I am a huge advocate for babywearing. Before I gave birth to Abby, I always had the mental image of a baby being perfectly content being moved around in a stroller. My friend Ashley introduced me to babywearing and as I watched her with her alert, observant, energetic son, I quickly learned that I had a misconception of what contentment for a baby meant. She taught me about slings, pouches, and the very versatile Ergo soft-structured carrier.

I wasn't ready to invest a lot in anything yet until I met my baby. What I did do was go to JoAnn's Fabric and buy $5 worth of gauze to make a ring sling. This sling was light and breathable, yet durable, and would allow me to carry Abby around as a newborn in the hot summer months. I figured this sling would help me determine if Abby would be one of those laid-back content-with-stroller babies I had imagined or not.

Fast-forward to Abby at six weeks old. Since she was 2 days old I had been using my homemade ring sling. She only slept being held and walked around. Without the sling, my arms would've fallen off by day 5! She nursed every hour for about 30 minutes to 45 minutes at a time because she would inevitably snooze while feeding, so without a sling, I was in a chair or on the couch with her ALL THE TIME! So, at six weeks after Abby's birth, I was online ordering my very own Ergo Baby Carrier.

Fast-forward again to Abby at 13 months old. The Ergo is in the car and we use it every time we go shopping or walking around. It definitely gets more use than her stroller. Abby likes her stroller rides, but when she gets tired, when she's had a data overload, or when she just wants a different point of view, she will only be happy in the carrier. She can't fall asleep being carried in our arms, but she dozes off quite easily in the her carrier.

Around the house, we use a Yamo carrier. Similar to the Ergo, but much softer and less bulky.

Yesterday, I ordered a Beco Butterfly. It was on sale. Normally $149, down to $105. Again, similar to the Ergo and Yamo in that they're all buckle soft-structured carriers, but Beco has done a LOT for the Butterfly for safety and function and I was dying to try one out. The sad thing is that you can't just buy a Beco, Yamo, or sometimes the Ergo at your local baby gear store. In 2007, Baby Bargains book ranked the Ergo above the Baby Bjorn baby carrier, so now a few Ergos may actually be found at SOME baby stores, but it's still difficult to track down unless you shop online. Forget about finding Becos and Yamos at a retail store, even if you find a babywearing specialty boutique around you.

I'm excited to try the Beco, but I really don't need 3 soft-structured carriers, so I'm probably going to be selling one after I try the Beco. Luckily, the Beco and Yamo are usually in pretty high demand because they're so hard to find, so hopefully I will not have too much trouble off-loading one.