• How we selected products to test
• Compare the best baby formulas
• Important ingredients to consider
• Who makes baby formula
• Best infant formula: Parent’s Choice
• Palm-oil-free runner up: Kirkland Signature
• The best organic baby formula – Happy Baby
• The other finalists we tested
• The bottom line

How we selected products to test

For insight into the process other parents have gone through when selecting formula, we talked with three sets of parents from various walks of life to see what formula their babies liked best. We found that most parents can’t decipher the differences between formulations, much less understand why some work better for their babies.

We boned up on the background of infant nutrition with detailed guidance from Dr. Bridget Young and Dr. William Sears, two experts whose guides are linked all over parenting blogs and discussion groups. We had hoped to get a more concrete set of criteria from the experts, but we found out that even the researchers can’t point to one specific set of ingredients that will make the perfect formula for everyone.

We researched the manufacturers of formula to see if there was anything notable about specific standards or practices. The US Food and Drug Administration imposes stringent regulations on ingredients, but we did find a few common variations that are discussed below.

Our final selections were based on price, availability, and a comparison of ingredients lists to find a full range of options that can satisfy even the compulsive label-readers among our friends and family.

Compare the best baby formulas

Important ingredients to consider

What’s in your baby’s formula is the subject of a government-regulated standard, the Food and Drug Administration’s Infant Formula Act (“IFA”). Just as with most nutritional guidelines, dieticians and researchers have worked to define the minimum and maximum amounts of basic nutrients, vitamins and minerals that go into a product.

The IFA requires manufacturers to register and test any infant formula that’s brought to market and also regulates quality standards, including a procedure for issuing recalls. All infant formula legally sold in the U.S. meets the IFA standards.

Water

OK, this isn’t a nutrient or ingredient in dry formula, but babies get all of the water they need from the milk or formula you give them.

Tap water from a city supply system is — generally speaking — just as safe as bottled water, but neither is sterile. Parents are advised to boil water before mixing up a bottle of formula to eliminate any risk of bacterial or viral exposure, even when using bottled water. If you have any doubts about lead in your pipes or other low-level sources of contaminants in your water, check out our faucet water filter and water filter pitcher reviews for alternatives to bottled water.

Carbohydrates

Sugar, in one form or another, is the main ingredient in milk. The average 100 milliliters of breast milk has between 5 and 8 grams of sugar. Lactose is sugar, though it’s digested differently than the glucose and fructose we harvest from plants.

Most of the popular formula brands use only lactose to add enough calories (about double what you get from cow milk) for growing babies. In a few cases corn syrup is added instead of extra lactose. If your baby can’t digest lactose, you will need a formula that specifically lists lactose-free ingredients like soy protein instead of “milk”.

Fat

The next ingredient on the list is fat, at 3.8 grams per average 100 mL of breast milk. Most fat in baby formula is from plant oils: Typically, that includes saturated fats from palm oil and a lighter type like sunflower oil blended in ratios that resemble the fat in breast milk.

Some research suggests that the way palm-oil fats is structured can cause complications in digestion, specifically because palm-oil fats can bind to calcium and make it indigestible. Dr. Young says in her formula guide that manufacturers usually make up for that with extra calcium, so fat types are lowest on her priorities. Kabrita has a neat explainer on palm oil if you want more details, but remember that it’s an advertisement.

If you’ve got a pre-term baby who hasn’t developed full bone density, you’ll probably want to use a formula like Similac or Kirkland Signature that doesn’t rely on palm oil.

Protein

Protein is the least-significant nutrient in milk by weight, at only 1.3 grams for 100 mL. Protein usually comes from cow-milk whey.

Protein is usually the trickiest nutrient for tiny tummies to digest. If your baby has trouble with constipation, it might be because of the cow-milk proteins in the formula — not the lactose, just the protein. One study found that 65 percent of babies with constipation problems saw an improvement after switching to formula made with soy protein.

Substitutions and easy-to-digest options

Most experts suggest trying formula with a hydrolyzed protein to make digestion easier. These types of formula are usually labelled with names like “gentle” or “sensitive.” If pre-digested whey protein doesn’t make a difference, a soy-protein-based formula is probably in your future.

If different protein doesn’t help, lactose-free formula is often the next step. Typically this involves using plant sugars that can be digested without the lactase enzyme.

Supplemental ingredients

These days, formula packaging calls out non-essential, supplemental ingredients that aren’t covered by FDA regulations. These additives range from specially-derived oils to “prebiotic” sugars that encourage the right kinds of bacteria to grow in your baby’s tummy.

All of these additional ingredients are designed to mimic breast milk, but remember that breast milk varies, and the effectiveness and necessity of each additive is still going through long-term research. Just because a formula manufacturer claims a certain ingredient helps brain growth doesn’t mean your baby will be deficient without it.

If your baby can easily digest a formula and get the essential calories, fat and protein they need, you’ve done your job well. Finding a nifty set of extra supplements is icing on that cake.

Many watch-dog agencies like the Cornucopia Institute and blogs like FoodBabe also raise awareness about ingredients like lecithin, the trace amounts of hexane you can find in formula from extracted oils. The FDA says formula is safe if it’s made according to industry standards, but there’s plenty of room for the concerned parent to ask if some formula could be even more safe.

Organic and GMO-free certifications

Food certification is important to many consumers, but it’s also big business. Remember that even if you pay double or triple for a tub of premium formula, it’s still meeting the same nutritional standards as all the other formula on the shelf and usually comes from the same factory.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) guidelines for organic certification are strict and definitive, so certified organic formulas with the USDA seal are sourced from organic farms in a traceable supply chain.

Our researcher for this post has worked with a family farm to get organic certification in California and can testify to the level of detail required by inspectors and auditors. That said, there’s usually no discernable difference in the resulting food, and the heavily processed ingredients in formula aren’t covered in pesticides or fertilizers the way something like lettuce can be.

If trace amounts of stuff that’s not allowed in the USDA organic certification program — that list ranges from antibiotics that may be fed to cows, herbicide sprayed on seeds or solvents used to extract oil from soybeans — bother you, most brands have a second label and a higher price tag for nearly-identical formula made from milk and oils that should have had less exposure to those things.

The potential exposure to non-certified ingredients isn’t entirely avoided by buying certified organic baby formula, though: The Cornucopia Institute filed an official complaint in 2008 because formula manufacturers were allowed to add specialized ingredients (DHA and ARA oils which contribute to eye development) to certified organic formula, even though these ingredients had been extracted with hexane solvents.

The USDA and FDA haven’t enforced a ruling by the National Organics Standards Board that the extracted ingredients should disqualify formula from organic certification. So, as consumers, we’re left to shrug our shoulders about the implications or do our own research and find a product that’s made differently.

