The carry to learn first is the pocket wrap cross carry, and it works the same way on a Moby, a Solly and a Boba. Find the middle of the wrap, hold it against your stomach, cross the two ends behind your back and bring them over your shoulders, then tuck each end under the band across your front to make a pocket. Put the baby in the pocket, spread the fabric knee to knee, and pull the two ends to tighten. Then check three things: baby high enough to kiss, chin off the chest, face uncovered.
Before the first attempt
Work out which carries your wrap is designed for. All three picks on this page are stretchy wraps, and stretchy wraps are for front carries in the newborn period. They are not safe for back carries, because jersey fabric sags under load and cannot be tied tightly enough behind you.
Practise with a doll or a rolled blanket the first three times, standing in front of a mirror. Every one of these carriers has a learning curve of about twenty minutes, and the middle of a crying episode is the worst possible time to be reading a diagram for the first time.
Step one: find the middle
Hold the wrap up and find the mid point. Most stretchy wraps mark it with a different coloured stripe or a small label in the centre, and the Moby does exactly that. Everything starts from the middle, because if you start off-centre one tail ends up too short to finish the carry.
If your wrap has no marker, fold it in half lengthwise and find the fold.
Step two: set the band
Hold the middle of the wrap against your stomach at about navel height, with one tail in each hand. Take both tails around your waist and behind your back, crossing them there, then bring them up over your shoulders and down your front.
Encourage the fabric across your back to widen as you go rather than stay bunched in a rope. A narrow band across your back digs in, and it is the most common reason a first attempt feels wrong.
Step three: make the pocket
You now have the band across your front and two tails coming down over your shoulders. Take each tail and tuck it down underneath the band, then bring it back up and out. That tuck is what creates the horizontal pocket the baby sits in.
Both tails should now hang down in front of you, inside the band. Pull them gently to take out the slack, but do not tighten fully yet — you need room to get the baby in.
Step four: put the baby in
Hold the baby against your chest, upright, with their head to one side. Slide them into the pocket feet first, then down. Their knees should end up higher than their bottom, and the fabric should support them from knee to knee.
Take one tail in each hand and pull to tighten. The tension comes from the fabric spread across your back and shoulders, so pull steadily rather than sharply, and tighten one side at a time if that is easier to keep even.
Step five: the three checks
The kiss height. You should be able to bend your head and kiss the top of the baby’s head without effort. If you have to strain, the carry is too low. Raise the band and retighten.
The chin. Two fingers should fit between the baby’s chin and their chest. A chin pressed down onto the chest restricts the airway, and it happens most often when the carry is too low or the fabric is too loose.
The face. Visible and uncovered at all times, including after you have tightened. Recheck after every adjustment, and check again when you get where you are going.
Then run a hand inside the fabric at the back. It should feel firm and flat against the baby, not slack. A wrap that feels loose when you walk will get looser over the next twenty minutes.
✅ Buy it if
- Your baby is a newborn up to about 20 pounds
- You want a hands-free carry at home
- You want both shoulders sharing the weight
- You are prepared to practise before the baby arrives
- You want a carry you can tie once and leave on
❌ Skip it if
- You want to put the baby up and down repeatedly
- You want a back carry
- Your baby is a heavy toddler
- You want something you can put on in fifteen seconds in a car park
Which wrap to learn on
All three of these take the same carry. They differ in fabric and length, which changes how forgiving the first attempt feels.
The wraps, briefly
Moby Classic Wrap
The 18 foot length is the reason to learn on this one. Extra fabric means the middle does not have to be perfectly placed to finish the carry, and the stretch will hold a slightly loose tie securely. It carries 8 to 33 pounds, so it covers the newborn months that stretchy wraps are for, and the fabric is machine washable and does not need special care.
Skip it if: your baby is past about 20 pounds, because stretchy fabric sags.
Solly Baby Wrap
Shorter and lighter. The TENCEL Modal is noticeably more breathable than cotton jersey, which matters if you are wrapping through a warm summer, and the 5.5 yard cut makes it easier to pack. The shorter length is the trade: there is less margin for an uneven first attempt, and the upper limit is 25 pounds.
