Smart support, but for whom?

I've received this carrier as a shower gift. Since I liked most of the Chicco products I came into contact I thought this was going to be great and that I'll use it a lot. When my son was born I was proven wrong just by the two very important facts. It was dead of the winter and here in New England the weather it is not exactly greatest for the walks in the park, and he was a big baby. In any case, let me get to the main points.


Main parts:
Shoulder straps
Body for carrying the baby, with a small pocket (for a burp cloth perhaps)
Hard piece of plastic for back support
Head shield (with a zip for easy installation)
Bib


The Chicco Smart Support Baby Carrier is really well built, with high quality materials. It has nice optional hardback support for the baby that you can slide in and out of the back pouch. It is not easily reachable and you need to prepare the carrier in advance, but it is good for newborns even when they start holding their little heads up, since it provides additional back support. My son used to lean his head on the edge and gaze up while we were walking on the street. This back support is probably most advantageous when you carry a newborn in a horizontal position (like in the picture), but I found it awkward to carry my son like that. As I mentioned, he was a big baby, and his head wouldn't fit within the carrier with the shield zipped on, not to mention that having the straps over one shoulder was very painful with his weight. I can imagine shield being useful for a smaller baby, even in the upright position, since it protects the child from the possibility of elements as well as holding up the kid's head. The shield has a hard back as well, but both the carrier and the shield are well padded on the inside. I never had a feeling that my son was uncomfortable because of the materials.


The carrier also comes with a handy bib that you snap onto the shoulder straps in between you and the child, so that if he/she spits up or drools, you're well protected. It is all washable, including the carrier, so we never had problems with it.


My main grief with the Chicco Smart Support Baby Carrier is the actual fit on the Mom/Dad. I am not small, but I am not huge either, 5'8" and 150 lbs. The carrier has a pretty complicated system of straps that you can’t adjust yourself but need to have somebody to help you. Once you do it correctly for the first time it works fine use after use, but you can't easily swap it with somebody of different build. You just can't go out and carry the kid for a while and have your husband take over when you are tired. You have to have a flat surface to take the child out, or a place to sit down. Then you have to give the child to the other person, take the carrier off, give the carrier of to the person, take the kid, help the person put this thing on, adjust the straps for him/her, give the kid over, put the child in the carrier, close the snaps, adjust the straps for the kid... Too much to do in a public space... The other problem I found was that since my son was quite hefty; at 6 months of age (17 lbs) it was not comfortable for me to carry him in this carrier. The shoulder straps are well padded, but the way they wrap around you is not very ergonomic and there is a great strain on your upper torso. The carrier doesn't utilize your hips what so ever and that makes it hard to carry the child for prolonged periods or distances.
Putting the baby in it is relatively simple provided you have a flat surface to do it. You simply put the carrier on, put the back of the carrier on the surface, lay the child on it. Bend over the baby, close the plastic snaps and you are done. You can possibly do it in your lap, but it is harder to adjust all the pieces to fit well on the baby.


After a few months, I decided that this carrier is not really useful for us, and that we are better of with something more easy to use.


The only people I would maybe suggest this product to is for the parents of the babies that have problems with holding up their heads. But even for them, I think there are more comfortable options. I think that Chicco did not investigate enough with this product into the ergonomics or the sizes of children. Not to mention the possibility for parents to swap.