Thus far Baby’s Only is the only manufacturer using an alternative oil extracted from eggs with water, but their formula is not tested for feeding infants and is sold as a toddler formula. Some formulas are available without DHA and ARA, but most pediatricians recommend that it be included.

Genetically modified organisms (“GMOs”) are an even trickier subject. Right now there are only ten GMO crops, so most plant ingredients in baby formula couldn’t come from GMO varieties anyhow. The impact of GMO-free sourcing is biggest in soy-based formula, since most soybeans grown in the U.S. come from the biotech seed labs. But between sugar from corn and sugar beets and oils from canola and soybeans, there are opportunities for ingredients from modified-genome plants to pop up.

Keep in mind that formula ingredients are at their most basic molecular structure and don’t contain DNA. When NPR investigated GMO-free labelling standards, they found that most common GMO-derived ingredients wouldn’t even be detectable if we screened carefully for them.

When the final U.S. regulations for mandatory GMO labelling come into play in 2020, processed products like baby formula will not have to disclose if they use sugar, oil or protein from GMO plants. Voluntary “GMO-free” labels are still going to be common, but they don’t mean any more for baby formula than they do for water in most cases.

Who makes baby formula

The FDA doesn’t publish a list of approved formula, though they do have specific rules about registration and what has to be in formula. According to this list maintained by the state of New Jersey, there are only four major FDA-registered manufacturers of formula in the U.S.: Abbot (Similac), Mead Johnson (Enfamil), Nestle (Gerber) and Perrigo (nearly every other brand).

Abbot Nutrition Brands makes Similac formula, which has been around since 1923. We strongly suspect that Abbot also makes the Kirkland Signature formula for Costco, since it’s so similar in every possible way. Note the identical packaging in the above photo, but also the absence of palm oil in the ingredient lists. Naturally, neither company will verify where Costco buys their product, and it is possible they could switch suppliers without warning.

Mead Johnson Nutrition has been around since 1903, and their Enfamil formula was launched in 1964. This is another key player in the brand-name formula race.

Nestle is one of the oldest and best-known formula manufacturers, though you won’t see the name on a bottle of formula in the U.S. Nestle acquired the Gerber baby food company in 2007, and they merged the two lines for sales in the U.S., while using the Nestle name in other parts of the world.

Pharmacist Henri Nestle designed a breast milk replacement in 1867, and his work on condensing milk built a multinational food company that has changed the way we buy chocolate, milk and even water.

Nestle was so aggressive in their worldwide marketing of formula in the 1970s that some called them baby killers, after mothers without the means to safely prepare formula were effectively tricked into decreasing their own breast milk supplies when they used free formula samples handed out by saleswomen dressed as nurses.

The distinctive feature of Gerber – Good Start formula is that it’s only available with added probiotics and broken-down, easier-to-digest protein, comparable to a “sensitive” or “gentle” formula from other brands.

Perrigo makes basically every other formula sold in the United States. They have an in-house brand, but you’ll have an easier time buying their products from other major retailers. Perrigo even runs a website called “storebrandformula.com” to ease concerns about buying “cheap” alternatives to brand-name “premium” formula.

It’s easy to spot Perrigo formula by the packaging once you know what to look for, and they’re now making formula for everyone from Amazon to Whole Foods to Target. Even the premium-priced Organic formula from Happy Baby, Earth’s Best Organic and Honest Company almost certainly came out of a Perrigo facility.

One other manufacturer, Prolacta, makes formula out of donated breast milk to help pre-term infants. It’s not commonly available and is classified separately by the FDA.

There are other major manufacturers of formula worldwide, but they have yet to register for sales in the U.S. under the conditions required by the FDA.

Best infant formula: Parent’s Choice

Parent’s Choice – Infant Formula is the store-brand formula available at Walmart, and it’s the formula you should probably try first.

Since infant formula is so strictly regulated in terms of nutrition, and since different babies will respond in different ways to formula, we stuck with price and availability as our key selection criteria for a top pick. You can get this formula shipped or pick it up in-store, and it’s almost always the least expensive.

It’s important to remember when comparison shopping that Perrigo makes almost every store-brand formula on the market and quite a few custom-label organic formula brands.

Now, we can’t say for certain that there will never be a difference between what Perrigo puts in a particular brand’s tub. For example, Honest Company specifically gets Perrigo to leave out the algae-derived DHA/RDA supplement that’s been the subject of minor controversy.

But the most significant differences are always going to be in protein types and sugar types offered for special dietary needs. Brands don’t matter much in picking one of these, since they all follow the same rules and offer the same lines of alternative blends to help you find something your baby can digest well.

Walmart sells the same six basic formula types that all the other full-line retailers do: a Similac clone, an Enfamil clone, a clone of the easy-digestion recipes from those brands, an organic formula and a dairy-free formula. They’re all certified and tested to be good formula.

Best Buy: Parent's Choice

Parent's Choice is Walmart's store-brand, and we know for a fact that they use the same manufacturing plant as Target, Walgreens, Kroger, and even most boutique organic brands. This is top-notch formula at a very competitive price.

See Price at Walmart.com

The one distinction between Parent’s Choice formula and the competition that gave us pause is that the organic version of the formula uses corn syrup solids and maltodextrin, rather than lactose, for its sugar calories. Many parents are leery of corn syrup, but that one ingredient is probably behind the price difference between this and other organic brands.

If you’re willing to pay a little bit more to avoid retailers like Walmart and Target, our runner-up pick from Kirkland Signature is also a very good formula. But they only sell one type of formula, while Parent’s Choice has an entire lineup of options.

Recall update: In the summer of 2019, Perrigo recalled 23,388 tubs of Parent’s Choice – Advantage after metal was found in one specific batch. That’s worth noting, but it’s far less serious than, for example, the e. coli contamination outbreaks in lettuce that were announced in late 2018. Other manufacturers have issued formula recalls before, because mistakes happen in manufacturing and the recall system catches them. Premium brands are no less likely to be recalled, there have actually been more recalls for top-dollar formula than store brands. We want buyers to be informed about recalls, but we haven’t changed our opinions about the quality of Parent’s Choice.

Key takeaways:

• Parent’s Choice – Infant Formula is easy to find and the most affordable.
• If your baby has a special dietary need, you can probably find a suitable formula from Parent’s Choice.
• This formula is made in a certified facility that follows the same regulations as everyone else.
• Most other store-brand formula is likely to be identical to the Parent’s Choice equivalent.
• Walmart will typically ship formula to your door just as quickly as anyone else.

Palm-oil-free runner up: Kirkland Signature

If you’ve tried another formula and your baby isn’t responding well, or if you’ve got a baby who needs extra calcium, Kirkland Signature – Infant Formula is a palm-oil-free blend that might be a better choice than the other store brands, for only slightly more per ounce.

