A few reviews on Mei Tai’s

So, I got the toddler hawk that I had posted about. And I came the the conclusion that that Mei Tai is just too long for my little body and my small toddler. So, as beautiful as it was, it is on it’s way to a new home. I also have a Freehand. I love the fabric. It is a warm burgundy brocade. It sure doesn’t feel like my carriers. It feels more- uhmmm…… mom-made- maybe is a good term.

The Toddler Hawk was very “together” very well made- very- production. Where as the Freehand is more personal, more “every stitch”. Both nice carriers.

It is hard for me because my carriers are what I am used too- they are not bulky, but padded well for support and it shows. They are nothing like these and fit different than either of these.

I also wanted to talk about Soft Structured Carriers. I got my first “other one” (as in not an AMC II). I got a Jetpak. I am not loving the print- it is a tribal print and not my style. But, I had to get one and I got a trade on it for the Toddler Hawk. I really like the waist belt- very different from the AMC II. My neck started hurting tho when I was wearing DD. I am not sure if it was me or the style of the carrier. I am super sort (as already been explained) and I seem to have a problem with carriers. The quality was good- their are a lot of parts and a lot of sewing. I try to keep as little parts and as little perforation of fabric as possible. but all in all the carrier is a good carrier. I was surprised at the thin webbing. Not bad or anything- but it is 1/2 inch and we use 1 1/2 inch- so it looked very different than ours. It is a good carrier.

Baby Hawk

I got a baby hawk today on a trade.

The carrier is very nice- good strap fabrics- although it is light and I got it dirty right away!

My daughter felt small in it- I mean the carrier felt big for an almost 3 year old.  I think I need to do a test run with it again.  I tried to do a lexi twist and an under the butt tie- but neither seemed right to me.  I know I could not tie it like an AMC it just would not work right.

My over all view is “not sure yet!” ~~ How is that.  For a mei tai I think it fits all the requirements.  It is very well made and light and seems easy enough.  People obviously lover their Baby Hawks.   One side has a brown print and the other has a cool green/blue paisley print (I love paisley prints!).

I will play with this more.  DD said she liked it- but then again she was in one of her “love everything” moods! So it could be true or not.  I like the width of the shoulders- but I am used to a more firm thicker padding with our AMC so that was different for me.

Things are picking up

Last week was an odd week- really the last 1 1/2 weeks- with Thanksgiving in the U.S. it slowed down consumer spending a bit. It was good tho- as it gave us some time to get some special projects done. We really do not do customs at all- however we have decided to open up one month of customs for both the AMC mei tai and the AMC II. Then come the start of the 2008 (can you even believe 2008???) the whole AMC products line will only be able to be purchased via retail and online stores.

I find the Mei Tai an amazing baby carrier. I have made a trade with another mama out there for a Baby Hawk Mei Tai as I would like to see what unpadded carriers are all about. It has never been a big secret that my use of carriers was a ring sling with a newborn and tat was homemade (and lovely!) and once my babies got to be about 12 lbs that was pretty much it. The design for our Original AMC Mei Tai Baby Carrier came for the basic knowledge of Mei Tai’s and the feeling that the design can be reinvented. We have never been ones to copy (for legal and ethical reasons) so we set out to design the very best most comfortable carrier with only the knowledge of what we wanted in a Mei Tai (and the advice of early early testers!). The padded body was in our very first designs- that has always been a key element to the Active Mom Carrier Mei Tai original. But- we went from mid-grade fabrics to high end fabrics. This much improved our quality and we added snaps and in the Soft Structured Carrier we added multi levels of adjustments. I think my limited knowledge of comparisons helped a great deal in the innovation of the AMC product line.

I will leave off here with picture of one of our Limited Edition Active Mom Baby Carrier Mei Tai’s.

A product(s) review from SoBeBabies.com

Active Mom Carrier I & II Review!

What a fun ride Active Mom Carriers has been on! With the introduction of the AMC mei tai (or AMC I) We have had very happy mamas and babies! AMC has been working on an addition to our baby mei tai carrier with a soft structured carrier (SSC). We have named this carrier the AMC II. We have had this carrier in the development and testing phase. This baby carrier has buckles instead of the traditional Mei Tai style ties. This carrier also has an adjustable hip strap.

