Hippy Chick Child Hipseat

My son was quite a big baby, and grew out of his baby carrier at around 7 months. He seemed happy in his buggy, looking around at the world, for a few months, but then began wanting to be out with me again. I also wanted the freedom to carry him, being able to leave the buggy behind sometimes when it would otherwise get in the way. I also enjoy trying out the quirkier baby accessories (bumbo, doidy cups etc), and bringing them to other mums' attention. So when I heard about the Hippychick hip seat, I had to try it!

The seat is not a baby carrier in the usual sense of strapping the baby onto you, it's simply a belt that you wear around your waist, with a hard platform over the hip that baby can sit on. It doesn't sound great, but believe me it takes the weight off your arm and back, which for me is wonderful. The seat comes in one size, which supposedly fits from UK size 8 to 20. However, my small size 8 sister tried it on and it was slightly too big for her to use comfortably, and my mum is a size 18 and it doesn't quite fit. I'm a size 10-12 and it's perfect for me. I think it's probably best suited for a large 8 to a large 16. It is possible to buy an extension from the website (www.hippychick.com) for around £5. The seat comes in a variety of colours including navy and burgundy, but mine is good old goes-with-anything black.

The seat is like a big bumbag, and the platform for baby is inserted into the large pocket which you wear over your hip. I believe once you no longer use it as a seat it's possible to remove the platform and use it as a bumbag (but would you want to?!). It's secured with a long strip of velcro and an adjustible clip (pretty much the same as the waistband on most baby carriers).

The Hippychick hip seat sells for around £36, but I bought mine on eBay for £15. I use it almost every day, and it was certainly worth the money. I had to train myself at first not to stick my hip out when I was carrying my son, as happens naturally when you carry a child on your hip, because with the hip seat you can keep your back straight. As the child isn't strapped in you do need an arm around them all the time, which can still give you a bit of an arm ache if he is wriggly, but compared to holding him without the seat this is very little.

I do a lot of walking for my job, and previously had to push the buggy around some awkward places. Now I put my son on the hip seat, sling my bags over my shoulder and off I go! It's very useful being able to hold things in the arm I have around my son - the arm supports him so I have my hand free. That comes in useful too when I need to find my keys, sort change or open a juice cup, which used to be hard if not impossible when I had a handful of baby as well as bags! I do find I get a little achey when using the seat for a long time (more than a few hours), but that is to be expected as I think however you do it, carrying a 12kg toddler around is going to take its toll eventually. Last week I carried my son without the hip seat for about 15 minutes, and really noticed the difference. I had to keep swapping him over onto my other arm, clasping my hands together to keep them from dropping off. There is none of that with the hip seat.

I really am glad that I bought the Hippychick seat. It's very hardwearing, and even though I got it second hand and have used it extensively for about 3 months, it still looks great. It is machine washable, but since the wash when I bought it I haven't needed to do it again as the material is very easy to clean quickly with a cloth if there is a spillage. My son loves it and enjoys the freedom of sitting 'on' Mummy but being able to look around because he's not strapped in. I am also very relaxed when we are using it, because all the weight is on my hips rather than my back and arm. I can get around quickly and use stairs without hassle. It makes shopping so much easier because I don't have to wait in queues for the one lift in the whole shopping centre. A lot of people don't realise I'm wearing it, and seem to think I've got super strong arms that can manage a toddler and umpteen bags at the same time with ease. I've only ever seen one other person with one, and we bonded over them as we couldn't stop praising our hip seats!

The seat is supposed to be suitable for up to 3 year olds. My son has recently turned 1 and is big for his age, and I find the seat invaluable. I can't vouch for how it feels to carry a bigger toddler with it though, but I expect it's easier than the alternative of balancing them on your stuck-out hip! My son has just started walking and I'm not keen on the idea of keeping him in a buggy so the compromise of walking and carrying on the hipseat is ideal for us.

I was undecided between four and five stars as it is quite difficult to get used to and is expensive for what it really is - a piece of hard foam in a bumbag. I decided on five stars as it really does take so much strain off your back (you will notice if you use one for a while then go back to carrying normally) and make it so easy to get around. I do recommend it, especially if you can get one on eBay or the like.