Costco Wholesale’s Kirkland Signature line is probably the most prestigious store brand you can find, generally supplying top-shelf products at a substantial discount. When we found the Kirkland baby formula on the shelf one bay over from the Similac formula, we could hardly believe how similar they were. From the ingredients to the packaging, it’s certain that Costco’s store brand formula is made by Abbot, the company that makes Similac.

Kirkland formula has a very slightly different formulation from the full-price Similac – Pro Advance that it’s based on, but note that they’ve changed the serving size listed in the nutritional information to make it difficult to compare the two containers.

Alternate Ingredients: Kirkland Signature

Kirkland Signature items are often a great way to buy top quality without breaking the bank, and this baby formula is no exception. If you're looking to avoid calcium-absorbing palm oil, this is the most affordable brand that doesn't use it.

See Price at Costco.com

As with most formula, Kirkland Signature advertises specialized fat and sugar ingredients claimed to mimic breast milk more closely than the basic lactose and protein from processed cow milk.

The big difference on this ingredient list is one that’s starting to draw attention: Like Similac, Kirkland Signature formula doesn’t use palm oil to match the high ratio of palmitic-type fats found in breast milk, but uses coconut oil instead.

Palm oil is linked to reduced calcium absorption, so using it means other manufacturers have to add some extra calcium just to make up the difference. Palm oil is also associated with harder poop, so if you’re dealing with a constipated baby, Kirkland Signature is worth investigating.

What Costco doesn’t give is a full line of formula types. If you’re looking for formula with processed proteins for easier digestion, or if your baby is allergic to cow-milk proteins and you need dairy-free formula, you’ll need to buy another brand.

Of course, there’s also the cost of a Costco membership to consider—but over just one year, you’d save nearly $800 buying Kirkland signature formula instead of Similac. That difference covers a membership easily.

Key takeaways:

• Kirkland Signature – Infant Formula is a premium product at a great price.
• This formula doesn’t use palm oil, which is an ingredient many parents are choosing to avoid.
• Another brand with similar ingredients is Similac, which sells for nearly double the price.
• Kirkland only sells standard baby formula, no options for sensitive babies.

The best organic baby formula – Happy Baby

Among the organic formulas we tried, Happy Baby – Organic Infant Formula is corn-syrup free and slightly higher in gut-bacteria-nurturing prebiotics. The price isn’t the best, but it’s fairly easy to find in stores like Whole Foods.

Every single indication points to Perrigo as a manufacturer for Happy Baby formula, just like the store brands. From the taste of the formula to the special storage clip for the plastic scoop, Happy Baby formula is at least a sibling of other Perrigo-made organic brands.

Organic Pick: Happy Baby

This is almost definitely from the same factory that makes Walmart's formula, but they've chosen to spend a bit more on organic lactose instead of using plant-based sugars. Happy Baby also adds more prebiotics than most other formula blends, which might help digestion.

See Price at Amazon.com

Compared to Parent’s Choice – Organic Infant Formula, which costs 17 cents more per ounce than the regular stuff, Happy Baby will set you back about a dollar more per ounce. They’re subject to the same restrictions on where they can get ingredients and what can go into formula either way, but Happy Baby chose not to use corn syrup as a source for sugar, just organic lactose.

Organic formula is still a heavily processed product, so only trace amounts of synthetic pesticide or fertilizer could possibly show up in the final product. We don’t think organic formula is a good value, but if you’re committed to buying organic this is a good option.

Key takeaways:

• Happy Baby – Organic Infant Formula is like other Perrigo formula, but with certified organic ingredients.
• Slightly more prebiotic ingredients than other organic brands might help digestion.
• No corn syrup, just lactose for the calories your baby needs.
• There’s also a low-lactose and older-baby version of this formula available.

The other finalists we tested

Up & Up

Basically, everything we’ve said about Parent’s Choice formula above is also true of Up & Up – Infant Formula from Target. The descriptions of the prebiotic ingredients are slightly different, but equivalent.

The biggest difference we saw between Walmart and Target is that Walmart offers formula in packages of four tubs. Buying in bulk will save you 13 cents per ounce, which adds up to about $200 per year. Target runs promotions once in a while that bring the price in line with Walmart, but you’d have to wait and stock up when the time is right.

Similac

If you’re going to turn your nose up at store-brand formula and only consider the big-name baby formula brands despite all the regulated similarities, Similac – Pro-Advance is the brand that makes the most sense to us. They don’t use palm oil, which means better calcium absorption and possibly softer poop for your baby.

Similac – Advantage is so similar to the blend of ingredients used in Kirkland Signature that we find it hard to think of a reason to pay extra for the name brand. We tried the Similac – Pro-Advance, and it is very slightly different in texture and flavor because of an added prebiotic sugar called “Human Milk Oligosaccharide” or “HMO.” This is a sugar that isn’t digested; instead, it stays in your baby’s gut and feeds the beneficial bacteria that help digest food.

In our testing, we found that this formula was the first to smell slightly fishy and possibly rancid after we stored a few samples separately from the bigger containers for a few weeks. Definitely keep this stuff in a cool, dry place.

The price of Similac is just about double that of Parent’s Choice or Kirkland Signature, at $1.18 per ounce. Similac does sell a certified organic version of their formula, while Enfamil does not.

Enfamil

The other big-name player in the baby-formula world is Enfamil with their line of Neuro-Pro formula. Our test family has received Enfamil formula samples every time they had a new baby, so they must be working closely with obstetricians or hospitals to get access to new parents.

Enfamil’s primary distinction is a new type of fat they call “milk fat globule membrane” (“MGFM”). This fatty compound is supposed to make formula based on cow milk a little bit closer to human milk, and they’ve shown in some research that it might promote brain development better than regular formula. They got in trouble with advertising watchdogs for suggesting so boldly that Enfamil is better at growing brains, but it is a unique additive.

Enfamil’s NeuroPro blend is the most expensive formula we tested, at about $1.29 per ounce or $2,000 for a year’s supply.

Enfamil has a full line of options for babies with sensitive stomachs or allergies, but they don’t offer a certified organic product.

Earth’s Best

Earth’s Best – Organic Infant Formula is one of the oldest and best-known certified organic formula brands, and it’s only gotten better with time.

This certified organic baby formula used to be the least-expensive on the market. Since Parent’s Choice started offering a lower-lactose organic formula for a much lower price, and Happy Baby is offering a blend with more prebiotics for only 4 cents more per ounce, it’s hard to pick this as an overall winner.

Earth’s Best does sell a DHA-free version of this formula, but the price bump is insane: You pay an extra ten dollars per tin just to have a tiny amount of oil (and a few parts per billion of potential solvent exposure) left out. Most pediatricians strongly recommend you buy a formula with DHA, and supplement drops are a pain to deal with.

