By Shelley Widhalm
The Surveyor
Berthoud business owner Amy Kuber wanted to go on a winter mountain hike with her youngest son, Weston, but she wanted a jacket to put over her baby carrier.
The problem was in 2015, there wasn’t such a product.
“Being in the deep snow in the woods with three little kids, I needed to have something that would make things easier for me,” said Kuber, mother of three.
Kuber hand-made her own jacket, though she wasn’t a seamstress — it ended up being lopsided, the sleeves were not the same length, and the zipper was crooked, but it served a purpose to keep her and her baby, Weston, now eight, warm and comfortable. She kept wearing it and got so many comments, she decided to make and sell a similar product but properly sewn.
“What started this whole thing was the necessity and feedback from other moms,” said Kuber, owner of Wanderling, LLC, an online-based business, wanderling.us.
Kuber founded Wanderling in late 2016, originally calling it Mountain Marsupial to sell her Confluence Babywearing Jacket. She rebranded her company in November 2022 to expand awareness and widen her reach. The word “mountain” gave the idea the jacket is meant for hikes and the outdoors, plus “marsupial” is hard to spell and say, she said.
“Our jacket is an everyday jacket for all moms,” Kuber said. “You can go to the grocery store or take your kids to school. It has so much more versatility.”
Plus, the name Wanderling refers to exploration, creating “ease and fun,” Kuber said.
“Everybody likes to wander, and putting ‘ling’ on the end of it makes you feel youthful and whimsical,” Kuber said.
Kuber added baby carriers in 2019 when she acquired Kangaroo Carrier, retaining the name for her new products. One is a soft fabric wrap called the Joey Wrap, and the second is the Little Hopper, a soft structured wrap designed for dads. It has a lightweight, durable seat and wide-set straps designed for broad shoulders to carry the baby in the front or back or on the hip.
“It kind of made sense because … you need a carrier for the jacket to be useful,” Kuber said. “You don’t have to shop two places if you don’t have a carrier.”
The Babywearing Jacket has several benefits, including keeping the wearer hands free and enabling her to monitor the baby’s temperature without having to do constant physical checks, since they are both wearing the same jacket.
“It gives you reassurance the baby is doing OK,” Kuber said.
Berthoud resident Hawley Vining, a mother of three boys, found she didn’t have a jacket big enough to wear when her children were young, so she missed out on Wanderling’s options, but she still appreciates the products, she said.
“When I see someone wearing the Wanderling jacket, my heart fills with joy,” Vining said. “Not only did this person find the perfect solution to enjoy the outside any season with their baby, they are also creating amazing memories that don’t involve carrying a back-breaking car seat or pushing a stroller through a crowd.”
Vining has made the jacket her go-to baby shower gift, she said.
“I love being able to give a gift to a family knowing it is a gift they will soon find out they can’t live without,” Vining said.
Before opening her business, Kuber, an RN, worked for 20 years as a critical care and travel nurse.
“As a nurse and being someone helping and taking care of people, this has allowed me to extend that reach in a different way,” Kuber said. “What I’m doing is not selling a product but making life easier for moms and families.”
Kuber plans to add products, including a men’s version of the Babywearing Jacket and jackets for the warmer seasons, plus sell her products at local retail outlets Berthoud and Loveland. She also supports nonprofits like Hike It Baby by donating her products.