Baby K'tan Simplifies The Baby Carrier
Launched in April of 2007, one year ago, Baby K’tan has been able to bring together many positive things that people liked about all the other carriers while simplifying how to use one.
The idea came to Michal Chesal when her son was born. Altering other carriers to create what would become Baby K’tan would be the best thing she’d ever done. With the help of her parters, her husband – Brian, Isaac Wernick and Aviva Wernick, Baby K’tan is a quality product and a growing business.
I got a chance to interview Michal and ask her some questions about her business. This is what she had to say:
What is Baby K’tan?
The Baby K’tan Baby Carrier is the first carrier to combine all the essential qualities of both a structured front carrier and a sling, providing the positions and benefits of both. It is a unique two-loop design, which allows parents to carry their infants and toddlers (from birth to 4 years old or 42 lbs.) in 8 different positions. There is a built-in back support band to keep mom and dad as comfortable as baby. There is no wrapping, no rings, no snaps, no buckles and it’s all natural cotton. K’tan means “Little” in Hebrew – so our carrier is “Little Baby”!
When did the idea for the carrier come together into a potential product?
My oldest son, Coby Joshua, was born with Down Syndrome in December of 1999. Coby’s birth and disability presented the need for me to create an environment for him that would facilitate his development and provide the extra stimulation he needed for optimal growth. In addition to his developmental delays, Coby was born with hypotonia (low muscle tone) and was adversely affected by carriers that placed his legs in excessive abduction (legs spread too far apart). He also required tight swaddling. It was disheartening not being able to carry him in a forward facing position as used in traditional baby carriers. I kept reading everywhere how good it was to “wear” your baby, so not only did I want to hold Coby closely and show him the world, I wanted to do it appropriately. I could not use any carriers that were currently on the market, and with advice from his physical therapist, I ended up partially modifying existing carriers to provide a position for him where he could face forward and see the world and get the developmental stimulation and closeness from me, while having his legs in a more developmentally appropriate posture and having a tight swaddled and secure feeling. Over the years, our carrier (Baby K’tan) became very popular and I realized it was time to market it on a business level. We then decided, with our business partners, to start the business.
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