First of all, I need to preface this by saying that I found out after I had my son that I sustained some pretty significant spinal and back damage during the end of my pregnancy and delivery. It was so severe that even as a brand new newborn, I could not carry my son in any type of carrier without excruciating pain. Not the supposed ergonomic carriers or a custom ring sling or wrap. And as he got older, of course the problem just got worse. We went through, no lie, around $2,000 in every type of carrier you can possibly imagine from nearly every big name brand. Including specialty hiking carriers that were hundreds of dollars since we hike often. They all had one MAJOR flaw. Not ONE of them was truuly ergonomic for the parent. In EVERY case, the majority of the weight load was distributed onto your shoulders and upper back and thw child is basically hanging from your shoulders and back. Even in the carriers with solid frames like the hiking ones that have waist belts. And even my husband, who is extremely healthy and slender and athletic, couldn't find one that even he was comfortable enough that he would be able to carry our son for more than 20 minutes if we were going on a hike or going to be out for an extended period of time. There was enough strain on his shoulders and back even when made sure that they were properly adjusted by an expert, that he just could not imagine taking our son out for longer than that without significant pain and subsequently having shoulder, neck, and back issues. And there was definitely no way I, with my back, could use them at all. All were horribly painful. Fast forward to me sobbing one day wondering if I would ever be able to carry our son in any type of a carrier at any point and being completely frustrated with the lack of options on the market. And that is the day that I somehow, out of desperation, stumbled upon the MiaMily brand. This newer Swiss company I had never heard of, but saw that they have a huge cult following already in Europe and Asia. And after reading the creator's story of why she created these that was so similar to my story with my back, seeing all the awards they've won internationally, that they they are endorsed by the International Hip Dysplasia Institute, we were SOLD. It was THE BEST purchase we've ever made! There is literally nothing else like this in the baby carrier market! When we first received it and both tried it on with our son in it I think we were both speechless for a little while. Speechless in the best way possible! Neither one of us could believe how insanely comfortable it was and how LIGHT our son felt in this carrier! Our son is 12 months old now and weighs as much as a 2-year-old. He weighs 28 lbs and is nearly as tall as a 2yr old as well. So that's saying a LOT. The baby literally sits on a padded solid wedge seat that distributes their weight evenly mainly onto your hips, where there is the most support and stability and the least strain. There is hardly any pull, let alone strain, on your shoulders or back whatsoever! The super thick and sturdy hook and loop strap that goes around your waist is also ridiculously comfortable and makes it so much more stabilizing and ergonomic! actually, all of the straps from the waist strap to the shoulder straps are all extremely thick and padded and very high quality. This is also extremely breathable! We just went ahead and unzipped the part that comes off to expose the breathable mesh since our son is hot natured. We have now had this on several hiking trips that were a couple of hours long and not only do we have no problems whatsoever carrying him that long in this even on steep or uneven terrain... our son absolutely LOVES this! He actually cries when he knows we are getting ready to take him out! And he gets super excited and does this little happy dance when he sees us putting it on haha! Who would have thought that at 28 lb I could now carry my son more easily and with no pain and that's something I couldn't even do when he was a newborn. As you can see, my husband also absolutely loves this carrier! This is a picture of him carrying our son on our last hiking trip! If you have any reservations whatsoever, don't. Just get this carrier! The only thing I would add is that we do not recommend the Essential model. We got that one and this one at the same time and thought we would use them both for different things, but the Essential is not breathable whatsoever and is not even as close as comfortable as this because it does not have the wraparound padded waistband. It also continually annoyed my son, who again,.is extremely tall for his age and almost as tall as a 2-year-old... Because the flat part that normally folds down in the other models can't really be folded down in that model and was just in his way and constantly smacking him in the face when he was facing out. This model however, in our opinion, is the absolute best baby care on the market hands down! If you want to baby carrier that is actually ergonomic for not only the baby, but for you as a parent, you need this!