It also has a liner which is useful to keep baby warm in the winter and in the summer, you can just take it out. It also has a hood and comes with two dribble bibs. Mothercare recommends that carriers are only used for short periods and only while your baby is awake.
What we love
I bought the Mothercare 4-position carrier for Evie when she was very small and used it on and off from when she was about four months until her first birthday. I found the carrier fairly easy to use in the facing inwards and facing outwards positions. As well as being good quality, strong and sturdy it is also made of nice fabric and has a detachable hood - a good idea, although I have to say that I never used it.
I’m fairly small but my husband Rich is 6ft 7, and the straps all expanded enough to fit him. We had other types of sling, but this was the one that he preferred to use – he didn’t get in with the fabric kind that involve a lot of tying. I felt that it gave Evie good head support when she was tiny, and she seemed very comfortable in it. I also liked the fact that once she was in, she stayed in the right position. In some other types of sling I tried, I found she seemed to slip down all the time. She looked really cute in it – we were out shopping one day and a woman came running up to Rich, who was carrying her at the time, complimenting him on his gorgeous baby daughter. It was only after she’d gone that I realised it was Maureen Lipman!
What to watch out for
The carrier does up differently depending on how big you are – which means that larger people end up with the buckle at the back, which is quite awkward. I could never do the waist strap up tight enough to get the maximum support from it, so as Evie got heavier, her weight really dragged on my shoulders. She’s very small and light, but if I had a heavier baby, I would probably have had to stop using this carrier much sooner.
I never used the carrier in the back position – it seemed far too complicated and I think you have to have someone else around to hoist it on, which is no good when you are with the baby on your own. There are a lot of straps, so if you’re frequently swapping between a big person and smaller person using it, or between different sizes of baby, there’s a fair bit of adjusting to do. Mothercare advises not to use it when the baby is asleep, which is impossible, as usually the first thing a baby does in a sling is nod off!
Who is the Mothercare 4-position carrier best for?
Mums and dads who like to walk a lot.
This is a nice, practical carrier that is flexible and versatile, but it doesn’t suit everyone and can be fiddly to put on.
