The best baby carriers you can buy

Advertisement
The best baby carriers you can buy
  • A baby carrier lets you and your little one explore the world together. You'll be glad to have your hands free and your child nestled close, while babies love feeling warm and secure.
  • The Ergobaby OMNI 360 All-in-One Carrier is our top choice because it's adaptable, comfortable, and very easy to use.
Advertisement

The first few years of a child's life are a unique and wonderful time for his or her parents, but it would be dishonest to say that the baby years don't also make life more complicated. The simple act of leaving the house to run an errand, grab lunch with a friend, or even just to take a walk becomes a much more involved process, requiring everything from diaper bags to bottles to bibs to a spare set of clothes in preparation for inevitable messes. While the modern marketplace is cluttered with baby gear and accessories that you can skip, there are a few items the savvy parent should have on hand. A great baby carrier ranks near the top of this list.

With a baby carrier, you and your young child can venture out into the world - whether for a walk around the block or an all-day adventure through a foreign city - with ease and comfort. Baby carriers keep your hands free while keeping your child warm and secure, offering you convenience while strengthening the bond between you and the little one.

By using your hips, shoulders, and core to support the weight of your child, a baby carrier minimizes the strain put on your body. They are also, of course, designed with child's ergonomic needs in mind, keeping a baby properly supported and comfortable at the same time.

When choosing the right baby carrier for you and your child, first consider the child. That is to say think about your baby's age and size, and about how quickly he or she is growing. Some baby carriers are ideal for newborns, while others cannot even safely be used by a child until he or she is at least six months old. Try to find a baby carrier that will provide you years of use, but don't ever choose one not suitable for your child's current size. They can "grow into" hand me down clothes, but not a carrier that can't offer proper neck support.

Then think about the types of activities in which you and your child will participate while the baby is strapped to you. A hiking baby carrier might be a ridiculous choice if all you tend to do is run errands and visit friends and family, but a cloth baby wrap is equally a poor choice for the one-year-old coming along for a trek.

Advertisement

Once you have considered your child's needs and the activities during which you want to keep your child close and your hands free, take a look at the baby carriers on our list. Surely one or two of them will suit your needs, with design preference and budget informing your final decision.

Here are the best baby carriers you can buy:

Updated on 10/07/2019 by Caitlin Petreycik: Updated formatting, links, and prices.

Subscribe to our newsletter.

Find all the best offers at our Coupons page.

Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the Insider Picks team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at insiderpicks@businessinsider.com.

{{}}

The best baby carrier overall

The best baby carrier overall
The Ergobaby OMNI 360 baby carrier can be used to tote little ones along in any logical position you can think of on your back, hip, or chest.

A lot of baby carriers pride themselves on being three-position carriers. Some highlight how they allow a baby to ride on your back or front with equal comfort. Others tout their face-in or face-out baby position options. The Ergobaby OMNI 360 All-in-One carrier cuts through all the noise and simply calls itself an "all position carrier." I am an owner of this carrier and I can tell you this firsthand: Ergobaby is not lying. Face-in or face-out on your chest? No problem. Want the baby on your back? Easy. Either hip preferable? It works for both.

Now let's talk carrying capacity. You could use this carrier to bring most babies home from the hospital, as it's rated safe for kids weighing seven pounds and up. And I could just about still use it with my four-and-a-half-year-old because it can handle kids weighing as much as 45 pounds. Though technically the brand doesn't advise use above four years, for the record.

A built-in tuck-away hood can keep your little one out of the sun and wind and will even resist light rain, and it can also be used as a nursing cover so moms can feed their babies without ever taking the kid out.

OK, so your baby/toddler has all these positioning options and can be covered and fed and snuggled and that's all great. But what about you? Well, you'll appreciate the broad waist belt that distributes weight, the lumbar pad that helps prevent sore backs, and the soft yet sturdy shoulder straps.

All straps and belts and such can be adjusted easily to accommodate an adult's waist that measures anywhere from 26 inches to 52 inches, while the shoulder straps can adjust from 28 to 46 inches. And going back to the waist belt, you can wear it high or low, which is great for personal comfort preference and superb for women recovering from C-sections.

