There is always a little thrill of excitement when a parcel drops through your door. Especially when it is a mystery parcel. When Be Lenka agreed to send us one of their most popular wraps I looked through all of their offerings and I couldn’t see one that I wouldn’t have been happy to receive! I love a splash of rainbow bright colours, so i was delighted with the Rainbow Mandala woven wrap we received!

I discovered Be Lenka on Instagram and loved both the lovely patterns and colours and the provenance of the brand. Lenka is an ex Paralympian athlete for her country, Slovakia. I am passionate about the principle that slings and carriers are tools. These tools can meet the needs of a huge range of families, including parents with disabilities. This is how I began using slings. With a bucketful of determination and support, I found ways to carry my children that worked for my fluctuating condition. So, I was really excited about a brand designed by someone who with personal experience of disability. Lenka creates versatile wraps and baby carriers, and has used them to help her parent more easily, not letting anything hold her back.

Wash and go: ready to wear

As always with a brand new wrap I washed it. It is a 100% organic cotton wrap so there were no concerns about just popping it in the washer with no detergent. Washing a new wrap sets the fibres, softens things up a bit and converts your wrap from loomstate to baby-ready. I was feeling impatient so I tumble dried it. Once they saw this rainbow beauty, both of my boys would want to be wrapped in it! 

I wrapped my 5 year old in a double hammock on the nursery and school run. It was wonderfully supportive and totally comfortable. There was no stiffness in the fabric, and it didn’t feel like it needed any breaking in at all! This is a real selling point in a wrap. If you are new to wrapping and have a small baby you don’t want a wrap that is hard to tighten or requires work before it is usable. 

Be Lenka wraps: totally toddlerworthy

The pattern on the Be Lenka rainbow mandala wrap is really lovely and quite detailed. However, the weave structure is perfectly considered; giving both the definition in the motif without creating an overly dense fabric. It has a nice draping quality and feels soft and supple. It moulded itself well around my big kid, and also around my newborn sized doll. I didn’t end up with uneven tightening, which results in areas of slack in a carry alongside tighter sections. This feels “diggy”; it concentrates the weight through the tight sections rather than evenly distributing the weight through the whole width.

You may hear all sorts of myths about cotton wraps not being “toddlerworthy” but they are just that- myths. Our trial run with this wrap this morning blew them out of the water. There’s much more to a wrap than just blend, but you don’t always need fancy fibres to get the perfect wrap for you. This is great news because all cotton wraps are really easy to care for. If you have a newborn baby who brings up a lot of milk, or a toddler who has a habit of getting things grubby, this is handy. You can machine wash cotton wraps, and usually tumble dry them too!

Why not try Be Lenka rainbow mandala?

Finally, these wraps are affordable yet high quality. A size 7 Rainbow mandala wrap costs 95 Euros plus postage, and that’s not their cheapest option.

Would you like to try this wrap? We have added it to our rental catalogue here and you can try it through our Wrap Club subscription. We send everyone who tries this wrap a 10% discount code off purchasing a wrap from Be Lenka.  

I am sure you will love this wrap as much as we do!