Mezaya Baby stretchy wrap review

Modal wraps are like busses it would seem.  I'd never even heard of a Modal stretchy wrap a month ago and then a few days after receiving a tester from Fornessi, my friend Zoe from the Sling Consultancy got in contact and asked if I'd like to try the new stretchy wrap from Mezaya Baby.

What really surprised me, it just how different the Mezaya Baby wrap feels compared to the Fornessi.  Despite both being predominantly Modal they feel completely different to the touch - I would have never guessed they were made predominately from the same fibre.  While the Fornessi feels silky and cool to the touch, the Mezaya feels more like thin t-shirt or a cotton stretchy wrap - just thinner.  The two are even more different to actually wrap with!  This difference in wrap qualities seem to stem at least in part from the addition of elastane - while the Fornessi is 100% Modal, the Mezaya Baby is 93% Modal and 7% elastane.

With this whopping 7% elastane, it is probably no surprise to hear that the Mezaya wrap is the stretchiest stretchy wrap I have ever tried.  It stretches equally both horizontally and vertically across the wrap and more than 2x in either direction!  It also has fantastic elasticity - you can stretch it out a good way and then it pings back into place.  This all adds up to a stretchy wrap that is incredibly easy to tie as its extremely forgiving - there is a wide window between too loose and too tight.   Absolutely perfect for a newborn and new parents.  In fact it is so stretchy that I think it must be impossible to tie too tightly.  Much easier to get too loose!  There is simply no need to leave any space for baby at all - their weight will stretch the wrap out just far enough to hold them securely and comfortably.

Where I think this wrap shines is for the littlest babies.  Newborn until around 3-4 months.  I really wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to a family with a brand new baby.  But the downside to how stretchy and easy this wrap is, is that it isn't the most supportive and as baby grows you may quickly find this wrap isn't supporting them as well.  I really struggled to get it anywhere near tight enough with my 11 month old.  In complete fairness, most people aren't still using a stretchy by then at all and so its probably not the fairest test for a stretchy! But, its worth noting that there are many brands that do still work for her ... so, while not a fair test, it is indicitive that if your expecting a larger baby or come to stretchy wraps a little bit later the Mezaya maybe isn't the best option in these cases.  But absolutely perfect for newborns and littler babies.

All in all the Mezaya Baby wrap is a lovely thin wrap that works beautifully for the newborn period - from birth till about 3 or 4 months.  Its a great choice for anyone expecting a summer baby as the Modal fabric is so light and thin.  Its also great for the enviromentally concious (because Modal is maded from fibres extracted from beech trees, and all solvents used in this extraction process are reused over and over with very little wastage and no disposal of potential harmful solvents).  At £56 plus postage, the Mezaya is at the higher end of the stretchy wrap and certainly on the more expensive side for a wrap that may well not last as long before baby becomes too heavy.  For more on how this wrap compares with other stretchy wraps see my full comparison article.

-Madeleine