We have sent Ellen with SoBeBabies.com one of each of our carriers (the development phase carrier for the AMC II) We asked that testers for the AMC II stay as silent as possible as to the specifics of this AMC II as we are getting several patent pending patents on this carrier and we are finalizing the design as we will launch the week of Thanksgiving for the phase 3 production opening sales.

Anyway, SoBeBabies.com has put a review of our AMC I and AMC II in her blog and a I am happy to report she seems pleased with not only the carrier but the quality of the carrier and the craftsmanship. She also runs a baby wearing group and had some moms try on the AMC II and included that in her review of our carriers!

Happy baby wearing!

~Ang~

What we are working on…..

Well it has been a busy week here.  We have been working on our website, on our product packaging and on our other carrier.  I have helped a mama who had a hemophiliac child with a mei tai.  We talked on the phone for about 20 min and talked about SSC and about mei tai’s and I advised her to use a Mei Tai because there is zero chance of any buckle coming in contact with her child.

 I also am going to be sending out a carrier to a mom who has an autistic child who likes to be carried at 7 and is just shy of 40lbs.  I also advised her on a mei tai- although I think a SSC would work good too. 

 I did hear a mom has an Active Mom Carrier for her special needs child too- I want to say it is SP? not sure. 

 We went for a walk today with both girls in carriers.  Scott was sporting this amamzing fully slik mei tai and I was testing our soft structured carrier.  I had went to a new clothing store last night on my way home form the post office and got to talking with a young lady (maybe 20-23) about our carries and fabrics and such.  She is/was a marketing major so she asked us to bring one in and show her.  So off to downtown we went and we just missed her.  Weekend hours suck! We were there at 3pm and a girl in the loby said she just closed….   Maybe next week.  We then sported the carriers over at the co/op.  People were really checking them out and Scott look so good with the fancy mei tai he had on carrying around a 40lber!  Way to daddy!

Oh yeah! Pics of the Mei Tai Baby Carrier…

So as promised~ PICTURES!

My uncle in the Active Mom Carrier Mei Tai

 I talked to my aunt today who has (as I said in the last post) and ergo.  She is in love with her Mei Tai!  Whooo… I was worried, because the ergo is a large company in the carrier world and is more mainstream (even tho my aunt is not, it was something that she bought).  So, I called her today and she said she doesn’t think she is going to use her ergo anymore- the AMC mei tai is just a way better baby carrier.  She said my little cousin Melanie loves it! And that it feels so much better than her other carrier.  And she loved the quality and the fell…. I am so jazzed. She said she is going to show it off to her other mama friends- maybe she can get more people baby wearing and wearing AMC’s Mei Tai’s!

My uncle wore a Mei Tai

So, I shipped a box of 6 different color Mei Tai baby carriers to my mom in N. Cali (visiting my grandparents).  She is going to go talk to some shops in Sonoma about carring the cariers.  Anyway,  She got the box today when I was on the phone with her and my uncle was at my grandparents with his 9 month old little girl- who by the way- is SUPER CUTTIE!!!!  

This was the first time he has carriered his baby (in a carrier, of course).  They own an Ergo, but I guess my aunt always carries my cousin.  My aunt was not there so it was up to my uncle to be the tester.  He straped it on tight and put his girl in- and she loved it- I could hear all of them gooing over my cousin!

 I am waiting for pics of my uncle in the Mei Tai    I will post them as soon as my mom sends them to me!   He said it was really comfy and he really liked it.  They all loved the fabric and the way the Mei Tai baby carrier folded down for storage! Whoo……

Need to talk about Mei Tai’s- duh…

I have been getting lots of feedback here about our carriers- most people love them- they love the inovative idea of our mei tai and like the that it is not like everyone elses mei tai baby carrier.  But, there are some people who really want the mei tai to be something different- someones else design with no inovation or creativity.  Sucks…. I mean glad people have carriers they love, but if they were all the same BORING. 