Kabrita – Toddler Formula

Kabrita – Toddler Formula is the only formula on our list that hasn’t been tested and approved for feeding infants by the FDA, so it can’t legally be sold as an infant formula. Hence the name “Toddler Formula.”

Kabrita has become a trendy option for infant formula all the same, and it’s the most-recommended goat-milk option. Here are a few points of interest for goat milk formula:

• Goat milk might not cause as much discomfort as cow milk if your baby is sensitive to casein proteins that are present in cow milk only. If you’re allergic to cow milk, though, you could also be allergic to goat milk.
• Dr. Sears recommends goat milk for some patients because it has smaller, easier-to-digest fat globules than cow milk.

Dr Young says in her post on goat milk that Kabrita adds more whey protein to make this formula closer to breast milk than most other European-import goat-milk formula blends on the market. The palm oil they use is also a special type that doesn’t reduce calcium availability.

Kabrita does include hexane-extracted DHA oils, which some parents would rather skip. Note that it’s not a certified organic product, either, so the soy oil in this formula was also probably extracted with the same solvents that make DHA controversial.

If you’re interested in buying a goat-milk-based formula, this is the one available to U.S. consumers. Other brands are sold for U.K. and European parents, but the legality and cost of importing formula make it hard to recommend when there are so many other options.

The bottom line

Formula is a product designed to provide all the nutrition that a baby needs to grow in the first year of life, so it’s important that you’re buying good formula.

The FDA tests and monitors the quality of infant formula closely, and if a product isn’t shown to help babies thrive it’s not allowed to be sold as baby formula. There’s no reason to doubt the safety or quality of baby formula sold in the United States.

We’ve picked the most affordable formula as the best infant formula overall: At just 50 cents per ounce, Parent’s Choice infant formula is a bargain. When you pick a product that you’re going to feed six times a day for a year, it’s nice to know that you’re not paying more than you need to.

If your baby is experiencing discomfort from indigestion or hard stools, there’s a full range of specialty alternative formula available from Parent’s Choice.

If you are having trouble finding a formula that works for your baby, talk to your pediatrician about what to try next. But we hope we’ve helped you understand at least some of the factors that separate one brand of formula from the rest.

Top Pick: Parent's Choice

This formula is made in the same factory as all the other bargain-priced formula, and it meets the same stringent regulations for nutrition and quality. If you want all of the very latest prebiotics and specialized fat molecules, you won't find them here. But it's a great formula at the best price.

See Price at Walmart.com

The post The Best Baby Formula appeared first on Your Best Digs.

Table of contents

• How we selected products to test
• Compare the best digital thermometers
• Important features to consider
• Understanding fever temperatures
• How we tested
• Best forehead thermometer: iProven – DMT-511
• Best baby thermometer: Motorola – MBP70SN
• A simple probe thermometer: ADC – Adtemp 418N
• Another Probe we liked: Vicks – Rapid Read
• Other thermometers we tested
• The bottom line

How we selected products to test

During nine hours of careful research, we read recommendations from health agencies, reviewers like Consumer Reports, Wirecutter and Baby Gear Lab, parenting magazines and blogs.

Our researcher spoke with nurses at his children’s pediatrician’s office (part of the St Joseph Medical Group in Orange) as a part of the research for this review. He also interviewed Naomi Jackson, a mother of four and a registered nurse working at Killam General Hospital, about her own experiences and preferences. We checked all of these front-line perspectives against the guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

After we collected a list of favorite types and model numbers, we checked our list against retailer listings. We checked Amazon to see which models are best-selling and have the highest average review score, but we also looked for updated versions of the best sellers.

In addition to popular consumer retail websites, we looked at medical-supply catalogs to see where professionals are getting their gear. We didn’t buy any clinic-grade thermometers that cost over $300, but we noted the prominent manufacturers and found some good examples of home-use thermometers based on technology developed for the clinic.

Compare the best digital thermometers

Thermometer	Price	Type	Versatility	Confidence	Easy to Use?
Forehead and Ear Thermometers
1. iProven - DMT-511	$$	Forehead and Ear	☆☆☆	☆☆☆	☆☆
2. Motorola - MBP70SN	$$$	Forehead - Instant	☆☆	☆☆	☆☆☆
3. iHealth - PT3	$$	Forehead - Instant	☆	☆☆	☆☆☆
4. Braun - NTF300US	$$$$	Forehead - Instant	☆	☆☆	☆☆☆
5. Exergen - TAT200c SmartGlow	$$	Forehead - Scan	☆	☆☆☆	☆☆
6. Kinsa - Smart Ear Thermometer	$$$	Ear w/Bluetooth	☆	☆☆	☆☆
7. ADC - Temple Touch	$	Forehead - Contact	☆	☆☆	☆☆
Probe Thermometers
8. ADC - Adtemp 418N	$	Probe	☆☆☆	☆☆☆	☆☆☆
9. Vicks - Rapid Read	$	Probe (3 modes)	☆☆☆	☆☆☆	☆☆
10. Kinsa - QuickCare	$	Probe w/Bluetooth	☆☆☆	☆☆☆	☆☆☆
11. iProven DT-R1221AWG	$	Probe	☆☆☆	☆☆☆	☆☆☆

Important features to consider

Fever indicator guides: Most new thermometers use symbols or colors to tell you if a body temperature is within normal range. If the temperature is a low grade or high fever, colored lights or other indicators will notify you. If you don’t have time to look up temperatures on a chart, then these color-coded fever warnings might be helpful. It’s still a great idea to check and write down the body temperature of your family members (and yourself) on a day when you’re not sick, so you’ll have a better idea of how severe a fever is. Find out what range the thermometer considers normal and severe, and remember that the temperature ranges are different for a baby.

Predictive vs. live monitor readings: All the thermometers we bought are “guessing” at a body temperature reading. For example, probe thermometers don’t actually wait for the metal tip to reach a stable temperature, they guess based on known temperature curves in typical scenarios.

It sounds tricky, but it’s been proven accurate and is much quicker than waiting for a thermometer to come up to your actual temperature. If you want to monitor changes in real time, you’ll need to make sure you buy a monitoring thermometer and learn how to use it.

Actual vs. compensated reading: Like predicted temperatures for probes, most forehead thermometers are adjusting their temperature reading by a few degrees to tell you what a person’s oral reading should be. Again, this is fairly accurate, but you should understand what the number actually means.

Types of thermometers

The most difficult part of buying a thermometer is deciding which type will serve you best. There are pros and cons for each type, and they will all let you down if you don’t learn how to use them consistently.

After testing a wide range of types we feel comfortable with both scanning and instant forehead thermometers as the easiest to use.

