Spotlight on the Tula Explore

Why We Love the Tula Explore

The Tula Explore is the newest addition to the Tula range and offers something new to the Tula family – a facing away position. The Tula Explore combines the features of the Tula Free-To-Grow and a carrier from their sister company the Ergobaby Omni 360. This results in a carrier suitable from newborn, adjustable to grow with your child and with an amazing position for having your child facing away to explore the world a little more.

The Tula Explore has built upon the incredibly popular design of the Tula Free-To-Grow and features the adjustable base of the older carrier. The poppers hidden in the waistband make it super easy to adjust to the size of your child. Swapping the Tula Explore between parent facing and facing away is also super easy with the simple buttons.

The world facing option is brilliant in the Explore, based on the seat position in the Ergobaby Omni 360 carrier. It sits baby down into a bucket seat, keeping legs supported to the knee and their spine curved even when facing forward. The wide padded shoulder straps worn rucksack style means the Explore offers an extremely supportive carry in all positions.

Tips and Tricks

Adjusting the carrier

The base of the Tula Explore features a set of poppers in the waistband with three positions. These three suggested positions for the poppers depend on the size of your baby, allowing you to get a perfect fit. Your baby must be able to bend their knees freely in the panel so be aware of how wide you have it set! You can also adjust the neck panel to support your baby fully.

World Facing Position

The Ergobaby instructions suggest that the world facing position is used for short periods only. In the wider sling community world facing positions have been a contentious topic for a while, as some people believe that it is not an appropriate position for children to be carried in. However, many children enjoy being carried facing the world and the new point of view it offers them. No position in the carrier, if the usual safety and comfort guidelines are followed, will be dangerous for a child.

When using the world facing position your child must have excellent head control, i.e. can hold their head consistently without wobbling. This often occurs in babies around 4-6 months. They must also only be in this position when awake. Both of these guidelines are to ensure the airway remains open as in a world facing position it is easier to close the airway when the head drops forward.

Many children love being carried world facing, however young babies can become overwhelmed very quickly and seek the comfort of snuggling into the person carrying them. If you were carrying them facing out in your arms you would change position regularly, and turn them in when they wanted to lean into you. In the carrier it is possible to carry facing out longer and miss early cues that your child is getting overwhelmed, so we recommend trying to stay in tune with how your child is feeling in this position. You know your child and some children are happier in this position than others.

World facing positions can put different strain on the person doing the carrying’s back, so some people don’t find this position comfortable for long periods. If you’d like your child to have a wider view of the world but be able to turn into you and curl in then a hip carry is a useful alternative. When baby is old enough to be back carried and if you can carry high enough for them to see over your shoulder then a back carry can also fulfil these needs.

Doing Up The Chest Strap

If you are using the rucksack style straps do adjust the back strap/chest strap to the position which is most comfortable for you. Often people will find that at the bottom of the shoulder blades is a really comfortable position for it to be in (think bra strap level on women!) which then means you need to find a method to do it up. This is a great video from a colleague of ours showing some different methods!

Where Can I Try a Tula Explore?

We have the Tula Explore to hire (Everblue, Forever), buy and on our Try Before You Buy scheme