Making the Oscha Cairis

Making the Cairis - Style & comfort through simplicity

Each of our carriers has a slightly different focus - the Coorie embodies elegance and intricate tailoring, the Cairis is stylishly simple and easy to use. With both of them my focus has been on making an extremely comfortable waistband and trying to create the snug, supported feeling of being in a woven wrap.

The baby Cairis (meaning 'to care for' in traditional, colloquial Scots) is suitable from the newborn stage, it is accessible for new babywearers, and has a pretty, streamlined aesthetic, making it a pleasure to use. It is essentially a half-buckle but with a few very unique elements that make it quite special.

The really exciting new feature of the Cairis has to be our Strata-linea ® waistband (patent pending). After much dreaming, puzzling, trial and error we came up with something that is simple, yet super effective. A padded 'tongue' extends the waist band - it sits behind the buckle and goes round the waist to protects the wearer from digging caused by narrow areas of pressure on a waistband.

Not only does the Strata-linea ® waistband feel extremely comfortable, it also looks pretty, and, with the reduced digging, it creates a pleasing silhouette for the wearer. I'm so excited to finally bring out this new development as it was what I was always searching for when trying out so many carriers (really a lot!) with my children. We have used a lightweight, safety tested, YKK buckle and co-ordinate the webbing to keep the styled look throughout.

We carefully considered how to streamline the Cairis to showcase the beauty of the woven fabric and to offer a baby carrier that is simple to use and light-weight. We made the Cairis fully reversible and avoided using any stiff foam so that you can easily roll the waist to make the body panel exactly the right height for your baby. This allows the carrier to grow with your child.

We also created two accessories that further expand the time you can use the carrier with your child - the hood and the body panel cinch. The cinch can be tied around the body of the carrier and pushed down towards the waist band. Used in combination with rolling the waist, this makes the body panel the right height and width for newborn and very young babies.

The Cairis has a curved headrest which provides essential head support for infants and until your child is around 4-6 months. When you find your child has grown too tall for the headrest to provide support when they fall asleep, the hood can be used. We have made the hood detachable so that it does not get in the way when you are putting on the carrier and also when you don't need it. It is simple to attach and easily adjustable, with poppers and rouches to create support where it is needed.

The carrier features unique Oscha 'Flare' straps; padded shoulder straps that fan out from a central join - we're pleased with this feature, it is simple and effective yet looks very pretty and neatly displays the reverse of the fabric when the straps are spread. Flare straps provide cushioning over your shoulders but allow you to spread the fabric out under your child to increase support if desired.

The features we've included in the baby Cairis make it perfect for its intended age range (from newborn up to 2 years, 7lbs - 25lbs). We are also currently developing a toddler version with elements that will make it ideal for children of that age and we hope that this will be available to purchase within the next few months.

The baby Cairis has been safety tested to BS EN 13209-2:2005 & ASTM:F2236-14.

I am proud to introduce the Oscha Cairis to our carrier range, and can't wait to see it coming to life in a wide selection of our patterns and colourways over the coming months. We have some reviews to share with you over the next few days and maybe even a give away ahead of the launch next week. I hope you will love it as much as we do!