This letter from Beco founder Gabby Caperon appeared on an early version of the Beco Baby Carrier website and describes her journey through the creation of the original Beco Baby Carriers.

In November 06, it’ll be a year since I designed the Beco Baby Carrier previously known as the bECOpack.

Since then, the design went thru many changes and these days, I still work on improvements and a fine tuning.?A lot of improvements are based on a customer’s and user’s feedback.

Despite a common assumption, the Beco Carrier design is not based on the Ergo Baby Carrier design. The very opposite is true. In fact, I have not even seen the Ergo Carrier at the time I designed the Beco.

I’m one of those people, who were born with the backpack on their back. Or I do better say, I’ve been wearing one since ever I can remember. This only make sense, since I am a big outdoor person and I spent most of my childhood and teenagehood in the mountains, hiking, climbing and skiing. And I also have been always very interested in design and useful things and into making these things myself. Growing up behind the Iron curtain, where almost nothing was available to buy (unless you had the right connections or were a part of a party, which our family wasn’t), to make thing ourselves was not a matter of an entertainment, but a need. Later on in my life, I did not became a designer as I always dreamed, but went thru a business school (small business major) and then a medical school (massage therapy).

When I became pregnant with our son Duke (Summer of 2004), I was working as a crew on an US Sailing Vessel Curlew, a schooner from 1926, in Dana Point, California. At 7th months, I was asked to leave due to a ’showing’. And thus I became FAHM (Future At Home Mom Being a very active person, who has a hard time to stay still for 10 minutes, I naturally became a bit bord at home. So, I decided to make a diaper covers for our coming son. I have never sewn before, but figured, it could not be all that impossible to manage. I aquired a 40 year old Brother from a friend of mine. And with a help of a local alteration guy (a great man from Turkey, whom I bothered so much, that we became friends) we got the machine going. He shown me, how to tread it, oil it and overall keep it running. He was really laughing at me, when I told him, that I set up a business (got a business license which says “production of waterproof garments for children”, the closest category to my intentions, which the City had) and this will be my new job. I was actually laughing at myself too.

Before our son was born, I managed to sew for him a set of fleece diaper covers in newborn size. And they turned out to work quite well. Anyway, at that point, I was really into a diaper making and had a used Baby Bjorn sitting in the closet, waiting for our first walk. That day finally came! I consider myself a conscious mother, and so just as I was sure that I want a water birth and co-sleep, breastfeed and cloth diaper our son, I was also very sure, that I want to carry him, rather then to use a stroller (plus we did not have the money to buy one anyway).

We live close to the beach, so me and Duke in the Baby Bjorn were headed there. For the first 10 minutes, I was the happiest mother on the Earth wearing my baby for the first time, proudly, happily. But once we hit the sand, I started to readjust the carrier as much as possible, thinking, what was going wrong. I’m enjoying a great health and had never nothing wrong with my back, untill then I was seriously aching from carrying a 9 pounds heavy(light) baby. This experience set of my new desire to find (and/or make) something more comfortable then what I had.

I remembered to see some pictures of mothers from other cultures, carrying their babies. So I went to library and founded a books about the life on Native Americans, Africans and Asians. we did not have a computer at home at that time, but I used the one in library. Searching under “traditional baby carrying”, I’ve found that I am about a 100.000th mom doing so! There was quite a few information out there already.

I went home and sewn my very first Mai Tai that day. It was perfectly usable and good enough looking…and I sold it! To a mom in grocery store, while waiting in the checkout line, for $20 I was absolutely stocked! And since sewing a Mei Tais was easier for me then the diaper covers, my business intention shifted. But I kept the name Ecobabies, since the business licence costed a fortune! This was in June 05, I believe, and I opened the website in July 05. I was making Mei Tais and Onbuhimos, pouches, ring slings and wraps and while the business was doing so-so, it was not really anything magnificent. For a good reason! There were already others, who were doing their job much better then I did.

By the Fall, my son was 6 months old and getting heavier. Also, making a traditional carriers, I was a bit tired of all that wrapping and strapping. Just to make it easier for myself, I chopped the long mei tai straps and added a double ring slings at the waist and the side of the carrier’s body, where the straps normally crossed the body. It did not looked any great but was much faster to put on. But since there was no padding whatsoever, it was not comfy either with my growing son. At that point, I took a good look at my hiking backpack. That backpack is one of the biggest investments I ever made, but wort every penny. It’s a super backpack, which’s ergonomics stand behind the Beco Design. I tried to make a Mei Tai looking and working?like that backpack. And that was it! At least for me, I knew I finally got something good. I did not stopped working on the design since then. My first Beco was funky looking made with anything suitable I could find at home.

In Spring of 2006, the Beco design started to proove itself and other moms and dads were liking it. By Summer 06, the production increased 4 times and by this Fall 8 times. I no longer sew the Becos myself, since it would be impossible (I tried Nowadays, we have a small sewing shop in Costa Mesa, California and produce the Becos with the highest quality materials available (the hardware we use is used by US Army as well) on industrial machines with a help of experinced seamstresses. And I have a whole new realm of things to learn about industrial production, business management and being actually a boss, which is much harder then I ever imagined! I’m still a full time mom and take Duke with me everywhere, which at his 18 months is quite a challenging thing to do (for me) he has no problems with it

The future of the business and the whole babywearing movement is really on the rise and I am very happy being a part of it. I’m happy that I’ve found a meaningful way to serve others, which makes a better parent too. I would to thank you all of our very dedicated and patient customers, friends and family and mainly to our son Duke for the inspiration, motivation and happiness which has been brought to my life!

Sincerely,
Gabby Caperon
Owner and Beco Designer