I am in love with my babywearing coat! I've wanted one for a long time and realllllly wanted one with a baby in a northern MI winter. So when Scott's office gave us a nice monetary gift after Galen was born I splurged and got my babywearing coat!
My coat is a Deluxe Suse's Kindercoat and it's just awesome. It can adapt for a front carry, back carry, and even hip carries (on either hip!) I've only used it with a front carrier thus far since Galen is still so small. I know next winter I'll probably be using the back carry most.
The coat is actually two coats in one – the shell is windproof and water resistant. The inner liner is fleece and unzips to be a lighter fleece jacket on its own. I've used the coat all put together and I've used just the fleece jacket. Both are really nice.
I mostly use my wrap carrier with my coat. I put the carrier on then put on the coat. The front panel is plenty generous and gives Galen plenty of room. There's a flap that zips across his back and comes completely over the back of his head – you can see it to the side in the full length picture of us – I really like that. It means he's completely covered if we're in heavy snow or strong winds. His panel is totally lined in fleece so it's nice and cozy. If he's sleeping I'll put the top flap over his head, but if he's awake and it's nice out he likes to be able to look around!
The coat came with a bunch of hoods. There's a rain hood for both Mama and baby, and a thick winter hood for both. You can see my hood, which I leave on, hanging down behind me in the pics. Galen's hood snaps on and off. If we're going walking I snap his little hood on to give an extra covering over his head (he's always wearing a hat regardless of if we're inside or out). In really heavy snow/wind I've zipped the top flap over him and put the hood over the panel to give double layers near his face – the flap just “velcro's” to my coat so there's a gap that I like the hood to cover in wind. The rest of the baby panel zips completely so it's completely enclosed.
There are drawstrings at the bottom of the coat which I really like. I keep it nice and snug around my thighs. I love the longer length of the delux coat because it's cold up here and it keeps me much cozier than a waist-length would! I also like knowing Galen's feet are definitely in the coat and cozy!
Getting in and out of the Kindercoat, and getting Galen in and out of the carrier with the coat on is easy. I've also been able to nurse with the coat on, unzipped a little, relatively discreetly while out shopping.
And of course the big question – is it warm? Yep! It keeps me and Galen both very warm. I like taking the kids on walks in the mornings several times a week and we always stay good and cozy. The winter hoods have flaps to cover the lower portions of our faces – a feature I've used a lot. The hood also has an adjuster strap on the back so it stays out of my eyes. Like I mentioned before, the drawstrings keep cold air from coming in around the bottom of the coat, and the windproof shell is very well-designed. It keeps wind out!
If you're a pocket person the Kindercoat has lots of pockets and they're all nice and secure – I can put my keys and gloves in them when I go into a store and they stay put. You can also choose from several different colors (I obviously chose the forest green, but I went back and forth between blue and green several times!)
I'm very, very pleased with my coat and I'm looking forward to a few years of babywearing with it. Once Galen has outgrown it I can easily take the baby panels out and it's just a nice winter coat. I'm pleased and recommend this coat to anyone babywearing in cold weather!
If it wasn’t a $175, I would SO get that coat. Hmm… maybe I should just ask for money for my birthday this year and just get it anyway. Especially since it never seems to warm up in MI lol.