You can tie your wrap in lots of different ways, and we call these ‘carries’. Each carry will need a wrap that is long or short enough to complete all the steps and fasten off around you. We all have different sized bodies and babies, so we might each need to use a different size wrap to complete the same carry. Base size is a way of standardising the wrapping instructions. Once you’ve calculated your own base size, you’ll know which size of wrap you’ll need for any particular carry! We’ve created a base size calculator to help you find yours!

You can read more here about what base size is, and the factors that can affect it, or you can jump straight in and work yours out first, then use that information to fine-tune your size.

Using The Base Size Calculator

You are going to use a piece of string to find your own personal measurement, and the calculator will use that measurement to work out your approximate base size. Try not to pull the string too tight!

• Start with the string in the centre of your torso, somewhere above your belly button and below chest.
• Holding the end in place, pass the ball of string round your body once and meet back at the start point.
• Take the string up over one shoulder and and diagonally down your back (like a sash) then back to the start
• Repeat this a second time, over the same shoulder.
• Bring the string back to the starting point and snip. You should have a length of string wrapped round your torso once horizontally and twice diagonally.
• Unwrap the string and measure it in centimetres. You might want to do this twice to double check that you get a similar reading both times.

Enter your measurement into the calculator below

Your suggested base size is just that! If you have a larger child, are new to carrying, struggle to tie knots due to hand mobility issues or simply like to have longer tails left after you’ve tied your carry off then you may want to choose one size bigger than suggested. There is only a 50cm difference between each wrap size, so the calculator will give you a good starting point for you to then fine tune. Your base can also change over time as you child grows or you become more adept at tightening the cloth.