I'm not the only fan out there, either. On Amazon, one mom speaks for many when she relates having tried a plethora of other options only to find this one "perfect and worth every penny" based on her comfort, her son's comfort, and the extra features like the hood and a pocket for stashing a phone and keys and such.

A writer from BreastFeedingNeeds said this Ergobaby carrier "can do it all," comfortably carrying babies and toddlers in any position you'd want.

We previously recommended the ERGObaby Three Position ADAPT Baby Carrier as our top pick, but the new 360-model is even better because it's more versatile.

Pros: Multiple position options, large padding and adjustable straps, cool mesh keeps parent and child comfortable

Cons: Expensive but worth it

The best low cost baby carrier

The best low cost baby carrier
The Infantino Flip Advanced 4-in-1 Convertible Baby Carrier offers the same baby support, parent comfort, and versatility of use as baby carriers that cost four times as much money.

Let's start with the drawbacks on this one, because they are relatively few in the scheme of things. The Infantino Flip Advanced 4-in-1 Convertible Baby Carrier is only rated for use with babies weighing between eight and 32 pounds, so for smaller newborns or premature babies, it's not going to work in those first few weeks. And that 32-pound maximum capacity is a good deal smaller than what's offered by many other carriers. Also, the leg straps can be a bit confusing to configure.

But here's the thing: This baby carrier costs thirty dollars. Yes, you could pay significantly more than that and get a carrier with a 40-pound weight capacity and with simpler adjustment points, but think long and hard about the value there. Will you even still be using a baby carrier when your child is that large? And are those few minutes of time spent readjusting the unit now and then to accommodate the growing child worth the savings? The answers are likely no and yes, respectively, so go ahead and save some cash if your family is on a budget.

The Infantino Flip Advanced 4-in-1 Convertible Baby Carrier can carry a baby face in or out on your chest or face in on your back. They call it a "four position" carrier because in the chest face-in configuration you can use a neck and head support flap or fold it out of the way, so really it's more of a three position carrier, but that's not really a strike against it, just a matter of semantics.

Parents love this carrier, giving it an average rating of 4.5 stars with hundreds of reviews logged. One mommy loves how easy it is to adapt the shoulder and waist straps to her frame and "to daddy's size as well." Another mom reports that she puts her son "in it while doing dishes, vacuuming, walking, really anything."

A writer with Baby Carrier HQ praises the Infantino seat's "natural positioning that helps to keep your baby happy," while a video reviewer with Positively Mommy demonstrates how easily she can remove her child from the carrier and place him back into the unit single-handedly.

Pros: Great low price tag, easy to adjust to fit different adults, inward and outward facing positions

Cons: Only suitable up to 32 pounds, leg adjustment points can be a hassle to use

Advertisement

The best hiking baby carrier

The best hiking baby carrier
With the Clevr Baby Backpack 202 Cross Country Carrier on your back, you and your child will be ready to trek into the backcountry.

Hiking child carriers differ from regular baby carriers in several notable ways, and the Clevr Baby Backpack 202 Cross Country Carrier exemplifies all of these major design elements. First and foremost, as with a good hiking pack, this carrier features an extra wide waist belt and lower back support system that allows you to carry most of the pack and baby weight on your hips. The shoulder straps are also thicker and more substantial than those of most standard baby carriers.

Quite unlike most baby carriers, this and other similar hiking baby backpacks do not carry the child directly against the parent, but instead, house the child in his or her own compartment. This snug and secure compartment is outfitted with internal straps that hold the baby in place, and the child can be protected against sunshine using a built-in hood and even against rain with moveable plastic panels.

Also unlike standard baby carriers, the Clevr Baby Backpack 202 Cross Country Carrier has a large storage pocket that can accommodate diapers, snacks, spare clothes, a camera, and other such sundries. There are also two side pockets perfect for an adult's water bottle or a baby bottle. When you need to take a break from the trail, you can set the backpack down without removing your child thanks to its folding stand.

Pros: Good price for category, excellent hip and shoulder strap system, good storage pockets

Cons: Not suitable for smaller infants, not comfortable for shorter adults

The best carrier for newborn babies

The best carrier for newborn babies
The Moby Wrap Baby Carrier is the closest thing to a parent's embrace that does not actually require use of the hands.

