This snugli is a front/side/rear carrier...perfect !

With my first son, a neighbour lent me an older model snugli, the kind that is more like a round sac at the front, and ties at the back. It worked while he was small.
I decided to buy something new for my second son when I saw my husband walking around with the old snugli, and large bow tied at his back...he looked at bit silly.

So, I first studied the Baby Bjorn over and over again.
I read reviews, I studied it's snaps, I looked at the website etc. So, one day I looked at an Infantino, and upon examination, it looked like it was built exactly like the Bjorn, I bought it, tried it, returned it. The straps that went under my arms dug into my sides and looked and felt hideous.

So, then I saw this Serenade Vibra in the ToysRus catalogue. It was a fair price, looked solidly built, and hey the music (the "serenade" in the title) and vibrating (hence, the "vibra" in the title) were a couple of gadgets I just thought were neat!

So, I bought one when it was on sale. What I was looking for: 1. Good quality for price 2. adjustable heights (it has 3, like the bjorn), 3. lumbar support, 4. comfort and practicality of course. So, I took it for a test drive on a very long day. I actually wore it carrying my 4 month old for 5 hours...I don't recommend this, but the day was longer then I thought, and by the end, I only had a bit of shoulder fatigue (Hey, it was FIVE HOURS!)

Putting it on takes some practice, but it has the two clips up top that allow you to undo the front to remove a sleeping baby. It has a clip that goes around your waist, with a removable lumbar pad in the middle, the vibrating thing is in this pad. It's a bit noisy, so it may be embarassing if you're in a quiet place, but it's a neat gimmick. It's just a mild vibrating, not going to cure your backache by any means, so have realistic expectations of it! The shoulder pads are quite thick, but I couldn't seem to get them to sit fully on my shoulders, no matter how I adjusted them. I'm 5'9" so maybe it's a height thing. Not a huge deal for me. The other two clips go under your arm pits, you really only need to undo one to get it over your head, much like all the others out there. The colour is gender neutral, so it doesn't look silly on my husband. It has a vent you can open by undoing a zipper at the front for hotter days.

The Musical part of this snugli is located in the front pocket. It's a removable round plastic thing, about 1.5" in diameter that you can activate by pressing it through the pocket. It sounds a lot like one of those musical greeting cards, but again, it's just a little "extra" feature, it may distract your child, it may not, all babies are different.

A few more "extra": It has a removable bottle holder that attaches to the waist strap, and a few clips at the front for soothers etc. One thing that isn't great, is that in the facing in position, my baby's mouth seemed to find the side clips, so I used a burp cloth across my chest to cover them. Other carriers have the same issues, I've noticed. Now, one of the things I think is GREAT about this, is that it's a 3-in-1. Actually, if you count that on the front, it's face-in and face-out, it's called a 4-in-1. So, for half the price of some of the more expensive ones out there, you can wear it on the front, the side/on your hip, or the back. I haven't had the chance to use the side or back positions, so I'll have to update the review once I do.
So, that's a great feature when spending your money, you won't need to buy a hip carrier AND a front carrier. So, MY opinion, is that this is perfect for me. I think when some people do a review, they forget that we all have different body types, and different babies. I think it's impractical to think that there's a certain carrier out there that is just the BEST for everyone, but this one has a lot of great features and adjustable options that would make it work for a lot of people. You really have to try a carrier on with your baby to see if it works for you...I haven't gone over the basics such as weight limits etc. as those are easily found on the company's website.