Creating the Explore Baby Carrier

 

The Explore Baby Carrier is just about to enter the world, and we couldn’t be more proud of the care and special attention that went into the creation of this carrier. The Explore Baby Carrier takes the intuitive, clean design that Tula carriers are known for and includes additional adjustments to support forward facing in an ergonomic comfortable position, along with front carry and back carry.

We have always strived to listen and grow with our community, and the Explore Baby Carrier exemplifies our efforts to reach more families, in particular, those looking for a facing out carrying option. We spent over a year designing and testing this versatile, no-fuss carrier to bring something to our carrier line-up that met some of our core goals, including:


  • Ergonomic in all positions, both for baby and for the caregiver wearing the carrier. This is optimal positioning for comfort.
  • Infant-ready requiring no infant insert. Ensuring that our new carriers are appropriate for the early infancy stage is so important to us because little babies require the most care when wearing.
  • Supportive as your baby grew and developed.
  • Easy and intuitive to use by streamlining the number of adjustments needed.
  • Adhere to all safety standards and guidelines required to bring our carriers to the global market.
  • An attractive design that complemented our variety of Tula prints and stylish community.

With these goals in mind, we got to work on an idea that we had been exploring for quite some time. To develop the Explore Baby Carrier, our product design team coordinated multiple fitting trials with babies at a variety of age and weight combinations. We brought in children at various stages of growth to observe their comfort, caregiver's comfort, and overall ease of use of the carrier while taking into account developmental milestones and ergonomic positioning. We gathered information from our fittings and consulted standardized averages for weight and age which best met our minimum requirements for optimal comfort, ergonomics, and safety. During the process, we also consulted with industry experts, educators, families, and multiple resources to develop the final product. Some interesting details about the process:

  • Once we were ready to develop the Tula Explore Baby Carrier, it was approximately 15 months from start until the August 2018 product launch.
  • We explored several different body styles and construction, and ultimately, produced numerous prototypes of the version of the carrier that would become the Explore Baby Carrier.
  • Concurrent with our development of the carrier, our design team worked to create 4 unique prints; develop the instruction manuals, videos, and other informational resources; create new packaging; and plan different ways to introduce the carrier.
  • Some of our current models were also our earliest product testers! These babies have been testing this carrier since they were newborns. Explore fit test days became a favorite at Tula HQ – we love having babies in the office.

The outcome of our dedicated work is a wonderfully simple, yet versatile carrier. We hope that the Explore Baby Carrier will empower families to venture around their world, communicate with their babies, and fall in love with babywearing. Having carrying options allows you to choose what is best for your baby and family at each moment and ensures that you enjoy your adventures together. We can’t wait to see where you take the Explore Baby Carrier!

 

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