Baby Carriers

The journey to find the perfect carrier

If you read the post on strollers, you know that my plan to use an easy-to-find double stroller and use a chest carrier with one of the babies.  In actuality these baby carriers are useful in a myriad of situations, so the search is on for my favorite.  

What follows are my experiences so far.  I’m not saying any of these are bad and I fully admit that I was probably using some incorrectly.  But let’s be honest, I’m a guy and won’t spend a lot of time reading instructions.  Simplicity wins the day.

Slings

The baby wrap/slings were around when my girls were born.  I didn’t have success then, and my experience hasn’t improved in the last quarter century.  Maybe it’s a lack of boobs, but I can never get the baby in the correct position where it feels like they are safe and comfortable.

This was listed first because slings, like the Baby K’Tan, are the most appealing.  I want them to work so badly because the straps on many of the other carriers, in my experience, are uncomfortable.

Multi-position Carriers

What I’m referring to here are the Swiss Army knife carriers that use backpack shoulder straps and an assortment of buckles to reconfigure the baby in three or more locations/positions.

The advantage of these carriers is they go on easily, versus how complex some of the sling instructions seem.  There are also lots of adjustments to fine tune the harness to your body and position the baby. 

These may work great when wearing the baby on your back.  I don’t know because we haven’t gotten to that point.  Our current stage is wearing the baby on the chest.

With the models we’ve tried it just feels like wearing a backpack backwards.  Similar to sitting in a chair backwards, you can do it but eventually things get uncomfortable.

Again, we’ll dust these off once the babies can be carried on our back and maybe I’ll have a different opinion.

Boppy ComfyFit

My current model is the Boppy ComfyFit Hybrid Baby Carrier.  The ComfyFit seems to be a compromise between the slings and multi-position carriers.  By that, I mean that it uses wide strips of fabric in the design while incorporating shoulder-strap simplicity. 

It is possible to wear it incorrectly and have the straps get twisted, which digs into your shoulders.  I really want this one to work for me so I haven’t given up yet.

If you’re wondering, as it does come in heather gray or the more manly black camo, I’m comfortable with my masculinity and opted for the gray.

Chicco UltraSoft

The Chicco UltraSoft Magic Air Infant Carrier is a chest-only carrier but allows you to carry the baby either rear or forward-facing.

This carrier is, among the ones I’ve tried, the most comfortable for me. The shoulder straps have sliding pads you can position to your liking and a padded lumbar support for extra comfort.

The only thing I’m still trying to figure out is how to pull the babies closer to my chest. Right now if feels like they swing side-to-side too much.