ready for me.  What?!  Being impatient, I decided to just order one from Amazon.  Gotta love Prime!  Choosing the color was such a challenge for me.  The Butterfly is espresso so I decided to go with black for this one.  When it came the next day though, I decided that I needed another brown so I ordered espresso and sent the black one back.  WHEW!

Can I just say - I loooooove this carrier!  I thought I loved the Butterfly - and I totally still do, but the Gemini does so much more!  Who knew?!

Here it is with the hip carry - I've not even had it for a week, but I use this position the most:

(front view)

(side view)

(back view)

This is the front facing out position (second most used):

 (front view)

  (back view)

The biggest challenge for me with Gemini as opposed to Butterfly is that the waist belt/hip clip is their special two handed clip and it's not easy to take off while holding a baby.  Butterfly has a regular clip there and the special double clip on the upper part of the carrier so it's not too difficult.  I've used the back carry with the Butterfly only once and it was easy because Oliver was securely fastened in the middle piece, but since Gemini doesn't have that, I don't see myself using back carry at all until he's much older.  

Butterfly came with a CD and was pretty thorough in how to use the carrier.  Gemini came with a folded pamphlet that left a lot of questions.  It took a couple times before I got the hang of the hip carry.  Also different is that I can keep my Butterfly straps the same all the time, Gemini's straps are constantly changing because of the different carries so you can never really wrap the excess webbing because as soon as you wrap it, you're ready to switch it up and will need the length you just wrapped.

Chandler seems to think we have a lot of carriers.  We do.  However - I think they each have a strength and I'm glad we have each one as I use them for different things.  The reason I bought the Butterfly was because Oliver was too small for the other carriers we had.  Honestly, because of its design with the infant insert, I still like it for small babies.  The Gemini is a long body and even at five months, in the front carry, it still covers Oliver's face when he faces out and is plenty high in the back when he faces front (me) even folded down.  Oh - also on that note... when he's facing out I use one of the drool pads or a small burp cloth over the front or else I'd end up with a giant puddle of drool. :)  

One more thing - Butterfly's literature said to wash it before first use since it was organic dye and would/could come off on clothing.  I did that, but when Oliver drools, a little color still gets on light clothing.  It washes out, but still a pain.  The Gemini is the same color and they didn't say to wash it - so far the drool hasn't caused the color to get on clothing.  I'm thinking I should have used vinegar in the wash to seal the color... if I need to wash the Gemini I'll do that.

Wow.  I didn't plan to write this much... my friend Jill normally reads all my posts, but I bet she tuned out by now. Jill, if you're still reading - shout out to you! ;)  Chandler is a post skimmer.  I bet he's long gone.  Chan, if you're still here I'll write a special post just for you! xo

PS - I emailed PaxBaby to cancel my rental and not only did they refund my nine bones, the owner, Jillian, was SO helpful!  Dialogue with her is what ultimately made me realize that I really did want brown over black.  She was so friendly and I would encourage anyone who is interested in trying a different type of carrier to check out their site.