My Favorite Baby Carrier

Just two or three months after I discovered we were expecting a baby, I started on a quest for the right baby carrier. I had been told by my mom that babies tend to get fussy in the evening just when you are tired, too, and trying to put together dinner on top of it all. Several women had told me how much they loved their baby slings because they could just put the baby in and nurse while cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the older kids. It sounded the perfect multitasking solution to me, so the hunt for the perfect carrier began!

I had heard from some friends that a baby Bjorn worked great for them, so I promptly found a gently used one on ebay and bought it last summer (my first purchase for the baby!). At first she seemed too small for the baby Bjorn, but when she was about 6 weeks old I started using it. It worked OK, but I wasn't exactly enthralled with it. I found a couple of serious drawbacks. First of all, I didn't like the time it takes to put on and get it adjusted. I had to look at the directions for the first 4 or 5 times I put it on, but eventually got the hang of it. Still, it seemed to take forever to put on and all the while Maria would be crying because she wanted to be held that very instant. The second drawback too me a while to discover, but I discovered the Bjorn becomes more and more uncomfortable the heavier your baby gets. My Bjorn was the kind with lumbar support and everything, but still it was uncomfortable. From many a backpacking trip I've learned that a heavy pack feels much lighter when most of the weight is on your waist and as little as possible on the shoulders. The Bjorn puts all the weight squarely on one's shoulders. With disappointment I continued my quest for the perfect baby carrier.

Determined to make baby wearing work for me, I purchased a used Moby wrap. It's basically a long piece of cloth that one wraps around one's body and the baby can fit in it an number of different ways. I used it some and it made some tasks like cooking or hanging out the laundry a little easier since I could take her with me. I never really got the hang of the wrap. It was time consuming to put on (same problem as the Bjorn), hard to put Maria in so we'd both be comfortable and as the weather heated up, wrap wearing was definitely out in our non-air conditioned home. Also, wraps are NOT manly so I could not realistically entertain the hope that Mark would ever find the wrap useful. Thus, the hunt continued!

After witnessing an acquaintance use her Ergo baby carrier, I was intrigued. I read up on it and watched the demo videos featuring folks who were WAY too happy about their Ergo carrier (check out the one on attachment parenting... I'm somewhat attachment oriented myself, but this is over the top!). Despite the gushing happiness of the videos, I purchased a carrier and have been overwhelmingly pleased with it! Some of my favorite features... it's very easy and intuitive to put on and it's COMFORTABLE! You can hold a child from infancy (with an insert) up to 4 or 5 years old so you need to buy only one carrier, also the carrier works in 3 different positions (front, back and side), it's manly enough for my husband to wear, and it puts most of the weight squarely on one's hips (unlike some other carriers I've mentioned). I could go on and on, but I'll try to contain myself! I use it around the house when Maria is fussy but I need to get things done. I've used it to go for walks on our uneven county roads which are not too good for pushing a stroller. Some of the highlight hikes with the carrier were at the Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan and the redwoods in California. In both cases a stroller would not have worked so no baby carrier = no hikes = sad Sue. Ergo baby carrier = nice, long hikes = happy Sue.

In an attempt to be balanced I will say that I'm not sure this carrier would be the best for a longer hike (6 or more miles) with an older (and heavier!) child. It holds the child right next to your body so it could get really hot and sweaty. I think one of the backpack style carriers might be best if you were planning on going to a national park, for example, and doing lots of longer hikes with an older child. Some of the backpack style carriers have sun and rain canopies and even bug netting which could be important in those conditions.