Today’s post is by Cristina over at Tailor Made Momma. She’s got a fun blog where she does reviews of the latest and greatest baby products (plus lots of giveaways), so head on over and check her out!
We sent Cristina three different types of ERGO baby carriers: the ERGO Sport, the ERGO Performance carrier and the ERGO Options Carrier (which is the same as the standard/organic baby carrier but with the option of changing out the covers) and asked for her honest review of all three. She came back with this in-depth review, including an excellent video comparison of all three! So without further ado, let’s get to her comparison of these three great ERGO Baby carriers!
I’ve always wanted to be a baby wearer. I love the idea of having my little one close to me while I did house work or walked chased the boys around the house. But after trying a bunch of baby carriers I just couldn’t find one that I love! Then I met Laurel from Carry Me Away. Laurel has a HUGE selection of baby carriers on her site and is very knowledgeable! We spent sent a quite a few e-mails back and forth discussing the type of carrier that would work best, and that would be the best fit for our family. We decided on an Ergo baby carrier and that is where our Journey begins!
Laurel sent me three, yes you heard me right, three different ERGO Baby carriers to try out. The Sport, the Performance, and the Original Options carrier. Through this review I am going to work on giving you a breakdown of the three carriers and what makes each of the different from the others!
All three of the ERGO baby carriers have the following basic features:
-Easy to use snap closure straps
-Built in rain hood
-Stylish design
-Ability to carry on Front (facing you), back or hip
After these basic features this is where the carriers start to vary and take on a character all their own.
The Original Options ERGO Baby Carrier:
{editors note: the Ergobaby Options Carrier has been discontinued. However, except for the changeable covers, it is identical to the Original Ergobaby Carrier} The Options ERGO Baby Carrier itself comes in black, which on its own is a great looking carrier, but then it gets fun! To go along with your baby carrier, you can purchase snap in covers! Laurel sent me the Bold covers and I love them. The colors are very vibrant and super fun! I can even change it up when I’m in a different mood, or to match an outfit. The Options baby carrier has padded straps which make carrying a lot more comfortable. I also really like that there is a lot of play in the chest snaps. Depending on your child’s size and your size there was a lot of room for you to get the strap exactly where you wanted it. The Original ERGO baby carrier also has a zipper pocket in the front which great for carrying a cell phone, keys or even an extra diaper. While the carrier was very comfortable I did find it a little warmer than the other two. Even on a cool day Colton was a little sweaty when I took him out.
Just like the Original ERGO Baby Carrier, the Sport has nice thick padded shoulder straps that make holding baby very comfortable. It is available in black, blue and red. The ERGO Sport carrier feels quite a bit “lighter” than the Options carrier. It doesn’t have as much bulk around the middle of the back like the original does and it is much more breathable. For a VERY hot summer day I could see this being much more comfortable for both mom and baby than the original style. However, this more breathable mid section does come at the loss of any kind of storage in the carrier. There are buttons that hold the rain hood in place but no pockets. For me this is a bit of a downer because I really need somewhere to keep a cell phone or keys or maybe even a few dollars. For hubby this wouldn’t be that big of a deal as he usually keeps these things in his pockets anyway. For some reason I have a hard time getting Colton into a the proper position in the ERGO Sport Baby Carrier when I am putting him on my back. I didn’t have this problem with my nephew who is a little taller and a little heavier, but with Colton I couldn’t do it on my own. The back was always way too low. I did prefer to wear this baby carrier on my back vs. on my front. I’m sure part of it has to do with Colton just getting too big for a front carry (however when his fingers won’t stay out of my hair, I do it anyway) but it was a lot more comfortable on my back than my front (you will see this is not so for the Performance baby carrier). However, the chest straps don’t seem to have the same range of movement as the Options ERGO Baby Carrier did. It could be the exact same setup, but they were easier and more comfortable for me to position on the Original.
The Performance ERGO Baby Carrier:
The ERGO Performance Baby Carrier is VERY different than the either the ERGO Sport or Original baby carriers I tried. First off this color! OMG! I love it. It is such a great green and the picture really doesn’t do it the justice is deserves. But enough about my love for the color of this baby carrier. The differences between this and others start with the straps. They are much thinner than the straps on the Original and ERGO Sport baby carriers. They are still well padded but in a different way than the other two (see video for a better comparison). The straps are also tapered – this made the Performance baby carrier a lot more comfortable for me to carry on my front. The ERGO Performance also has a wicking inner layer. I could feel the difference where the straps hit my skin and I could tell on Colton too, as he was never sweaty when I took him out of the carrier. The Performance Baby Carrier has the front storage pocket too! This made me very happy! While I LOVE to wear Colton on my back in the Performance baby carrier, I also felt like this was the most comfortable front carrier. Again Colton is really getting too big for me to carry this way, but it was by far more comfortable for me than the other two. I did have some issue getting the chest straps set up comfortably, but once they are in place it was fine.
Cristina’s choice? The ERGO Performance Carrier! I find that people have very different experiences with the fit of the various ERGO Baby Carriers, so in forum-speak: ymmv!
You can see all the ERGO Baby Carrier choices here. Want to know more about how the three ERGO Baby Carriers compare? Check out our Original/Sport/Performance comparison chart!