If you want something that’s more bulletproof, probe thermometers basically never give a false reading, though you still need to know where to put them to get a consistent temperature.

Probe thermometer

A digital version of the mercury-in-glass thermometers used a century ago, these thermometers are still incredibly popular. For adults, a probe thermometer under the tongue is an easy way to get a reliable temperature.

For infants and children younger than 3, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends taking a rectal temperature if you want the most accurate reading, though one nurse we spoke with said she would never ask a parent to take a rectal temperature.

Pros:

• Probe thermometers can give very reliable readings.
• This type is the least expensive.
• They’re also easy to carry in a diaper bag.

Cons:

• Two words say it all: rectal probe.
• Oral readings are tricky with squirming kids or babies.
• Oral temperatures are not considered reliable in babies before six months of age.
• Axillary (armpit) temperatures aren’t as consistent as other methods.
• Having multiple thermometers, or at least disposable covers, is essential if you’re sharing.

Pacifier thermometer

This is just a probe thermometer built into a pacifier, so you’ll at least have a fighting chance of getting an infant to keep it in his or her mouth.

Pros:

• A pacifier can be much easier to get your baby to accept than a regular thermometer.

Cons:

• Accurate readings through a pacifier nipple require up to five minutes of sucking to verify temperature.
• Professionals don’t recommended oral temperature for checking newborns.

We looked at the pacifier thermometers available and were disappointed by long read times and tiny displays. Pacifier models are also missing extra features we’ve come to expect from other thermometers. Reviews were quite negative, so we didn’t test any.

Ear (tympanic) thermometer

Reading the eardrum with an infrared sensor is quick, but you have to get a clear shot at it. Studies have shown that newborns often have ear canals that are too small to allow this type of thermometer to work effectively, so it’s only recommended after six months. Even then, the nurses we talked to still find this type frustrating on occasion.

Pros:

• Readings for kids and adults can be very accurate.
• They’re quicker than oral measurements.

Cons:

• Earwax can lead to inaccurate readings.
• Readings for infants younger than six months are not considered reliable.
• Some people hate having things in their ears.

Scan-type forehead (temporal) thermometer

This type of thermometer uses either an infrared sensor or a metal contact patch with a thermal probe behind it to measure the temperature of your forehead, specifically the blood flowing through the temporal artery on your temples. This involves scanning over a fairly wide area to get an average temperature, usually for just a few seconds with infrared scanners.

Pros:

• This is fast and non-invasive.
• Studies show this is usually a reliable way to judge body temperature.

Cons:

• It’s hard to know when you’re using a forehead thermometer wrong.
• Scanning the forehead still takes 2-3 seconds.
• Babies may not hold still enough for this to work well.
• These models require skin contact.

Non-contact forehead thermometer

Like the above forehead thermometers, this type measures skin temperature to estimate the temperature of blood inside your temporal artery. The distinction is that this new style measures over a wider area instantaneously, so it doesn’t have to touch your skin.

This type of thermometer is so quick, you might doubt its accuracy. That said, it’s fast enough to be very easy to use. It’s also the thermometer least likely to wake someone. It’s also important to make sure the forehead is clean and dry before using this type.

Pros:

• Hands down, this is the fastest way to take a temperature.
• No skin contact is required to take a reading.
• You can take readings without waking someone up.

Cons:

• This type is the most expensive.
• You still need to practice measuring the same spot each time.
• These thermometers have the most buyer complaints about inconsistent readings.

Understanding fever temperatures

Generally speaking, physicians consider temperatures above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit to indicate a fever. That means the body’s metabolic system has raised its temperature to respond to illness. 100.4 is 2.2 degrees higher than the average temperature of 98.2.

That’s a guideline for clinical practice, but the range of normal temperatures in different people is wide. The range in adults goes from about 97 to 99, so if your normal body temperature is on the low end, an equivalent to the standard fever reading would be just 99.4.

Babies tend to be slightly warmer, and after age 65, our bodies stay cooler on average. In those age ranges, doctors advise paying extra attention to a fever and any other symptoms.

if you’re going to buy and use a thermometer, you owe it to yourself to find out what your (or your child’s) normal temperature range is. Most of the manuals we read recommended to check at the same time of day over a few days.

Once you learn how your thermometer works and what your normal temperature is, you’ll be better prepared to take accurate readings when you’re sick.

What to do about a low-grade fever

If you’re not seeing any problematic symptoms, most doctors will prescribe rest and possibly pain-relieving drugs. The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a report in 2011 that makes a very clear statement about fever and fever-reducing drugs:

“Fever is a physiological mechanism that has beneficial effects in fighting infection. Although many parents administer antipyretics (medications to reduce a fever) such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen to a child to reduce a fever, the report emphasizes that the primary goal should be to help the child feel more comfortable, rather than to maintain a “normal” temperature.

• Parents should focus on the general well-being of the child, his/her activity, observing the child for signs of serious illness and maintaining appropriate fluid intake.

• Parents should not wake up a sleeping child to administer a fever-reducer. Antipyretics must be stored safely to avoid accidental ingestion.

• Parents should be aware that the correct dosage is based on the child’s weight, and that an accurate measuring device should always be used.”

A nurse’s perspective

We talked to Naomi, a mother of four who works as a Registered Nurse in the emergency room at a small hospital in rural Alberta, Canada. We asked her to compare what she uses at work and at home.

Naomi’s hospital uses a clinic-certified model from Exergen, fairly similar to the TAT200c we tested. The nurses rely on a probe thermometer if they have doubts: “If we’re not sure of accuracy and the child is symptomatic we just go to the axilla (armpit) after [a forehead scan].”

For home use with her four kids, Naomi bought an ear-reading infrared thermometer, but she says it’s not as reliable as some would have you think: “Even the hospital grade in-ear thermometers are way off sometimes. User variations—getting it in exactly the right place in the ear, pulling the lobe just right to position the canal, etc… that make it less accurate. If I was to get a second thermometer for home I would get a temporal [forehead-type].”

We asked Naomi how they check temperatures in the ER for infants, given all the studies that suggest a rectal thermometer is the only one that’s really accurate. “Rectal is considered the most accurate of any measurement,” she says, “but also has the most risk of harm. Nurses are not allowed to take rectal readings without a doctor’s order, and it is hardly ever necessary to have a reading that accurate. I would never recommend rectal to a parent.”

Finally, we asked her what kind of device would give the most helpful information to a parent when talking with a nurse, and she laughed. “If I call in to Health Link [a telephone medical advice service in her area] the nurses always make me retake the temperature with a probe thermometer under the arm before they will give advice.”

So, whatever thermometer you pick, read the instruction manual carefully, and learn how to take consistent readings. Also, don’t be surprised if a nurse tells you to use a cheap probe thermometer under your baby’s arm.

