Choosing a new carrier

The past few weeks have been pretty good and we've been focusing on becoming more active. So odd, we go through phases of being home-bodies or out ALL the time. I'm not sure if we've ever had a perfect balance.

Nonetheless, we've made some discoveries about life with a wee one recently. First of all, using a stroller in Seoul kinda sucks ~ baby wearing is the most convenient thing to do! Plus Pumpkin Head would rather be carried and rests better that way (in addition to all the other benefits of baby wearing). Finally, I'm the only person I know who does this, but I can nurse him while on the go when I've got a good carrier (I just lower one of the straps and use my nursing cover ~ something I need to rave about soon!).

So about carriers, the cheap (Safety First) baby carrier we bought from costco is crap. Well, for twenty bucks we knew it wasn't the best ~ and we definitely got our money's worth from it! It's perfectly fine for little ones, but Pumpkin Head is not little... And the Moby wrap is great and PH loves being in it ~ BUT it's a HUGE pain in the butt to do up in public when PH is screaming and needing to be nursed or carried ASAP. Living in Asia I've discovered I have this gross fear of what could have been on the ground and I don't want my Moby to touch the floor.

So, I'm on the hunt for a new carrier. I'm looking for a soft structured carrier and right now my top three choices are the well known Ergo, the Pikkolo and the Manduca. All three have pros and cons, but are pretty much the same idea. So at this point I'm weighing the pros and cons including costs and shipping.



The Ergo Baby Carrier (http://www.ergobabycarrier.com/) is the one people generally know, and it's pretty common in Korea. I can buy it on Gmarket for less than $100 ~ the Ergo site has the originals priced at $110.


#2 ~ The Pikkolo carrier is about $130USD and up. The perk of this one is that the straps and cross at the back and it's easier to buckle up alone. Many of the carriers sold in Korea are complicated or need 2 people! >.< I've tried on a friend's and loved the feel of the weight distribution, but I didn't like that the waist strap was not flattering on my butt! :(



#3 ~ The Manduca Carrier. German made and uses an organic cotton / hemp blend. It seems to have all the advantages of the others, plus I hear it can cross at the back and it has a zipper that opens to increase the body length ~ which is a plus for older or taller kids, and PH has height potential! I've tried this on in the store and liked the feel! The straps are thicker and has more padding than the other styles ~ though some say too much. It also has safety buttons on the clips, though the husband didn't like it (mostly cause he couldn't figure it out and took a chunk outta his finger!). It is available here, but at double the cost of the Ergo...


So, this is what's consuming my time these days... any thoughts out there???
~b