Skip it if: you are brand new to wrapping and want maximum forgiveness.
Boba Wrap
The classic, and the wrap most likely to appear barely used on a resale listing. Stretchy cotton, single length, same pocket carry. It is the cheapest sensible way to learn whether wrapping suits you before spending more.
Skip it if: you want the longest cut available.
WildBird Ring Sling
Included here for one reason: a lot of people try wrapping, find the tying tedious and conclude that cloth carriers are not for them. A sling threads through two rings and is adjusted after the baby is in it, which takes about fifteen seconds. It carries 8 to 35 pounds and comes in 74 and 90 inch lengths, so it also goes higher up the weight range than any of the wraps.
Skip it if: you want both shoulders sharing the load.
The three, side by side
| Model | Type | Length | Weight range | Forgiving to tie | ASIN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Moby Classic Wrap | Stretchy wrap | 18 ft | 8-33 lb | Most forgiving | Check price → | |
| 2Solly Baby Wrap | Stretchy wrap | 5.5 yd | 8-25 lb | Moderate | Check price → | |
| 3Boba Wrap | Stretchy wrap | Single length | Newborn up | Forgiving | Check price → | |
| 4WildBird Ring Sling | Ring sling | 74 in or 90 in | 8-35 lb | No tying required | Check price → |
What to do when it does not feel right
If the carry feels loose within ten minutes, the fabric was not spread wide enough across your back. Take the baby out and start again rather than trying to retighten with the baby in, which rarely works on a stretchy wrap.
If the baby sinks down and their chin drops toward their chest, the carry is too low. Raise the band before you put the baby in, and retighten both tails evenly. A low carry is the single most common first attempt mistake and the one that matters most for the airway.
If it hurts one shoulder, the fabric has bunched. Spread it flat across that shoulder and back before tightening. If it hurts after you have done all of that, the carry is not the problem and no amount of technique will fix it.
How we choose
For a how-to page the requirement is that the method works on the products we name, so every wrap here takes the same pocket carry and every length and weight range is checked against the manufacturer’s specification. Where a wrap’s shorter cut makes it harder to learn on, we say so rather than calling it a feature. Owner reports were read in bulk and sorted, which is where the observations about sagging and shoulder bunching come from.
Questions we get a lot
How do I find the middle of a wrap with no marker?
Fold it in half lengthwise and hold the fold. If you use the same wrap regularly, tie a small knot in a contrasting thread at the midpoint so you never have to look for it again.
Tight enough that the fabric feels firm and flat against the baby when you slide a hand inside, and tight enough that the carry does not shift when you bend forward. Test it by bending at the waist. If the baby moves away from your body, retighten.How tight should it be?
Yes, and that is one of the genuine advantages of a wrap. Tie the carry at home, drive, and put the baby in when you arrive. A stretchy wrap will loosen slightly while you sit, so recheck the tension and the three checks before you put the baby in.Can I tie it before I leave the house and drive somewhere?
Machine wash cold on a gentle cycle, then air dry. Do not use fabric softener, which coats the fibres and reduces the stretch that holds the tie. All three wraps here are machine washable and none of them need special care.How do I wash it?
Check the three checks first, because a low carry or a covered face is uncomfortable and most babies object to it. If everything is right, try putting the baby in when they are calm and drowsy rather than already crying, and walk around immediately — movement settles most babies within a minute or two.What if my baby hates being in the wrap?
Where this fits on the site
Ring sling against wrap covers the decision if you have not bought yet. For length and fit on larger bodies, wraps for plus-size parents is the detailed version, and the carrier hub collects every pick with a wide fit range.
For the detail behind one line item here, when a wrap is the only good answer and storing a carrier between children.
Last updated: October 2026
Update log: Initial publish — the pocket wrap cross carry written out in order, with the three airway and height checks that apply to every stretchy wrap.