ErgoBaby Omni 360 Baby Carrier Review: Comfort, Versatility, and Durability

investing in a quality baby carrier can pay big dividends for both parents and a new baby. but with it’s $180 price tag, does the ergobaby omni 360 live up to the hype?

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Regularly wearing your baby can be such an amazing bonding experience. Combine the developmental and bonding benefits of baby-wearing with the ability to use not one but BOTH of your hands, while keeping baby safe and comfortable, and you have an absolute no-brainer. But a good quality baby carrier is something that is often overlooked on a registry. Ergobaby has a history of making durable and feature packed carriers, and our experience with the is no exception.

Now, full disclosure, we bought our Omni 360 second hand. My wife (as she often does) was pursuing the local mom gossip on a Facebook group, and stumbled across a woman selling the Omni 360 with the original box and it had only been used once. Apparently her infant hated being in a carrier, so after one use it was up for sale at about 50% of retail. Huge win for us.

So, do we like it just because we got it cheap? Maybe. Would I pay full retail for this if I had to buy it again? Absolutely.

pros

• Padding in all the right places. This carrier is easily the most comfortable that we own, beyond that, it’s one of the most comfortable carriers that we’ve ever tested, full stop. If you ever worn a hiking pack (this something by Osprey), you’ll understand how much padding is on this carrier. This makes the carrier feel incredibly supportive for both baby and parent. I wore this carrier almost daily for a year, with several longs days in the Carolina heat and humidity. I was never uncomfortable (sweaty, very sweaty), but not uncomfortable.

• Infinite adjustability. The Omni 360 has a range of adjustments for both baby and parent, making this a one and done kind of carrier that will fit parents of all sizes. For example, I’m 5’10 and 230 lbs, and this carrier comfortably fits me and my 5’2” wife. The carrier is also adjustable to fit kids from “week 1 to 48 months” according to the ErgoBaby website. The padded straps are adjustable for parents of all sizes, and they can even be crossed for more petit wearers.

• Front, back, side to side. The main showpiece of the Omni 360 is that it can be worn in multiple configurations. Baby can face in or out (depending on age and weight), and can be worn to the front, to either side, or on your back.

• Durability. We’ve had our ErgoBaby Omni 360 for almost two years now, with almost daily use for an entire year. It still looks new. There are no signs of wear, no fraying threads, no pilling, no staining. Nothing. All of the clips are in tact, the straps are still in great shape, and the entire carrier looks almost like the day we brought it home.

• Machine washable. Because blowouts are a thing…

• Breathability. With it’s primarily mesh construction, this is the most breathable carrier that we own. Will it stop you from sweating on a hot day? No. Will it keep you and baby cooler than most other carriers? Yes.

cons

• Straps galore - The beauty of an infinitely adjustable baby carrier means that you have straps and buckles everywhere. This can also make the carrier a little confusing to use, especially when using it for multiple people. There are straps to adjust any and every point on the ErgoBaby Omni 360. Once you adjust them, they all need to be tucked back into their little elastic holders to avoid looking like you’re walking around in bondage gear (no judgement here, you do you!).

• Confusing at first - When we first brought this carrier home, it wasn’t clear what all needed to be adjusted in order to make it fit our body, and our baby. It took about an hour of reading through the manual, adjusting, reading again, and re-adjusting to get everything looking and feeling the way we wanted it, and more importantly to where our baby was safe and secure. If you don’t have patience and commitment to use this carrier, it could easily become an expensive attic storage item.

Conslusion

So, after over a year of nearly daily use would we recommend the ErgoBaby Omni360 carrier? Absolutely! Out of all the carriers we own, this one has been by far the one that we’ve gotten the most use out of. Is the most convenient to use? No. Is it the most economical to purchase? By no stretch of the imagination, no. Is it still our favorite carrier to this day for long outings, trips, and more? 100%. Overall, the issues that we saw as cons aren’t deal breakers. Once you’ve used the carrier more than a few times, it’s easy to get the hang of it. Its combination of adjustability, comfort and durability outweigh the learning curve.

Have something to add? Leave a comment below!

BATTLE ROYALE: HATCH REST VS. HATCH REST PLUS

There’s no shortage of quality sleep machines out there for babies. But when it comes to the cream of the crop, few stand above Hatch Rest and Hatch Rest Plus. Both of these machines offer great features at a reasonable price point, but when they go head to head, which one comes out on top?

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Let’s break it down: Hatch Rest

The Hatch Rest is the original sleep machine released by Hatch Baby (now just Hatch) and quickly became one of the top infant must-haves on the market. With a huge range of features like great volume, the ability to turn it on via touch, and the ability to choose from hundreds of combinations of colors and sounds to make your favorites, the Hatch Rest is no slouch. Let’s take a look at the pro’s and cons:

What we love:

• At $59.99 USD the Hatch Rest is cheaper than the Hatch Rest Plus and very much in line with competitors in the market

• Works primarily as a sound machine (and does that incredibly well)

• Has a night-light function

• Has a programmable touch ring that can be used to power the unit on and off, as well as to cycle through your favorite presets

• Can be programmed for “Time to Rise” which helps when sleep training toddlers

• Can be paired with the Hatch Sleep app

What we don’t:

• The Hatch Rest connects with your phone and app via bluetooth. Bluetooth has a limited range and the sound machine can lost connection with your phone if there are too many walls between you and the device

• No backup battery which means this unit has to be plugged into the wall to work

• Does not have an audio monitor like the Hatch Rest +

Hatch Rest Plus

The Hatch Rest Plus is the newest, biggest, baddest sound machine on the block for any smart nursery. With all of its upgraded features it seems like this would be the best option, but let’s go quickly through the pros and cons.

What we love:

• Works primarily as a sound machine (and does that incredibly well)

• Has a backup battery so it can be moved from room to room and will work if your power goes out

• Has a night-light function

• Has a programmable touch ring that can be used to power the unit on and off, as well as to cycle through your favorite presets

• Can be programmed for “Time to Rise” which helps when sleep training toddlers

• Can be paired with the Hatch Sleep app via Wifi

• Device connects to your phone via the app and wifi, which gives it a much greater range. This means you can essentially control it from anywhere.

what we don’t:

• At $89.99 USD the Hatch Rest Plus is more expensive than the Hatch Rest and most other sound machines on the market.

• The backup battery only lasts for a few hours, great for naps but won’t last for an entire nights sleep

• If your wifi goes out, you can’t use the smart app to control the device

OVERALL WINNER: Hatch Rest+

Now that we’ve had a few months using both machines we’ve been able to come to some pretty solid conclusions about which one is the better value. While the Hatch Rest is an incredible sound machine and has some killer features, the Rest Plus just takes all of those up a few notches and adds a backup battery, which gives you much more flexibility in how and when you use this sound machine to help your little one (and you) get a more restful nights sleep. With the added bonus of long-range control via wifi, the Hatch Rest Plus has just enough tweaks and upgrades to make up for the $30 price difference.