Ergo baby carrier- is it worth buying?

[TheJen]

What do you MNetter's think of the Ergo? Is it worth investing in? Have a friend who's happy with her New Generation one but I was wondering if I could get away with buying the Classic and saving £20...

There was a thread about Ergos recently, and their dodgy business practices. There were some recommendations for other carriers too. I'll do a search and see if I can find it.

Here it is.

a new patapum is cheaper than an ergo and just as good, possibly better in some respects.

I saw one for sale second hand elsewhere very recently in excellent used condition.

Was put off that one because there were to sizes- a baby one and a toddler one... only wanted to have to buy one. Is there a shop which stocks them all so I can try before I buy?

The baby one will still work for a toddler. The difference is that the 'back' of it won't come up as high on the back of the toddler as they grow up and some toddlers still like to sleep in baby carriers so they need the back/head support for when they drop off.

One of the downsides that some people find with the ergo is that the back of it doesn't come up very high on the child's back as they get older and if you have a big and wiggly child (esp say from 10 to 18 months old when they can be very wiggly but still not able to counterbalance themselves well if they start to slip) people are worried that it doesn't offer enough back support.

so it is horses for courses, really.

My dd likes to look around so she prefers a smaller carrier (the baby-size) even though she is 2 and a half.

If you click on bigmamaslings.com, i think she rents them. off the top of my head, i think naturalmothering.co.uk also does.