Eco-Friendly Mama: Safe product recommendations with a focus on organic and Made in USA!

Action Baby Carrier review (photo from their website). Made in Detroit, Michigan. As a WI Mama, I feel this is a local product, which makes me very happy! The Action is the made in the USA alternative to the Ergo (made in China, many aren’t aware of that!). They are a very small company, employing three full-time employees according to their website. A couple months ago I wrote several made in the USA carrier-makers as I really, really wanted to have something to recommend other than my Ergo, which was the only carrier I had at the time, and what I wore my 1st born in exclusively. As we had a new addition to the family, I seized the opportunity to try out some different carriers. I’m so happy Action agreed to send me one of their offerings to try out.

They started their business making Mei Tai (tie on) carriers, but had great demand for a buckle system similar to the Ergo many of us are familiar with them. They now make 2 models which use the buckle system: Standard Size is recommended from 8lbs to 40lbs, $98 Toddler Size is recommended from 15-45lbs wherein the toddler is made wider so the support extends to the knee, $114. They offer free shipping continental US.

At 4 months (when they contacted me) Baby Girl was already 15#, and her older brother was around ~32# ( at 2 ½ years), so I requested a toddler size. They also let me choose my pattern which was something I appreciated very much. I chose the adorable Happy Camper pattern. It is very, very similar to the Ergo. It is SUPER easy to put on, even easier than the Ergo. With the Ergo I liked to have the back buckle all the way down towards the middle of my back, and always struggled to secure it myself. The Action has a hood, but no zipper pouch (definitely something I can live without). One improvement it has over the Ergo, in my opinion, is the straps crisscross behind your back when wearing your child in the front. I feel this helps distribute the weight of your child more evenly. However, I have the same issue with this carrier that I do with my Ergo. I like to wear my Baby Girl quite tight. In order to get this style of carrier tight enough I have to tighten the part that goes around my arm so tight that the straps then don’t lay flat on my shoulders, usually riding up into my neck. But in general, I find it quite comfortable. I am “broke in” to babywearing multiple hours/day though, and just like anything it’s something your body needs to get used to. I know as she grows I’ll wear her looser & this won’t be as much of an issue, but at this time I wear her ~8 hrs/day, so little things like this matter greatly in how I feel at the end of a day of babywearing. I haven’t worn her older brother in this yet; I haven’t worn him in quite a while actually. We are planning a family trip in January which will involve multiple airports, and we will definitely be packing a carrier for each child. I’ll be doing a post in the coming weeks where I compare several makes & models of carriers that I’ve tried, and I’m trying to not do that in this post, but will just say that I prefer a Mei Tai carrier for a variety of reasons for my Baby Girl, at this time.

More about the Toddler Carrier: “The toddler carrier is 3 inches taller in the body than our regular carrier, as well as offering an inch longer hood and 2 inches smaller in the shoulder webbing (because they are used mostly for back carries and gives you a tighter fit). The base of the “seat” is 19 inches across.  All of the webbing on the toddler carrier is the same as our standard carrier. We are asked often about the sizing of our carrier.  It is either, “will it fit me?  I am really petite” or “will it fit my husband, he is really tall”?  The answer is, in most cases, YES, our standard and toddler sizes will fit you and your husband! We sell a huge amount of carriers in Asia. Women there tend to be very petite.  But, we also sell a ton of carriers to the USA and Europe where men tend to be tall and thicker in the shoulders.  When we set out to design the Action Baby Carrier, it had to fit both small and tall!  Because the designers were, one, petite and the other tall bodied. We would never design a carrier that we could not use ourselves or that we would not recommend to a friend.  So, we designed it to fit most people from the start.  This is one of the reasons for the double side adjuster for the hip belt. We can make it longer, without all the extra webbing.” In conclusion, I am so thrilled to have an alternative to the Ergo to recommend, and thrilled that it’s even cheaper than the Ergo! I like the carrier a lot, but feel I will like it even more as my Baby Girl grows a bit. I think it’s fabulous that it can carry a child up to 45#, meaning it can be used for many, many years! I will definitely be recommending this carrier over, and over!

Please visit their website & FB pages:

Website: http://www.actionbabycarriers.com/shop/

Fb page: https://www.facebook.com/ActionBabyCarriers