Ergobaby Organic Baby Carrier, Black (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

Let me start out by saying I have had 2 back surgeries and I have back pain all the time. I have tried Baby Bjorn, ktan and numerous other carriers and all of them hurt my back within minutes of wearing it. Of course there is some pain with lugging around a 15lb baby but this is by FAR the best carrier I have used. Some of the things I like about it:1. it is very easy to adjust- I can wear it and then hours later my husband can easily adjust it for himself2. Its lightweight and very easy to stuff in a diaper bag or stroller (kind of bulky in my diaper bag but I do shove it in there)3. I love the "shade" that you can snap to block out sun4. You can nurse SO EASILY in this!! My son is 3 1/2 months and I just discovered this! I also have a 2 year old so having my hands free is a big plus- I can walk around nursing him in this and you can't even tell I'm doing so- no need to cover up (you could easily use the shade though if you wanted to)5. The zipper pouch in the front is great- I usually keep my phone, wallet, keys, pacifier and even a hat and there is still room6. Its super easy to wash- just throw it in washing machine and dry it or hang it to dry- I have done both with same results7. It is very comfortable (for a carrier) I love that it has great padded shoulder support and good upper and most important great low back support. I have a son with reflux and he needs to be upright so he is in this hours out of the day.8. My baby loves it! He likes to look around and when he gets tired he quickly falls asleep in it- then you can put the shade up if you want to make it extra dark and cozy9. It is very easy to just unsnap the side and transfer him from the carrier to the bed without waking him up10. You can use it from newborn (don't buy the infant insert though- total waste of money! Just use blankets!) all the way through toddlerThings I don't love...1. I got the black one and I would not recommend getting that color- its really hot in the summer and shows spit up really easily.2. You can only face the baby towards you- to be honest this isn't a problem at all but I anticipate maybe it will be? So far my baby is quite happy in it and he enjoys looking around and looking at his mama!3. Infant carrier that they say is necessary until a certain weight is so not necessary!! I bought it and used it once and didn't like it. I found it to be bulky and really too hot for me and my baby. I just rolled up 2 thin blankets on either side of him and that worked great- you only need to do that until 8 or 9 lbs and then you no longer need the blankets4. Could be a little tighter- I am 5 feet tall and 105 lbs and I have all the straps on the smallest position. It is very comfortable but it could be just slightly tighter and I hate that the rest of the length of the strap just hangs from carrier after you've adjusted it- I usually just tuck in the carrier so its not a huge problem. I realize I am small so this won't be a problem for most anyway.5. At first I found it hard to put baby in it by myself- now its a piece of cake! I almost sent this back because I could not figure out how to get him in without help- it was very frustrating. You are supposed to be able to reach back and buckle the strap on your upper back. However, because I am petite I cannot reach it at all. So, what I do is buckle everything except the strap at your low back/waist- I then just slide my baby in feet first from the top then buckle the low back/waist strap- its super easy and takes seconds.I would highly recommend this carrier- its awesome! I have tried at least 6 other carriers and hated all of them because they killed my back. I do everything in this carrier- cook, clean, laundry, play with my toddler, I even mowed the lawn with him in it!! (I just put the shade up to protect him) Especially if you have more than one child this comes in super handy- I honestly don't know how I would live without it!!

I bought two soft structured carriers: the Ergo and the Baby Bjorn. I initially wanted the much cheaper bjorn, but a lot of people told me having a waist belt on the carrier made a HUGE difference, so I decided to try them both. I was really hoping I'd find that the Ergo is nothing special, but that wasn't the case, and I ended up returning the bjorn. Here's a side by side comparison of the two:STYLE:Win for the baby bjorn. It's much less bulk than the ergo, and it doesn't have long buckle tails dangling everywhere like the ergo.EASE OF USE:The one thing I really liked about the bjorn is how simple it was to put on. The straps completely separate from the body of the carrier, so you just have to slip them on, partially snap in the carrier, put baby in, then finish snapping. With the ergo, you have to hold the baby with one hand against your chest (and pray they don't lean back), pull up the main flap, then continue holding it up was you tuck in the baby, and then carefully put the straps on one at a time. It all makes for an awkward little dance that will get you stares in public. However, if your baby falls asleep in the carrier, this does allow you to take the baby out without lifting, so they're more likely to stay asleep. You simply have to bend over so baby is resting against where you want to lay him down, then take off the straps and slide the flap from underneath him. Still, this one goes to the bjorn.VERSATILITY:The ergo wins on this one- it's max weight is 45 pounds, while the bjorns is 24. Plus the ability to wear the baby in back with the ergo is much more conducive to carrying heave babies. The bjorn is also very difficult to adjust for the infants weight.INFANT COMFORT:Baby bjorn wins on head support. Material is firm and it can be adjusted to fit tight around an infants head so it doesn't move an inch. The ergo infant insert on the other hand, is a bit on the floppy side, and is really more for the baby to sit comfortably than for head support (see pic).My son was generally happy in both. I'm not one to yell "crotch dangler" at people, but his legs did look a little funny in the bjorn, and I wasn't totally comfortable with that. However, I'm not exactly comfortable with the way the ergo squishes the baby's feet when they are young enough to wear them inside the carrier.WEARER COMFORT:The ergo outdid the Baby Bjorn by far. It really does do a good job of putting the weight on your hips instead of your shoulders. I've been able to wear my son in it for hours and felt nothing. The bjorn, on the other hand, had my shoulders hitting in 15 minutes. This is a really crucial failing- if a carrier isn't comfortable, you might as well just be tying your baby to you with rope. This is what ultimately made me return the baby bjorn without a second thought.So, in conclusion, I'd say the Ergo is definitely worth the extra money, and I'm glad I went with it. The baby bjorn might be better for infant less than 15 pounds or so (I definitely could not bear wearing 24 pounds on my shoulders), but its too expensive to be worth purchasing just for that.