How we tested

Our test family consists of two adults, a three-year-old, and an eight-month-old. They’ve used a variety of thermometers over the last three years, including a non-contact forehead thermometer and a few cheap probe thermometers.

Our testers used most of the thermometers a few times for checking cold symptoms, but mostly they took normal readings and relied on controlled tests to see how the thermometers responded to elevated temperatures.

Normal temperatures among our testers ranged from 97 degrees Fahrenheit to 98.5.

Note that our tests show, as expected, all of these thermometers are calibrated from the factory to give valid readings. You’ll need to learn how to interpret those readings for a thermometer to be useful.

For example, the red fever indicator light on some thermometers shows up at 99.5, while on others that temperature would trigger an “elevated” indicator with a “high” fever light reserved for 102.6.

Different test sites (forehead, ear and mouth) also show different temperatures, and some thermometers even convert a “raw” reading into an equivalent for what you would likely see with a different thermometer.

So if you want to know if a fever is serious, it’s important to know how much higher your temperature is, compared to a thermometer reading when you’re definitely healthy.

Ease of use and read time

Each thermometer type works a little bit differently, so we measured the time between turning the thermometer on and a final temperature reading.

The real winner is, again, the instant-scan Motorola, iHealth and Braun. The read time really is instant, and that can make all the difference if you’ve got a fussy baby. For taking temperatures on yourself or an older kid, it’s not as much of an issue, but the speed is still nice.

An uncooperative baby or toddler presents two problems when you’re taking a temperature. First, they don’t sit still. Second, they often don’t want you to touch them with the thermometer.

Non-contact thermometers are the real winners in this test as well, since they give readings instantly and don’t need to touch your kid’s skin. If you have a two-year-old throwing a tantrum that might not be enough, but at least you’ve got a fighting chance.

The other thing to note about testing with babies is that you need to be more aware of exactly what counts as a fever. See our section on understanding fever temperatures.

Accuracy: water bath

Many purchasers who leave low-score reviews complain about the difficulty of getting consistent readings with forehead thermometers, and the same is sometimes true of ear thermometers. Basically, the more reviews a thermometer has, the more likely someone has complained about it.

The fact that many thermometers aren’t giving you a “true” reading doesn’t help: Braun quickly points out when asked that their readings are factoring the temperature from your whole forehead and predicting your body temperature, rather than just giving you a simple reading.

For our first accuracy test, we used a warm water bath and a large cast iron pan to get a stable temperature. Our reference was a calibrated alcohol-filled thermometer with traceable certification to half a degree Celsius. Agitating the water constantly to keep the temperature stable, we checked the temperature of the water for probe thermometers or the iron surface for infrared-reading models.

In our chart, we recorded averages of high and low readings. All of the probe thermometers were very accurate, but three readings from the Vicks – Rapid Read varied the least averaged to just over a tenth of a degree from the calibrated reference across three tests.

If tallying up the error margin (or “delta”) on each reading, then averaging the amount of error per reading, the Kinsa – QuickCare squeaks ahead by a few decimal points.

Suffice it to say, probe thermometers are carefully calibrated from the factory and are probably more accurate than our bath setup is capable of testing.

Many of the infrared thermometers would not accept the metal surface or the surface of the water to give a reading. Two models would test in “object” mode (advertised as a way to check bath and bottle temperatures) but were more than four degrees off.

Accuracy: body temperature

We checked accuracy with all of the forehead and ear thermometers against a rectal temperature reading. The most accurate body temperature readings came from the Exergen – TAT200c SmartGlow, but that’s partly because the directions for that thermometer suggest averaging forehead measurement with a reading behind the ear.

The only device that was more than one degree off was the Braun – NTF300US, but it gives a reading that’s one degree cooler than every other thermometer. That’s closer to an armpit measurement, rather than an oral measurement equivalent we expected.

Again, numerical accuracy isn’t a problem if you’ve taken the time to find out what your normal body temperature reads as with the thermometer you buy, since all the models we tested are all very consistent. But it could be confusing if you were worried about a fever, bought the thermometer, saw a “low grade fever” 100.4 reading and then checked it again with a different method and saw 103.4.

Consistency

As expected, all the thermometers were very consistent. We tested multiple readings with the same subjects, being careful to check as consistently as we could with each model. We used one infant and two adult subjects for repeat tests to nail down consistency.

Most thermometers came in at 0.2 or 0.3 degrees change over three readings. The highest variability came from contact-reading thermometers, but two thermometers achieved a totally steady reading over three closely-spaced readings with multiple subjects: The Motorola Baby instant-read and Vicks probe thermometers.

Best forehead thermometer: iProven

The iProven – DMT-511 is a new update to a best-selling thermometer design. As the only combination forehead-and-ear thermometer on our list, it’s also more versatile. If you want the ability to back up a forehead scan with a different type of measurement in case you get a strange result, iProven has you covered.

A perennial best-seller, iProven has clinched recommendations from the likes of Wirecutter, Babylist and The Bump with their old DMT-489 model. The 511 is slightly sleeker and easier to use: older models had separate buttons for forehead and ear readings and relied on combination presses for other functions.

The new design uses the cap to detect which mode you’re using, and just one “take temperature” button. There’s a designated function button for mute and memory options. You still need button combinations to change scales and switch to object measurement mode, but it’s a better interface than the old models.

In use, the iProven is accurate and easy to use. In forehead mode (with the cap on) you need to hold down the read button and swipe the reader across your forehead.

The swipe-scanning motion does take longer than an instant-scan touchless thermometer like our runner-up. If you’re dealing with a baby that’s thrashing, even the two-second swipe might be frustrating. The iProven is still a good thermometer for babies, but this is mostly the best digital thermometer for adults or kids.

Measuring the temperature of the eardrum is also easy: Pop off the cap, insert the tip carefully into the ear canal while pulling back on the earlobe, and press the button for an instant reading.

If you’re averse to objects going into your ears you might skip that mode, but it works as well as the forehead scan. In our tests, the eardrum temperature was on average 0.2 degrees cooler than the forehead, which indicates the thermometer is compensating to give similar readings with both methods.

Some people will already be looking up a chart to interpret between different types of thermometers, but you can rely on this thermometer to give you a number consistent with what you’d get from skin temperature under the armpit.

Best Buy: iProven - DMT-511

This thermometer is a simple, reliable forehead-scanning model that only takes a few seconds to use. It's not the fastest thermometer, but the bonus of a back-up ear scan method is good for peace of mind if you get a strange reading. A bargain price and all the options you could ask for rounds out its feature list.

See Price at Amazon.com

Memory for the last 35 readings is available at the push of a button. That’s a handy feature if you’re tracking a fever as it runs its course, though it doesn’t give you an at-a-glance overview as an app or even a paper notebook would. It’s a less-useful feature if you use the thermometer for more than one person, since you’d quickly lose track of which readings belonged to each person.