Having used a Moby Wrap many times myself, I'm going to start out with a qualification: While this product is positioned as suitable for use with children weighing up to 35 pounds, I don't know any kid that size who is going to want to be wrapped up in bands of fabric and tied to his or her mom or dad (or nanny).

That said, I also know of no better system for recreating the natural feeling of a parent's embrace for kids still in their infant stage, a period during which most babies want nothing more than to be held close and fast to the chest of a loved one.

Proper use of a Moby Wrap Baby Carrier comes with a bit of a learning curve. There are no buckles to clip, straps to tighten, or snaps to secure. You simply wrap this 18-foot-long band of soft fabric around your torso and around your baby in various ways to create a sling-style carrier.

At first, using the Moby Wrap can be intimidating, as it's hard to tell if you're using it properly. With practice, though, it becomes liberating, because unlike with a two-, three-, or even four-position carrier, there are almost endless ways you can carry your child using this unique band.

A Moby Wrap Baby Carrier is a great way to help nurture the bond between a newborn and a mother or father and can be a great way to calm and soothe a child who is sick, colicky, or just generally upset. Just keep in mind that you will probably need to switch to a more traditional backpack style of carrier as the child grows.

In an article on Top10Reviews.com, a writer called the Moby Wrap one of the "most versatile" baby carrier options available. A LongLiveGrow.com reviewer called the wrap "the perfect carrier of comfort is your goal." What To Expect also places the Moby baby carrier high in its rankings.

Pros: Soothes and comforts child, highly adaptable positioning options, easy to wash

Cons: Proper use takes practice, uncomfortable for use in warm climates

Advertisement

The best baby carrier for parent comfort

The best baby carrier for parent comfort
The Stokke MyCarrier Front Baby Carrier is designed to spread a baby's weight out across its wearer's torso, with padding and adjustment points that allow for an easily customized fit.

Our first baby carrier was a Stokke, and with a few qualifications, I can say that we chose well and that I recommend the Stokke MyCarrier Front Baby Carrier. Let's talk about the issues first.

The Stokke uses a few more straps, buckles, buttons, and snaps than most baby carriers and learning how to properly adjust and secure it can be frustrating. Once you have it down, it's simple enough to use, but I definitely lost my patience a few times in the early days. Second, as the name suggests, you can only use this carrier on the front of your torso, which is great for snuggling your baby and fine for errands, social visits, and so forth, but limiting for longer wear such as an all-day tour of a city or a hike in the woods.

Those points aside, Stokke makes a fine carrier. And with all those many adjustment facets comes one extremely comfortable, secure carrier, for the record. It's remarkable how well you can customize this carrier to fit your body, creating the ideal arrangement for your own comfort even while your child is kept securely tucked into the seat in the "happy hips" position that is so natural for babies. Parents will also appreciate the two little storage pockets built into the carrier.

One satisfied mother who uses the Stokke MyCarrier Front Baby Carrier says it is "much more comfortable on [the] upper back" than many other carrier options. She also noted that she could breastfeed while her baby was in the carrier.

A review on MadeForMums.com called the Stokke a "hip-healthy baby carrier," while a writer from Magic Beans said the MyCarrier was "supportive and comfortable, with good weight distribution."

Pros: Great weight distribution, holds baby's hips in natural position, durable and well-made

Cons: Only worn on front of torso, proper use takes practice

Check out our other great baby gear guides

Check out our other great baby gear guides
The best strollers you can buy

With the right stroller, you and your young one are ready for anything, from a quick trip to the stores to a week-long overseas vacation. The Bugaboo Cameleon Stroller is our top choice because of its versatile configuration, its ease of steering, and its many handy accessories and enhancements that let you customize it for your family.

The best breast pumps you can buy

If you're a nursing mom who plans to spend more than a couple hours away from your baby, pumping is a necessary evil: It keeps your milk supply up and ensures your kiddo has enough to eat. The Medela Pump In Style Advanced is a great option for moms who want to get their pumping done quickly and easily.

Advertisement
Next StoryHow to transition your skin-care routine from summer to fall, according to experts