Difficult to assemble, but good quality

Considering how quickly babies outgrow just about anything you buy, having a baby carrier which can be adjusted depending on their size, weight and situation is very useful. Instead of being forced to buy multiple carriers, the Diono Carus lets you simply switch from carrying your baby on your front, back, or even have the baby facing forwards. It also comes with a storage bag that doubles as a handy backpack when the Carus is in use. The rucksack is not actually as useful as you would think, as you do need a diaper bag anyways, but it can hold your personal items at least to save you from bringing another bag or purse. Being able to have a little extra room to store things is helpful, it just isn’t a replacement for a diaper bag.

The only major drawback to this baby carrying system has nothing to do with comfort or safety: it’s complicated, and comes with incredibly bad instructions. I can forgive a 4-in-1 baby carrying system for being complicated (being able to use this for four different kinds of baby carrying is helpful), but not when it’s also accompanied by bad instructions. The instructions which teach you how to put together the baby carrier are entirely based on picture illustrations, but when your product is as complicated as this is, that just is not enough. My partner and I tried for an hour to put the baby carrier together by following the picture guide, and we were never able to completely finish it before we ran into problems. Thankfully the online videos that Diono has are much easier to follow, but I still don’t think a product for parents should force them to turn to online tutorials just to ensure the safety of their child. I think step by step clear instructions have gone out of fashion, since they cost companies money, but I still think there's no substitution.

Once you learn how to put the Carus together, you have a lot of options. The carrier is very sturdy and seems very comfortable for parent and baby alike, with plenty of padding in the places babies need the most support. You even get an infant insert included as well, which some carriers would ask you to buy separately.

Overall, I like the 4-in-1 baby carrier, I just wish it were more user-friendly for parents. Once you learn how to put it together a few times, you should have no problem at all using it in various positions to keep your baby safe and comfortable.