This model also includes a mode to scan baby bottles and bath water—hold down the function button when the thermometer is powered off to activate this mode—though somehow it was off by eight degrees. Don’t buy this thermometer for kitchen or laboratory use; instead, check out our meat thermometer and Thermapen reviews for devices with that kind of accuracy.

Happily, iProven includes a mode to adjust the built-in temperature compensation by up to two degrees, which means you can fine-tune the reading to better match a reference reading using a different kind of thermometer.

Changing between Fahrenheit and Celsius is handled with a toggle switch inside the battery compartment, which is definitely our favorite method. To mute the confirmation beep that sounds with every reading, hold down the mode button with the “memory/mute” symbol.

After comparing the field, we were won over by the simple controls, reliable reading and low price of this model. The eardrum mode is a nice perk; most of us shouldn’t need it, but if your patient’s forehead is covered in sweat or dirt it’s nice to have a back-up method.

Key takeaways:

• The forehead scan mode of the iProven – DMT-511 gives quick, accurate measurements, so long as you use it consistently.
• If you ever doubt a forehead reading, the eardrum mode is a handy backup method.
• Silent mode is also easy to activate.
• No Bluetooth or profiles means less frustration.
• 35 past-temperature memory, but no profiles for individual family members.
• Not as quick or simple as an instant-read model.

Best baby thermometer: Motorola

If you’re looking for a thermometer to add to your baby registry, the Motorola – MBP70SN Smart Touchless Forehead Thermometer has a few advantages over the iProven.

First, the Motorola scans from up to two inches away from the center of the forehead, no touching necessary. Second, the Motorola gives a measurement instantly, and there’s no need to practice side-to-side scanning. It’s much easier to get readings from a fussy baby or a toddler this way.

Beyond those clear benefits, the Motorola is a mixed bag. You give up the ear scan feature that makes the iProven more flexible, though remember that ear scans aren’t considered accurate until six months anyhow.

Motorola doesn’t include a silent mode for this thermometer either. If you’re checking someone who’s sleeping, the “didi” beep is not excessively loud, but it’s there. There’s no guarantee it won’t wake a light sleeper.

For taking the temperature of a wriggly baby, an instant scan is as good as it gets, but sometimes even that isn’t fast enough to make your job easy.

Not just for babies

A non-contact thermometer is easier for everyone to use, not just for parents of newborns. If you’ve got a mirror, the point-and-click method is even easy to use on yourself. If you’re used to taking a temperature with an oral thermometer, you might consider the touchless design a waste of money, but it’s definitely convenient.

Are apps and profiles worth it?

Motorola gives you profiles to track temperatures for four users, which means more button-press combinations to remember if you want to get the most out of this model.

A Bluetooth connection links your thermometer readings with the “Hubble Connect for Smart Nursery” app. It’s a decent way to see a trend line, manage profiles and set medication reminders but not much else.

If you’re also using another Motorola Baby nursery device, like a baby monitor or humidifier, you can use the same app rather than install something new for each device. It’s still an app that we don’t think is necessary. Our test for a data-collection app is whether it lets you do something more easily than a paper notebook would, and in this case a notebook in the medicine cabinet (or just making entries on your phone’s calendar app) works better.

Sharing temperatures by email didn’t actually work when we tested that feature with Gmail on an Android phone.

Switching profiles on the thermometer takes a few seconds, so we wouldn’t blame you for just taking readings without switching every time. If you’ve got four babies and you really want an accurate historical record, the app is required to move temperature readings between profiles. You can’t see profile names on the thermometer, either, just numbers.

Most parents aren’t going to need this kind of record, but it does make the memory feature useful with more than one person.

For Baby: Motorola - MBP70SN

Touch-free thermometers are very fast, but some people doubt their accuracy. After hundreds of measurements and checking against our reference thermometer, we didn't see any errors, and we've grown to appreciate how easy it is to check babies with this type. The app isn't as useful as we'd hoped, but you don't need to install it for the thermometer to work.

See Price at Amazon.com

Fast and accurate

The Motorola was slightly more accurate and more consistent for us than the iProven – DMT-51. It’s fast and very easy to use, as long as you’re not stuck trying to remember which person in your household is assigned each profile slot.

At the end of the day, if you’re OK with ignoring the extra features, or if you actually want to track temperature readings on a graph, this is a great thermometer. The basic measurement function works right away without your pressing any menu buttons.

If you’re not  worried about waking a sleeping baby, the non-contact design isn’t worth the doubled price. In addition, Motorola uses a method that’s less well-proven to determine body temperature from your forehead, and in certain cases, there could be factors that lead to problems with accuracy.

If you want measurements you can feel 100-percent confident about, we’d still advise that you have a backup conventional probe thermometer like the ADC. If you’re talking to a doctor’s office on the phone, they’ll likely ask for that type of reading, even if you have detailed charts that track your temperature hour by hour.

Key takeaways:

• When it comes to quick readings, the Motorola – MBP70SN Smart Touchless Thermometer is nearly impossible to beat.
• This thermometer was very accurate and consistent in our tests with all ages.
• The extra features and app only give you better access to stored measurements, they don’t make this a better thermometer.
• If you’re skeptical of instantaneous no-contact readings, you’ll want to have a backup thermometer on hand as well.

A simple probe thermometer: ADC

If you want an easy-to-read and fairly speedy thermometer that just does what you’d expect, the ADC – Adtemp 418N is an easy recommendation.

A probe thermometer is only as accurate as your technique, though. If you don’t learn how to put it in the right place under your tongue or armpit, you might get an inconsistent reading. Rectal readings are generally very consistent, but there’s some risk of injury if you’re not careful.

Probe thermometers are carefully calibrated, as our tests in a water bath against a certified lab thermometer confirmed. The most variation we saw between readings from any of this style of thermometer was 0.38 degrees, and our top pick averaged to 0.31. Our ability to maintain the conditions of the test was almost certainly worse than the thermometer itself.

What sets the ADC probe thermometer apart from the competition is simplicity. The only option you have to worry about with this thermometer is switching between Celsius and Fahrenheit scales. (While the thermometer is off, press and hold the power button until the scale symbols start flashing; press the power button to switch, then wait for it to power off.)

ADC upgrades this model over older models with a fever warning via a colored backlight. That’s a nice perk, but the bigger selling point for us is the quick read time and easy-to-see numerals.

After you press the power button, you’ve got about 10 seconds before a reading is confirmed. That’s not as fast as the lightning-quick Vicks – Rapid Read system, but with the ADC you don’t need to confirm which site you’re using every time you turn it on. For an oral temperature check, the overall time between power-on and a verified temperature is surprisingly close between these models, even if the Vicks thermometer spends less time in your mouth.

