Babywearing

So, we are going to be babywearing our little one, and I've researched this a bit in the past, but now it appears that I need to get serious about it. I'm not really looking at fabric wraps. I'm sure that if I had the time and a relatively passive newborn, I could master one of those, but I think a structured carrier or pouch may be our best bet given our situation.

The biggest advantage I see of a structured carrier is that it has a good weight distribution of the baby and a limited learning curve. When we pick our child up from the baby home for good, we will immediately be traveling with her and we will have to get both her and us used to this baby carrying thing in a jiffy. It's one thing to start a newborn out in a sling and have her and us learn together with lots of time to try out different wraps and techniques and video how-tos. It's another thing to be learning on the run in airport security with a 10-12 month old who has never experienced a baby carrier before. Hopefully she will not be resistant to being held close. A structured carrier seems like it would be easy to learn and use from the get-go.

I've shown C the Ergo carrier. He is most on board with this type. It's like a backpack with its very firm hip support and the biggest downsides to it seem to be that it is bulky and perhaps a bit hot for summer use, especially down here in Texas. The back carry also doesn't look all that comfortable for the baby. They do have a "sport" version that is made form a cotton/poly blend that may be more suitable for summer use.

I'm also very interested in a mei tai type carrier, like the Dream Carrier or the Connecta. Both get very high reviews on thebabywearer.com. C doesn't see the point in getting more than one carrier. He thinks we should get the Ergo and then go from there and buy another type if we find that we don't like the Ergo. I figure that we will want and need more than one baby carrier anyway. On most sites I read, the parents seem to have a repertoire of carriers for different situations. C doesn't think we will actually be wearing her all that often. He doesn't get that I can wear her every day while doing housework or at the grocery store. Or that there will be times at, say, the zoo, in the heat, where we will wear her. I'm sure we will get a stroller at some point, but strollers do not promote attachment and I'd much rather start her out in a baby carrier than a stroller.

Baby pouches are also probably a good option. When going through airport security, it seems that popping our little one in and out of one of these would be the easiest thing. The Rockin baby pouch has gotten good reviews and since it is reversible, I can have a fun print while C gets his boring "solid man style" that he is most on board with. Preferably black. They are also made of cotton, so while it seems like a lot of fabric to wrap around me on a 100 degree day, at least it's cotton fabric.

Do any of y'all have baby wearing suggestions or recommendations? Some of these are a pretty good sized investment, so I may be researching for a while.