I’ll be honest, when I started researching some of the top baby carriers out there, I was a little skeptical about the Infantino 4 in 1 carrier. This is for a couple of reasons, but mostly it came down to the fact that it was priced at a fraction of the price of the other high-quality carriers that I have personally used and loved. Could the Infantino 4 in 1 really be a quality product?
The answer is a resounding yes! The Infantino has taken me completely by surprise and really impressed me with the quality of design, but mostly the price.
Ease of Use
Like most of the carriers on the market, whether high quality or low, it takes a bit of getting used to figure out how to get it on and adjusted correctly. Once you’ve put it on a couple of times, it is very easy to do by yourself. However, the first few times you figure it out, I would recommend doing it with your partner or a friend to make sure your baby stays as safe as possible.
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The back carry position can be pretty difficult and almost impossible to do by yourself, so if you want to use this position, you may need to just plan on using it when you are with a friend or can ask someone for help.
Fabric
I took a pretty close look at the fabric that the Infantino 4 in 1 carrier used to manufacture its carriers. One of the things I wondered was if the reason it could be so inexpensive in comparison to other carriers was because of the quality of the fabric. I was looking to make sure it wasn’t thin or flimsy and what the overall feel of it was.
This is what I found:
Quality
The overall quality was surprisingly good. In comparison with the Ergobaby Omni 360 or the Lillebaby Complete, it did seem like more of a synthetic fabric rather than a natural fiber like the other carriers.
This isn’t a poor point for me, because I don’t have problems with synthetic materials. In fact, while some babies have allergies to some natural fibers like wool, most babies have little to no issues with synthetic materials.
The fabric was not thin or flimsy and it was well padded, so you know that your baby will be nice, snug, and warm in the carrier.
Variety
The Infantino 4 in 1 doesn’t have as much variety as some of the top brands of carriers do. There are a few limited edition designs that are a bit more quirky and fun, but for the most part, the fabric tends to stay pretty neutral. At least that way, it never goes out of style.
Positions
The Infantino 4 in 1 carrier comes with four possible positions to carry your baby in. These positions are similar to the Lillebaby Complete and the Ergobaby Omni 360, however, there is no option for hip carrying. I don’t think that will matter too much, because I have yet to meet someone who actually frequently uses the hip carry position.
The Infnatino 4 in 1 comes with an inward-facing front carry with a narrow seat, an inward-facing front carry with a wide seat, an outward-facing front carry, and a back carry. That all sounds a bit confusing but you can see them all in this video:
These positions basically cover all the most popular ones that both babies and parents love to use.
Back Support
One of the big reasons why I was skeptical about the Infantino 4 in 1 carrier is because I had actually bought the Infantino Swift before and didn’t love it. I talk about it at length in my review of the Lillbebaby Complete carrier.
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Swift
I was severely disappointed with the Swift model because it didn’t have a waist strap so the baby would shift from one side to the other without me even doing anything. I didn’t have the back support that I needed and it wasn’t as secure as I would have hoped. The cross straps on the back also hade a weak crossover connection and would slide up and down also causing the weight to shift from one side to the other instead of distributing it evenly. Needless to say, there was a lot of back pain.
How The 4 in 1 Is Different
I was concerned that back pain would be a common theme in this brand’s carrier, but this is not the case at all. The carrier is sturdy and doesn’t have the weak connection that it had in the Swift model.
There is also a waist strap, which takes the weight off of the back and helps to distribute it more to the hips, which are more sturdy and strong than the back. The overall quality of the product is just better, and for only a few more bucks.
Bib
One feature that I love about the Infantino 4 in 1 carrier that the other more well-known carriers don’t have is the bib. I would have absolutely loved this feature!
My babies spit up a lot. I mean A LOT. Though it never seemed to bother them much and they gained weight steadily, it was a major inconvenience with laundry. I constantly had to stain treat everything.
It was particularly annoying in the carrier, just because obviously a carrier takes up a lot more room in a washer than a baby shirt does. So I ended up folding a burp cloth over the edge of the carrier when I was outward facing to protect it a bit more. But as you can imagine, it fell quite often and my baby would sometimes play with it or pull it out.
A bib that comes with the carrier and attaches to it, sounds like such a great feature I would have really enjoyed with my old carrier.
Weight Requirements
There is one thing that is slightly less desirable than the Ergobaby Omni 360 and the Lillebaby Complete, and that is that the weight requirements for the Infantino 4 in 1 have a bit of a smaller window than the other two.
The Infantino 4 in 1 is manufactured to hold a baby within the weight constraints of 8 to 32 pounds. There are many babies that are born weighing more than 8 pounds, however, there is also a large number of babies who aren’t and that first few pounds can take a while to put on. The newborn stage is a stage where a carrier is particularly helpful, so it’s not ideal for a parent to have to wait until their baby is big enough to use it. Babies will weigh 32 pounds many times well after their first year, but this not a carrier that you will use for older toddlers.
The Lillebaby and Ergobaby, on the other hand, are newborn ready. They do not require an insert to go in their carrier to make them safe to carry babies as small as 7 pounds, which most babies are born around that weight. These carriers also go well into 40 pounds, which can be used for very old toddlers. In fact, you will probably want to be done carrying your toddler for good before you even reach the maximum weight.
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Conclusion
Overall, the Infantino 4 in1 is a major contender in the baby carrier world. It is priced much lower than some of the other popular options, but it is from a well-established baby brand that usually makes pretty good quality products.
The weight constraints are less than the other brands and it might have fabric that is less expensive, but for the price that it is, it would work as a great carrier option.
Some of the more important features like carrying positions, durability, and back support for the parent. These are the features that make it or break it for me, and I’m sure most other parents would agree.
So ultimately, if you are looking for a good quality product that will be gentle on your body and will support your baby in various positions for the first year and a bit beyond, then look no further than the Infantino 4 in 1. It may be a bit more basic, but the price is not a reflection of the quality of this baby product.