the best baby carrier ever

I am a baby wearer.

I loved wearing my first born and now with number 2, I wear him all the same. It’s easy to breastfeed in, take walks, go shopping and more. He loves it. And now that he is a year old and getting bigger and on the move, it gave me time to reflect on all the carriers I have used. It gave me time to figure out which one I adore, which one didn’t give me back pain and which one was worth the money…and which ones were not. I haven’t, of course, tested ALL the millions of brands and types out there, so I am sure I am missing something. I’m sure I’ll be looking for the best baby carrier for plane travel in 2020 if I have more kids because although the one I’m currently using is great, I think there will be some hefty competition in a few years time! I also want to say I was never a sling momma. I personally don’t like the slings and had tried the Moby wrap and a few others…I just didn’t feel safe with them. I know a lot of moms love slings out there but I don’t talk about any of those here. Also, I am in no way affiliated with any of these companies…I’m just a momma that wants to help other baby-wearing mommas on a decision that I know is pretty serious when it comes to splurging on a carrier and of course for your back health and carrying precious cargo. *Note, all the carriers I talk about are in the higher end range of $50-154.

The first carrier I ever tried was the Original Baby Bjorn Carrier.

It was a gift/hand me down from a good friend in 2012 and I loved it in those beginning months with my daughter (and son). This thing is super easy to wear, store and bring around. It is secure and safe and when both my kids didn’t weight a lot, it was great. Then they gained weight. And my back just couldn’t take it since there isn’t any lumber support. And I like to think that my yoga teacher back bending muscles are pretty strong. Recently, I saw a mom rockin’ the Bjorn Active Carrier and it looked like it had more back support however when I went to look for it online, it was discontinued. There are other Bjorn styles out now that I have not tried and I definitely do recommend the one I used for the beginning months, because I didn’t need an insert or anything extra that the other carriers need for infants which I really liked. I didn’t mind using it and having to switch later though, because it was a gift and I didn’t have to splurge on two…so this may be different for you if you are starting from scratch here. The Original Baby Bjorn runs for about $50-75 depending on where you get it. ($50 on Amazon!)

Then I got the Ergobaby Original Organic Carrier and it was awesome.

It had a hood which I used a lot, was easy to put on, gave me good back support and I could wear my daughter then son in 3 different ways- front, back and hip…except I couldn’t wear him facing forward like the Bjorn allowed me to. That was my big issue with it, before I sold it recently. It’s not bad if your baby doesn’t care for being forward ever. But my son loved being forward. I used it a lot and still loved it with my older daughter when she was a baby, but wanted something different when my son outgrew the Bjorn. The Ergobaby makes a 360 model now which people swear by since it allows you to face baby forward without hip issues since it lets babies legs hand in the correct ergonomics! However I heard there is no hood and for a breastfeeding momma, it was so nice to have the hood for head support and for coverage so not sure why Ergobaby didn’t carry that feature over in the 360. (Ergo: $95-120 depending on where- $97 on Amazon and Ergo 360: $150-160-$154 on Amazon) That was the only reason I didn’t buy the 360 recently and because I found something else that seemed like it was THE ONE…

I did a ton of research and found the LILLEbaby Complete All Seasons 6 Position Carrier.

And I fell in love. It is the best baby carrier ever. EVER.

It’s kind of bulky, yes, (but not different in size than any other carrier above), and it takes a minute to figure out how to form a “V” in the front for your baby’s legs to hang if you are facing him forward (also in the best ergonomics). Or you may have to remember to position the back support piece sometimes which is no big deal. But between the mesh material available for keeping cool, the sturdiness, the hood and the amazing back support…it’s perfect. It even has a zipper pouch. I could quit my day job and be be an ambassador for this carrier if they asked me to, that’s how much I love it. (It runs for $140 on Amazon)

Yet I still tried another carrier.

Let me explain.

I can’t tell you how sad I was then when I left my LILLEbaby on a security belt in India last month. And in India, with a billion people around (literally) your stuff doesn’t always stay put. They didn’t have it anymore when I checked back at the belt/airport. I called all the managers I could find there and they were sad to say it was gone. So I did what any mom would do. I frantically went on Amazon India to search for it again. Amazon didn’t ship it in India. Then I contacted a company rep from their website who said the soonest he could get one to me would be 10 days (their customer service was so fast and amazing by the way). My whole work trip was 12 days long so that made no sense and I needed a carrier for all the trekking we were going to do with our clients. We definitely couldn’t carry the baby everywhere. So I had to research some more and order what was available.

The Boba 4G Baby Carrier had good reviews and it was available to arrive via Amazon India Prime (2 days) and so I got it.

And my baby wearing tale continued.

The Boba 4G is really good carrier. It’s about $125 on Amazon. It is actually much lighter weight and easier to travel with than the LILLEbaby. It folds up better for storage. But I’ll tell you the truth, the LILLEbaby would definitely have been much kinder to my hips and back as I carried my 20 something pound lil guy up and down huge stairs at a historic Buddhist cave monument. The Boba did the job for the rest of the trip, but if you want to know how my baby wearing tale ends…

I thought long and hard about it and while I really liked the compact nature of the Boba 4G, I will be selling my Boba and getting a new LILLEbaby to replace my lost one as soon as I can…

And so the baby will get carried happily ever after. The end 🙂