KawoNi by Trogmi – most versatile carrier

Brand: KawoNi by Trogmi (Italy)
material: cotton (panel is made of wrap fabric)
weight/age recommendation: 3-19 kg / from birth till end of babywearing time
size of crotch: 18-50cm

About the company: If you’re a babywearing counsellor and an enthusiastic babywearer, what would you wish for? A perfect carrier from birth till end of babywearing time? Versatile and convertible? Maria Unterholzner & Sandra Marth had that dream. They designed, sewed and tested… until they finally released “KawoNi” – the name is from Africa, the meaning is “carry me“.

My first impression: The KawoNi looks nice and interesting. There are so many special features, I cannot decide, where to begin. The straps as well as the hip belt are extremely soft (material and padding), I never experienced softer ones. The material of the back panel is soft as well. As this carrier can be bought as a 4-in-one (FB, HB, Mei Tai & Onbu), the most significant detail are the two straps of fabric on the back panel and the rings on the shoulder straps – these two gadgets belong together. More later… the head rest is in one piece with the back panel – seamless. The straps for pulling on the head rest are extra long. Two loops are on each side of the back panel. The back panel can be worn on both sides for a different look. There’s a inner tunnel in the hip belt.

How to switch the different types of carrier: For Mei Tai, use the shoulder straps and hip belt to tie. For Half Buckle use the buckled hip belt, for Full Buckle, also use the buckled straps. There are two kind of buckled straps – a normal version as well as a curved, sporty version. Its’ possible to wear the buckled straps crossed on your back or normal (with chest belt). You can attach the buckled straps to the back panel, using the above mentioned loops, or, great for newborns and tiny babys, attach them to the hip belt.
For Onbu, don’t use a hip belt but the buckled straps. The hip belt can be easily removed by pulling it away from the velcro. The shoulder straps can be exchanged/fixed by threading the back panel straps through the rings on the shoulder straps and fix it (always) with a knot. There’s a tag beneath the rings remembering to do that know, always, for security reasons. Reminds me of an airplane. The shoulder strap rings work exactly like a Ring Sling – brilliant idea!
Just to mention: you decide, what to buy! You can buy everything separately to get the carrier you wish for or o get all-in-one you just buy every item! 😉

How to adjust it: Adjusting the straps as you might already now from other carriers. Adjusting the crotch steplessly by gathering it with the velcro until you reach the knee-to-knee level. Choose to wear the carrier apron-style with a tiny baby. As soon as your baby our child is in the carrier, shoulder straps fixed, adjust the back panel by pulling the straps through the rings and fix them with a knot on each side. There are videos on the website of KawoNi – have a look at them if you don’t get my description 😀
Nota bene: by pulling the straps (and part of the fabric of the back panel through the rings, you’ll adjust the height of the back panel as well as the width of the neck depending on the direction you’ll pull.

How does it wear: I’ve been testing KawoNi as Full Buckle (tied to hip belt) as well as Half Buckle. With the really fluffy padding and feel of the shoulder straps and hip belt, it was very comfy. No cutting, no pression. I wasn’t quite sure about the adjusting of the back panel. While I could get a nice seat for my baby, I got the impression that the upper part of the back panel got rather tight around my baby through the tension in the direction of the rings. Maybe that was a sign I should’ve shortened the back panel by turning the hip-belt (apron-style).
Another point considering the rings: if your baby likes to suck on your straps, you might prefer to cover the rings with some kind of cloth, the droopy strap (wrap around rings) or order the additional shoulder pads. Also if the baby fell asleep and the rings get onto his/her face.

Conclusion: Most versatile carrier on the market, so to say. I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who’s new to babywearing due to the many options, or at least, not without trying it with a babywearing consultant. Though (or maybe that was just the reason) I’ve seen and worn so many carriers during the last years, I still failed in the first moment. It needed a chat with Maria and another watching of the videos to notice a little mistake that left me helpless: I threaded the buckled straps each on the wrong side of the carrier, the buckles didn’t match! Haha, simple but you need to know or you’ll think the whole carrier is a puzzle. That said, watch the videos, more than once 😉 If you’re an experienced babywearer and want an all-purpose carrier, this one’s for you. But I still recommend to test it before. The lovely ladies from KawoNi are very kind and helpful…
They also mention, by the way, that they have remarked that people who are not experienced with other carriers, only with wraps, cope faster with the KawoNi. Still, they say you should really test it with them or with a babywearing consultant.
Anyway, once you got it, you’ll get along with it as with other carriers, too. Once adjusted, it’s easy to put it on, no matter which type of carrier you choose. And if you order it as FB e.g. and later you prefer HB, you just have to order the straps and not an entirely new carrier. This, for sure, is a really good thing!

Tested in june 2017 with my 4,5 months old baby. Thanks for the opportunity!