A good baby carrier brings you the best of both worlds: A closer relationship with your baby and easier access to the outside world. Sure, in an ideal scenario, you’d be able to take a stroller everywhere, keeping your baby safe, steady, and sleepy, while toting around all the items you need to make sure they’re comfortable (and clean!) while awake. But the reality is that not everywhere is so stroller-friendly; no matter how light they are and how easy they fold up, strollers with children in them can be cumbersome and hard to maneuver in tight spaces — just ask parents who live in a city! And because you can’t just never go outside with your baby when strollers aren’t going to work, a baby carrier is really absolutely vital for life with a very young child.
Luckily, there are some really great baby carriers out there now that, as we mentioned above, make life easier and give you the type of closeness with your child that a stroller could never deliver. The best baby carriers are convenient, easy to use, and most importantly, very safe, so they’ll help you live your everyday life while creating a bond (and even a fashion statement, dads). A high quality baby carrier is sturdy enough to be able to easily support a baby’s weight without sagging, but soft enough to be comfortable for their bodies — and for their parents’ bodies, as well. (Hey, being a parent is tiring work — you deserve some comfort and support, too!)
That means different things depending on what age you’re buying a baby carrier for; infant carriers tend to be wrap-style that keep a baby snugly hung against a parent’s chest, while carriers for slightly older children allow more freedom and flexibility for their arms and legs. One is meant to hold a child tight, as if they were suspended in a soft womb again, while the other is a super-comfortable suspension.
That’s a very basic guideline for the kind of baby carrier to look for, but all parents want the best for their children, so finding the exact right baby carrier for each and every child is absolutely crucial. It also takes some work… if you don’t shop with MASSE, that is. MASSE provides product recommendations made by real people who have really bought, used, and/or given the products, which is extra important when it comes to crucial items like baby carriers. You can be confident in our recommendations because we don’t allow any sponsored posts or paid reviews, either — what you’ll find below is just the straight truth about the best baby carriers.