Evenflo Snugli Comfort Vent Baby Carrier

I have come to the conclusion that there is a direct negative correlation between a baby's happiness and the comfort of the individual holding him. Each of my children were happiest (i.e., not crying) as babies when I was holding them and walking around or standing. This, of course, became rather back breaking, especially as they grew. Unfortunately, the minute I went to give my back a break and sit down, they would let me know their disapproval quickly and loudly. Same goes for lying down comfortably on the bed. A baby will only sleep on your chest if you are inclined at such an angle as to prevent any sort of restful sleep on your part.

When we purchased the Evenflo Snugli, I thought this axiom had seen its last. The Snugli would vanquish the happiness/comfort negative correlation and all would be well with the world. Alas, this was not to be.

As babies, my children loved to be carried around in the Snugli, especially my newest son Ben. We would place him in the Snugli (a feat of Olympic proportions to do alone) and could almost guarantee he would be asleep in 5 minutes. But, as fate would have it, it would take about that long for my comfort level to begin its decline.

The Snugli is fairly well padded with a crisscross strap that goes over the shoulders and under the arms. The underarm straps are easily adjustable and hook/unhook to the main body of the carrier. Because the straps are wide and padded, I found they didn't dig into my shoulders as much as I thought they would. Unfortunately, there isn't much back support and after awhile, my back was really starting to ache. And of course, the baby slept on. However, this may be true of most, if not all, carriers.

There are six hooks/attachments to contend with when putting the carrier on and hauling your baby around. Two are for the underarm strap that secures the carrier to your body along with the over-the-head/around-the-back straps. After these are hooked, there are two sliding "clips" (not sure what else to call them) that fit into place on each side of the carrier to keep the baby from falling out and form the side wall between legs and arms. The last two are at the top of the carrier near to where the baby's head would be and give support for the baby's head and neck. For bigger babies or if you're wanting to face the baby forward, these probably shouldn't be used.

Perhaps the biggest challenge is actually getting a baby into the carrier. There are two options for this. You can either place the carrier on a flat surface, lay the baby on top and slide the clips mentioned above between the arms and legs. The challenge with this part is then holding the baby with one hand while the other hand tries to slip the straps over your head. Most of the time for me, this only succeeded in tangling the back straps. The second option is to put the carrier on first, attach the bottom hooks and adjust the fitting. The challenge with this method, however, is getting the baby's legs through the holes and then sliding the clips into place. This is more difficult than it sounds since babies (mine at least) have a tendency to curl their legs up to their bodies, forcing you to straighten out their legs and fit them through the leg holes. All performed with one hand, of course, since the baby isn't yet supported enough for you to use both hands. Simply reverse all this to take it off and…well, you get the idea.

Once he's in, however, things go much more smoothly. The carrier does enable you to adequately use both hands, which is probably the reason for purchasing this in the first place. Since the Snugli feels pretty solid, I don't feel like I have to constantly be checking things to make sure things aren't coming apart. We've had the carrier for about 3 years now and it seems to be holding up very well.

The carrier is designed for infants no more than 26 lbs. However, I wouldn't recommend its use for a child weighing more than 15 lbs maximum. My 1-year old daughter is about 18 lbs and she would definitely be too big for the carrier, not to mention my back. My 10-week old fits nicely though. He sleeps soundly while I putter around the house, but I usually try not to wear it for more than an hour.