Definition:

A podegi is a soft, unstructured baby carrier that is made of a big piece of fabric with two long straps attached at each of the top sides. This varies from the Asian-style baby carrier, or mei tai, which has a second set of straps at the bottom of a smaller square of fabric.

Most often, baby is worn on the back, facing the wearer, with a podegi, but some babywearers like to use their podegis on the front, as well.

With baby positioned against the wearer's back, the podegi is pulled around the baby and wearer, and the straps are pulled under the wearer's arms, across the chest, and then wrapped behind the wearer's back so they're under baby's bottom (forming a pouch with the extra fabric at the same time). Finally, the long straps are pulled back around to the wearer's front and tied around the waist. If you're having trouble picturing how that process works, there's a nice series of podegi photos here.

With a podegi, the baby carrier straps do not go over the babywearer's shoulders. Podegis are a good option for those who have trouble bearing baby's weight with their shoulders, as with traditional baby carriers.

Alternate Spellings: podaegi