I stopped in at the local health food store (not much of a huge store, but the lady is growing it slowly).  Anyway, she had a baby last month and I was talking to the lady at the front about the owner and the baby- I told her I would love to show them a carrier.  We are working on our buckle carrier right now- and maybe in a week or so I will take one down. 

It seems that we were selling our carriers very good when I listed the Mei Tai’s on TBW (the baby wearer) however, now that I took the  Mei Tai promo down it has slowed.  I need to work on this as it is important to get more Mei Tai’s and SSC out to the public.  So healthy for parents and babies!

We are looking into doing the mei tai production ourselves- I think some people see this as too costly- because if production moves to the correct levels then employees need to be hired and so on- but I really like the idea- I like knowing the families that work for us and impact so many peoples lives in a postive way!  It is full circle for me.

New News in the Mei Tai world

Well, at our shop we got a large roll of strap fabric and cut it all down in less than an hour!!!! We also got a shipment of back fabric this week and put in another order on Friday. We got hit with a lot of Mei Tai orders yesterday and we are putting in another order Monday! Whew…. We are loving designing Mei Tai’s. Scott and I went out to dinner tonight and were drawing up a few ideas for the Active Mom Carrier II. It is pretty exciting. We got some reviews this week from testers and a current store that carry the Active Mom Carrier (the original!) Here is what they said:

I go to garb a carrier and I always grab the Active Mom over my Moby- it is just perfect!

 

I think the Active Mom Carrier is much more comfortable than the Ergo!

 

Damn, I was like that thing is plush!

They make us around here smile. Scott and I both have had a few businesses and this is the first direct product to consumer and it feels so good to know that the product this company makes is REALLY helping moms and care givers bond with little ones. I love that people find the Active Mom Carrier (Mei Tai) unique and “chic”.

I was not sure with all the Mei Tai’s on the market that are super fancy fabrics if our one color mei tai’s would stand up- but what I am hearing is that the Active Mom Carrier is quality and yes “chic”. I am beyond happy with the design that Active Mom Carriers has put together for the Original Active Mom. As we are getting tester feedback I am even more impressed with the level of “quality” reviews we are getting- as in people saying our product is of the highest quality. We wanted the best of the best, and we knew going in that would not be something easy. The best fabrics are expensive, the best backing the best straps, the best packaging is all costly- but Active Mom Carriers is able to do this and still offer affordable products to the end user- that my friends is why there is Active Mom, to bring cost effective highest quality products to moms and babies!

I have gotten some feedback on our mei tai carriers.  I am waiting for a shipment of suede to finish up the orders I have- should be here tomorrow! I got snaps today and they were the wrong color- great- but no worries!!! The company I order from IS AMAZING they are shipping me a new shipment (because it was kinda both of our faults) and they are not charging me for shipping or to ship this package back to them! They are so amazing!!!!

The feedback I have gotten thus far is the bottom straps are a bit long- and we have been talking about making them a bit shorter- so perhaps we will do that.  I want them to still wrap around the average person twice.  I think a good mei tai should allow to wrap around the waist twice- what I mean- is around your body cross over and around again to tie where you first crossed it.  Does that make sense?  I think this give you a very good tight tie- key to a mei tai is keeping your straps tight.

Also, we have gotten feedback that our body could be longer- not that it is short, but could be longer- so we have made it 3 inches longer!  And padded the back center back area where the straps come across the hips- so the entire back is padded from top to bottom!

Also- Active Mom Carriers is going to be running a clearance on our suede cloth and fleece line- we are phasing them out and these ones (about 100 carriers I am guessing) will be an ultra low back- PERFECT for newborns or infants! Sometimes those sized babies get lost in the longer carriers- this mei tai is made just for the smaller crowd!

So, there you have it!  We are anticipating our arrival of our suede!  I am dying to get some orange and celery green- why the heck did I not just buy them- I have been so upset and obsessive over them since I hit the pay now button- and they were not in my checkout! ahhh… lol.. Next order- that I will be making this week will have them!