Meet the Tula Explore! The Tula Explore is the newest carrier in the Tula line of baby carriers. This carrier has quite a few differences from the Original Tula and I want to show you all of them.  Please join me for a Tula Explore Review.  If you are just curious about the type of plastic snaps on this carrier, check out my article about the Tula FTG snaps and how to set them. You can also skip to the end and see a video review

The Tula Explore is the first Tula brand carrier to be able to forward face, or “world face”. Babies that have good head support and are about 13-22 lbs can forward face.  Until then and after then, your child needs to face you (inward face) in the carrier.  Not all babies like to forward face – mine never did – and that’s ok. It’s a whole lot of stimulation with no escape. So make sure to keep forward facing sessions short to start with.  Even after your child is used to them, be very aware of their comfort level, as you always are when baby wearing. Also, forward facing is not recommended for sleeping. So when your little one gets sleepy, remember to flip them around to face you.

This back and forth from inward to outward facing requires some minor carrier adjustments, but they are very quick and easy, and can all be done while you are wearing the carrier. This is not possible on some other carriers, which is one of the things I really love about the Tula Explore.

On the front there are two sets on buttons on each side. These look a lot like the Ergo 360 buttons. That’s not surprising as Ergo purchased Tula in 2017.  So the patterns and technology used in each carrier is now shared between the two companies.  To get the Tula Explore carrier ready for forward facing just move the side panels to the button nearest to the center.   Snap the headrest/neck pillow down.  And lastly adjust the seat width into the widest setting. 

The widest seat position is the “official setting” for forward facing.  I know that some babywearers find it more comfortable for their child in a more narrow position.  This may be because the parent is not tucking their child’s hips enough, because the child is smaller than average, or several other reasons.  A number of other ergonomic forward facing carriers have a narrower seat.  Use your own judgment or talk to a babywearing educator or Facebook group near you for a fit check.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Tula “super fans” were very upset about this carrier having forward facing abilities. (Skip the next 4 paragraphs if you don’t want to hear about the great forward facing debate.)

The Great Forward Facing Debate

Let me give you a bit of background. The first thing for you to understand is that forward facing is still not accepted by all in the “Greater Babywearing Community” as safe. That is partially because of the so-called “crotch dangler” style baby carriers, of which the Baby Bjorn is a prime example. This type of carrier basically lets your child hang by pressure on their crotch, which seems like it wouldn’t be comfortable. There is some research out there of that says that this dangling is also not good for your child’s hips.  Please use this as a starting point to make your own decision.

So along comes the “second wave” of forward facing carriers that are considered ergonomic. They actually do a very good job of supporting your child in a forward facing position. But like all carriers they have to be used properly and that means rotating your child’s hips so they are sitting and making sure that their knees are still in a good position. This is not the easiest thing to do and takes practice, meaning a lot of people are not able to get a good forward facing seat on their first try.  So when people ask for a “fit check” in a Facebook forum, there is often a lot of grumpiness about getting your child positioned correctly and commentary from people who just don’t think forward facing is ever ok.

So now that you understand some of the history of forward facing in general, let’s talk about the Tula specific issue. Before Tula was sold to Ergo, Tula was very adamant (for years) about how it did not consider forward facing to be safe. Much of the babywearing community rallied behind them and agreed: “forward facing is not safe”. At one point, they even said that they would never make a forward facing carrier.

So when you jump forward to the release of the Tula Explore, which has forward facing, you find a lot of the super fans very upset.  Yes, the company has been sold, so the original owners are not changing their stance, but it feels like “betrayal” to super fans. So if you get a whiff of any of this tension going on behind the scenes of different Facebook groups you’ll have an idea of what’s going on. I’ve even heard this carrier called the Turgo 360.

Back To The Features

Setting that aside, let’s look at the other features of this carrier.  The adjustable panel width creates a great knee to knee fit on babies of many sizes.   It is super easy to adjust since the panel just snaps to the right width sliding along a wide piece of webbing.  This also means that you don’t need an infant insert. (Cue applause.)

Infant inserts can be hot in the summer and generally bulky, but I’m equally glad they exist. So I don’t totally rule out a carrier that requires one, but I certainly love carriers that don’t.  Other carriers that don’t need infant inserts include: Kinderpack (infant), Lillebaby Complete and SeatMe, Beco Gemini, Ergo Omni 360 and Ergo Adapt.

The headrest/neck pillow is great for sleeping babies who hate sleeping hoods and for when your baby gets taller. It basically extends the height of the carrier, giving you a longer wearable time frame. The headrest snaps into place, up or down, so you don’t have to worry about it flopping around.  When it is snapped up, the snaps are actually hidden inside a pocket, so your baby only has fabric touching them.

The Tula Explore comes with a flat hood that has elastic sides and attached reach-straps. The straps have snaps on them, and snap into a stud on the shoulder.  The hood is removable and height adjustable from the top, with 5 different snaps on the strap, or from the bottom with 3 different heights at which it can be attached.

DIY Accessories

If you are going to make a DIY Hood, you will need to make or order reach straps with the correct snaps. The Tula Explore uses the same kind of snaps that the Tula Free-To-Grow uses, and that all new Tulas are starting to use. You can get those snaps in my shop, or just order a pre-made set of reach straps, which I also carry.  You can learn more about the Tula FTG snaps and how to set them here.

The shoulder straps are very similarly sized to other carriers on the market, but they are a bit smaller. Not so narrow as Baby Bjorn size, but smaller than standard Tula and Lillebaby width. If you have a smaller frame you may like this. They do still have plenty of padding.

 If you are making DIY drool pads, you can get my perfect fit pattern for free using the form below.  Since they are an in-between size, I added a new size so you can make them fit perfectly.

Pockets?

There is a tiny pocket on the front of the waistband. I have never found this pocket useful. So for me, basically no pockets here…but you can add on an aftermarket pocket like my Go Everywhere Pouch or just tie one of my Infinity Tie-Strap Tote Bags to the straps.

All in all, I like the Tula Explore a lot. I love the features and the easy adjustability.  It’s a combo of all the best features of Ergo 360 and Tula Free-To-Grow.  If you don’t want to do forward facing, consider a Tula FTG or an Infant Kinderpack.  Both will work without an Infant insert.  Lillebaby also works without an insert, but does require transforming the base for forward facing. With all the great Lillebaby versions out there (air flow, all seasons, and embossed), you might find that this small inconvenience doesn’t bug you if you are getting other access to other features you want.

Video Review 

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