Product Review: Ergobaby Cool Air Mesh Baby Carrier - camping with a newborn - camping trip essentials

I was given an Ergo to test out and post a review and it couldn't have come at a better time!

i'm 3 children deep and my old carriers didn't make it to this third baby, I had given them away. I have always been an ergo fan though as my sister had one of the first gen ergos and she introduced me to the ergo. Babywearing is something I love because it allows you to bond with your baby and to be hands free. Having been both a working and a SAHM at various points, I felt that the bonding I acheived through babywearing allowed me to feel closer to my children if even I had to have them in a daycare with someone else during the day. 

 

Baby carriers go through trends as do most things and about 5 years ago, the Ergo was one of the carriers that did not have forward facing front carry. It may have been a reason why some people didn't buy them for a bit but they've come out in full force in the past few years with options to adjust the seat of the carrier to make forward facing carry a possibility. This cool air mesh has a unique color coded system to modify the seat of the carrier based on the open-ness of the hips of the baby and their development. This was one reason why some people decried the 'baby dangler' style carriers like the Baby Bjorn. I believe that Ergo didn't feel that the other products promoting front facing carry were ergonomic for the baby so they waited until they had a product they felt would be good for baby's development. You can see in the photo they have a very neat way of showing how to adjust the base of the carrier for baby's hips to allow front facing carry.

 

The Cool Air Mesh is a second gen based on a simpler baby carrier that had mesh to allow for wearing (another trend we are seeing now with carriers) when you are briskly walking or in a warm to hot environment to allow some of the heat generated between mom and baby to escape during wear. 

This carrier integrates an air mesh in any places it possibly can. I often don't like air meshes because they are scratchy and I prefer natural fibers but this air mesh is really soft. I wore this carrier with my chubby little boy who does heat things up quickly and I have to say, on this camping trip, it was great to get some air circulation in the carrier. Sometimes after a long day when you take it off, you will find that, like a layer of wool, you are damp from all the body heat that starts evaporating when you take off the carrier. I found that this did reduce the dampness factor a great deal. Sometimes carriers can overheat and cause the baby to be more sluggish and tired, but he kept alert in this carrier more so than in others that I have tried. I really liked the breathability of it.

I also loved the build quality of it. The waist strap was really substantial and provided a lot of structure for my weak postnatal core. It also had a nice back supporting lumbar strap that I've seen on recent Ergos and is quite nice. 

I like the new head flap that can be buttoned up or down for more neck support. 

 

Ergo has put a lot of design and engineering into this version and it's paid off! Even the shoulder straps going up along the front have air mesh to help relieve the high body temps that occur with babywearing.

It was great to wear this at the campsite along Lake Tahoe when we were sitting in the sun and in the middle of the day. We were able to sit and do our craft together while baby was entertained looking out at his surroundings and enjoying mama snuggles. 

We actually brought all our old necklaces that the girls have broken over time and we spent a few hours restringing them with stretch nylon rope. The girls thoroughly enjoyed making new jewelry! I would highly recommend this activity, which is something I probably would be too lazy to do at home but when camping it's the most entertaining thing in the world especially when you have no cell phone reception and can't be doing social media all day!

It's kind of fun to see them strengthen their motor skills by restringing the necklaces they broke :)

 

I also liked wearing the Ergo around my waist and being able to quickly nurse baby with my Summer Tank Cardimom ready to go. The Cool Air Mesh Ergo and the Summer Tank cardimom are a perfect combination!

Check out my friend Mama Banana's review of the summer Tank Cardimom for babywearing!

 

 

Lastly, if you head out camping, you will want to bring with you a Bumbo, an absolute must for a newborn on a camping trip. It's all about ways to make mama handsfree and yet keep baby safe! A baby carrier is so essential for camping with babies as well as a Bumbo seat. And yet another must have for camping with babies? A Pourty Potty. I have one with me in my car and for all camping trips. It is so useful especially when your kids have to go in the middle of the night! You can check out the pourty below.