Budget friendly carriers

Carriers pictured - Comfy Joey Ring Sling, Evenflo Natural Fit Carrier, Babyhawk Mei Tai, Baby K'Tan

So you already spent your tax return, you're saving up for summer vacation and you've been searching for a carrier that will fit into that budget you set for your New Year's resolution, right? There are options in every carrier type so take a look here and see what fits the bill. I'm trying to keep these suggestions all under $100 and nearly all of them do but you'll find some of these are quite a bit lower than that!

Ring Slings

Ring slings come in a wide variety of colors and sizes but also prices. There are good quality ring slings from companies like Comfy Joey, Maya Wrap, Sleeping Baby Productions LLC (SBP), and Zanytoes.

And if you have a short or medium length wrap but are wanting to have a ring sling, you can always buy sling rings from SlingRings.com and just do a no sew ring sling. Here is a little bit more explanation and video on how to do a no sew ring sling from Jan of Sleeping Baby Productions.

Mei Tais

The variety of colors and patterns continue in mei tais and companies like Babyhawk, CatBird Baby, Infantino, and Kozy Carrier will easily fit in your budget.

Pouches

This is a carrier category sometimes overlooked but if you're looking for budget friendly, a pouch may be your best bet. Hotslings and Seven Slings are two you can check into.

Soft Structured Carriers

This is one of those categories of carriers that usually are on the more expensive end but there are still budget friendly options. The standard size Action Baby Carriers soft structured carrier is just under $100. Ergobaby starts above our budget we are working with but you can find discontinued colors or prints sometimes at stores like Marshalls or TJMaxx (which are authorized retailers) for under $100 so keep your eyes peeled when shopping. Evenflo, Moby (the Moby GO), and Infantino have more soft structured carriers you can check out.

Keep in mind, picking a soft structured carrier is like finding your favorite pair of jeans. They fit everyone different. There is no best carrier for every single person so do not discount these options even though you hear of some other brands more frequently. Try them out and see what is most comfortable for you and your little one!

Wraps

Stretchy wraps are a great first carrier with a newborn or infant. There are many companies like Boba, Baby K'Tan, Moby, and Snuggy Baby.

Woven wraps are constructed differently than stretchy wraps, which is why the price point on these is usually more expensive. There are several options like Chimparoo, Fidella, Hoppediz, and Little Frog that have fairly budget friendly prices. 

A great tip when looking at wovens is to consider trying a length shorter than your base size. That will save you some money typically and there are lots of fun wrap carries to try out with a shorter wrap and sometimes with a sling ring or two as well.

Carriers pictured (L to R) - Kozy Mei Tai, Infantino Union, SBP Ring Sling, Moby, Action Baby Carriers standard carrier

Many online retailers carry a variety of brands so watch for sales too!

There are plenty of other resources for finding budget friendly carriers such as Facebooks groups if you are not wanting to purchase brand new. There is Babywearing on a Budget (everything listed is under $100) or you can browse for the brand that you prefer and probably find a buy, sell, trade group for that brand. Saves you sometimes on having to work on breaking in a wrap. Just be sure to ask any questions before you buy, don't hesitate to ask for a more detailed photo of something, and use Paypal so you're protected as a buyer.

And if none of these is quite what you're looking for and you like to try something new, remember you've always got a different carrier each month for a year by using your lending library benefits of our BWI of NCIL membership. Just come to a meeting, maybe learn something or just chat with friends, and check out a carrier to take home and use for the month. All for the bargain price of $30 a year!