Product Review Series: ERGObaby Carrier

This is the second post in our Product Review Series which will run every Saturday through July 7th. As a reminder: the products in this series were purchased by us for our use and no compensation was received from the companies who make them. I'm just a mom sharing objective and unbiased reviews on some fabulous products for babies that I think everyone should know about!

The product up for review today is:

Organic Cotton ERGObaby Carrier 

Before even having Lily, I knew I wanted the ERGOBaby carrier. We knew when our baby was born, we would be wearing or holding the baby pretty much every waking moment while they were a newborn. Babywearing was important to us, due to the many psychological and physical benefits for babies and also to support our semi-attachment parenting approach. We didn't bother with a carrier carseat for this reason and bought a rear facing convertible carseat to use from birth through 4 years of age. Lily was carried in our arms (or in one of her carriers) until she was four months old unless she was in the car. She was very calm and content in our arms as a newborn....now she has places to go and doesn't always want to be held. We did not have the hours long crying jags that are common in the evenings during the early weeks of her life. We believe this was partly because we held/wore her constantly. Strollers have their place in our family (we have 2!), but using a stroller honestly felt so weird when we did use it...and still does at times. If I can wear her, I usually choose that over a stroller 95% of the time.

I had seen the Ergo often in Decatur and New York City, and noticed that people with really active lifestyles used them. Several moms sang praises for the Ergo and one let me try it out with their child.  Prior to that, the only carrier I had used was the Baby Bjorn carrier, but it killed my back after an hour, and I found out that it was not recommended due to hip dysplasia issues caused by the dangling position it puts babies in. In a carrier, your baby’s knees should be bent and be above the hips. The Ergo didn't kill my back since the weight was more evenly distributed and I noticed it was a lot more comfortable for the baby too.

I also appreciated that the Ergo could carry babies in 3 different positions (front, back, and hip carry) and that the weight limit is 45 pounds. Strollers aren’t always easy to use in certain scenarios, and kids get tired! I registered for it in black, knowing that Ethan would prefer a neutral color for when he wore our baby. The Ergo is not feminine looking, so dads are comfortable using it too. You can purchase it in feminine prints and a plethora of different colors. I preferred black for gender-neutral reasons, as well as being able to switch it back and forth between Ethan and I and anyone else who might want to wear our baby. In the interest of transparency, we did not purchase our Ergo as it was a gift! Ethan’s mother gave us our Ergo at my baby shower, and it was one of the first things that we used for Lily to take her out and about once she was big enough. (We started out with the Moby wrap which is better for teeny tiny newborns.) Before she reached 12 pounds, we had to use the Ergo infant insert, but I was able to buy mine used for $15. You can also use a receiving blanket to accomplish the same thing, which we did in a pinch a few times. It just serves as a pod to keep your baby secure inside. Since Lily was born at the end of November, the infant insert made the Ergo a very warm place to be. We didn't need to worry about dressing her in cold weather clothing when she was in it. She would definitely have overheated had we done that! 

I remember one evening when Lily was a couple of weeks old... she demanded to be held around the clock for about a week and Ethan couldn't get anything done. I was sleeping, and Ethan didn't want to wake me since I was going through breastfeeding hell at that time. He was starting to feel frustrated at his inability to be productive, and then he remembered our Ergo. He put her in it... and proceeded to clean the entire house and cook dinner. She fell asleep within 5 minutes of being put inside. We both took to wearing her when we needed to get things done around the house or if we needed her to sleep. My dad would walk the halls with her in it as well if she was fussy, and he was amazed at how quickly it put her to sleep. It was super easy to take her out of the Ergo and lay her in the bassinet once she had fallen asleep without waking her up. Now that she's older I have never had her fall asleep in the Ergo while walking around the house. If she's sleeping in her car seat, I can sometimes transfer her into the Ergo and go about my day with her sleeping in it. It just depends on how tired she is! The motion of my walking keeps her asleep. When she was an infant, people would give me weird looks because they couldn't figure out what I was wearing. One person asked if there was a dog in there, and another asked why I was wearing a backpack backwards. Haha. Now that she's older, her legs and feet are visible (and her head, if the sleeping hood isn't up), so people aren't as confused....but I still get odd looks.

When we grocery shop or run errands at Target, I always wear her. The Ergo has a zippered pocket at the front, so I just stick my money and drivers license in there and zip it up, and off we go. Better than trying to carry a purse and fight with all that stuff.

Clockwise from top left: Erica wearing Lily in the pedicure chair, in the pediatrician's office at 6 weeks old, out to dinner with dad, napping while I'm blogging, napping in the mall parking deck while I get my shop on!

Now that she's old enough, I carry her in the back carry as well. It is a lot easier to do things around the house with her in the back carry if she wants to be held. Having her in the front carry restricts my arm movement somewhat, but in the back I have full range of motion and am hands free. It's a lot easier than you would think to get a baby safely in the back carry too - I learned how to do it from this YouTube video. Obviously, you should practice with someone spotting you until you master it, but it won't take long.

First time in the back carry.
Lily wasn't too sure about it at first, but now she loves it! 

If I don't need my hands free with full range of arm motion, I usually choose to carry her in the front carry. Lily will look up and interact with me as we walk around. Her latest thing is to look up at me after looking around, and when I look down to make eye contact with her, she lights up and laughs. It's adorable. Another benefit to the front carry is that if I need to nurse her in a pinch, it's easy to do so and has built in camouflage. I just loosen the shoulder straps to lower her down to the level she needs to be at and pull up the sleeping hood, and no one is the wiser. And yes, I've done it - shopping and nursing simultaneously. The ultimate in multitasking! 

The Ergo can also be worn in a side carry, but I find it too complicated to mess with the snaps and fasteners to adjust for it. I didn't think it was comfortable, and since I've only done it once, I don't really feel qualified to talk about side carry. I will say that based on my limited experience with the Ergo side carry, much prefer my Maya Wrap ring sling for that. My Ergo and Maya Wrap both live in my car for the most part so I just choose the one I want at any given time to best fit the situation. It works well.

DRAWBACKS:

• The Ergo is expensive as far as carriers go for a lot of people. It starts at $135 and goes up from there depending on the model and fabric/design. You can find them used sometimes and on eBay for less. You can also use a 20% off coupon at Buy, Buy, Baby, and I've seen them up to half off on deal sites before like mamabargains.com. 
• It is not a compact carrier - it's not something I could just stuff into my diaper bag. If you want something that doesn't take up lots of space, you'd be better off going with a ring sling like the Maya Wrap.
• It can get HOT in front carry - I won't be wearing her in front carry outdoors when it's blazing hot in the summer. Both of us would be all sweaty...no thanks. I've heard that the Ergo sport is not as hot, but we don't own that model so I can't attest to that personally. 
• When you have your baby in the back carry, they might drool or spit up on your back. They can (and will) also find your hair fascinating and attempt to pull it out of your scalp. I usually put my hair back in a high bun for this reason. 

Is the Ergo worth the money?

Absolutely. If we hadn't received it as a gift, we would have bought one ourselves. We pretty much use our Ergo daily in some capacity. I wouldn't buy one for someone unless they had registered for it though. Baby wearing and attachment parenting philosophies aren't necessarily what everyone wants to do for their children, and it's too expensive of a gift to go to waste. If you buy one for yourself and don't like it, you could probably recoup a good percentage of your money back by selling it on eBay, Craig's List, or Spot's Corner at HyenaCart!