If you don’t know what your regular and elevated body temperatures are, then the color-coded fever warning might be helpful. It’s still a great idea to check and write down the body temperature of your family members (and yourself) on a day when you’re not sick, so you’ll have a better idea of how severe a fever is when it hits.

Five latex-free probe covers also come with this thermometer, and those are a must-have if you think you might ever want to do a rectal probe and then use the thermometer for anything else ever again.

Even if you’re just sharing a thermometer among your kids for oral readings, the covers are still good to have on hand. Probe thermometers are washable, but you can’t immerse any of the models we tested in boiling water for sterilization. Fortunately, probe covers are universal-fit and available in drugstores.

Best Probe-Type: ADC - Adtemp 418N

There's not much special going on with this thermometer, but it performs its core mission flawlessly. Big numerals and fast results make this very easy to use. This isn't the cheapest thermometer we found, but it's a great price for such a well-designed tool.

See Price at Amazon.com

The ADC briefly shows the saved records of the last reading taken when it powers up. This is just about perfect for tracking the course of a fever over a night. It’s not a replacement for writing down a normal temperature or a long-term record of changes, but it doesn’t require extra button-presses or troubleshooting a Bluetooth connection.

The thermometers we tested aren’t likely to be significantly more accurate than what you can find at your corner drugstore, and you could probably get a bare-bones thermometer for free if you ask around. Still, it’s nice having a model that’s easy to read and gives you quick results.

Key takeaways:

• The ADC – Adtemp 418N probe thermometer is quick and simple to use.
• Big, bold numerals are easy to read.
• A temperature check takes about ten seconds, much quicker than most cheap thermometers.
• The colored fever indication backlight is helpful, but it’s no replacement for knowing your own normal range.
• A last-temperature display can help you track the progress of a fever, but it only shows for a second.

Another good probe: Vicks

Of the probe thermometers we tested, the Vicks – Rapid Read was the closest to earning a recommendation. Technically, it’s faster than the ADC if you’re doing an oral temperature check under the tongue: Once it’s ready, it only takes two seconds to give an accurate, consistent reading. That’s very impressive. But the whole power-on process takes about the same amount of time as other quick-reading thermometers.

In order to give that accurate reading, this model needs to know what part of your body you’re checking. There’s a three-second wait as the thermometer asks you to press the blue mode button if you want to choose a different location, or leave it on the default. The instruction manual also tells you how to change the default site from oral to armpit or rectal modes.

In all, the startup sequence takes eight seconds. When you add that time to a two-second oral temperature check, any speed advantage it has over other thermometers disappears. It spends less time in your mouth, but it wouldn’t be as intuitive if you handed it to someone who had never used it before.

Reliable but Complicated: Vicks - Rapid Read

If you want a thermometer that translates the difference between mouth, armpit and rectal temperature checks, this model is dead-on accurate. Those options make it more complicated to use, though, and we were left wishing for a simpler thermometer most of the time we used the Vicks.

See Price at Amazon.com

Readings also change based on location. Armpit checks, for example, get about 10 seconds reading time instead of two. The thermometer even converts the temperatures to an oral equivalent—in our water bath test, it read one degree higher than expected in armpit mode and 0.6 degrees lower in rectal mode, which lines up with expected differences between those locations and a reading under the tongue.

On the whole, this is an accurate, reliable and versatile thermometer. The extra features make it very reliable, but only if you know how to use it. If you don’t know that it’s converting temperatures, the changes could lead you to believe a fever is worse than it actually is.
Key takeaways:

• The Vicks – Rapid Read is very accurate, and has the quickest read time we’ve ever seen.
• Vicks automatically adjusts rectal and armpit readings to oral temperature equivalents.
• If you’re not expecting a conversion, the readings you get will be confusing.
• The startup time is quite long.

Other forehead and ear thermometers

If you want the sleekest and simplest thermometer, the iHealth – PT3 non-contact forehead thermometer will be sure to impress. The iHealth only has one button and one reading mode, and it even uses a vibration motor rather than a beeper to tell you when it finishes checking. It’s not as versatile as the iProven, though, since it only gives you one method of scanning. It was also slightly less consistent than the Motorola in our tests.

The Braun – NTF300US was the first popular non-contact forehead thermometer, and it’s probably the model that gave us the most mixed results. Braun seems to have developed an updated model, but it’s not easy to find for sale. In our tests, the 300 model displayed a temperature a full degree below most others, though it was quite consistent. For the price, its poor reputation is too much of a risk when the other non-contact models we tested gave us the readings we expected to see.

If you want something that’s closer to a design tested in clinics and hospitals, the Exergen – TAT200c SmartGlow is based on a best-selling professional model. The display is very small, though. About the only major benefit this model has over the others we tested is a comprehensive instruction booklet, including suggestions for ways to verify forehead readings by checking behind the ear.

For those who need a smartphone app and don’t trust forehead readings, the Kinsa – Smart Ear Thermometer gives you Bluetooth-connected record-logging along with the accuracy of an eardrum measurement. In our tests, though, we didn’t see much reason to prefer ear readings, and the app doesn’t do anything more than a notepad would.

The only forehead scanner we found that uses touch, rather than infrared sensing, the ADC – Temple Touch is an inexpensive alternative. The metal contact patch has to be on your forehead for about 20 seconds, but it tells you when it’s working and seems reliable. It ranked low on our list, because it’s so much slower than any of the other thermometers we tested, and it’s difficult to tell if the metal pad is making contact when you’re checking yourself.

Other probe thermometers we tested

Another Bluetooth thermometer we tried was the Kinsa – QuickCare. This simple probe thermometer has a lot going for it: accurate and consistent readings that are almost as quick as the ADC and Vicks probe models, plus Bluetooth if you want to track temperatures in an app.

The Kinsa’s downside is the short display time; after just 10 seconds, the temperature display resets. If you’re using the app that’s not a problem, but it could be annoying if you don’t check right away. The button is also harder to press than on the other probe thermometers.

Our final probe thermometer is the iProven DT-R1221AWG. It’s not much different than the ADC overall: It takes about as long to read a temperature, and it was a tiny bit more accurate in our tests. The display is smaller, though, and it wasn’t as consistent between tests. This isn’t a bad thermometer, but the ADC is a few dollars cheaper.

The bottom line

Getting an easy-to-use thermometer to measure fever symptoms is an essential part of stocking your medicine cabinet. You want a model that is accurate and consistent but isn’t difficult to use.

Different bodies work at different temperatures, over a range of about two-and-a-half degrees Fahrenheit. Whatever thermometer you get, it’s important to test it and learn how it works when you aren’t running a temperature, so you’ll know exactly how much hotter you’re running if you get sick.

The iProven – DMT-511 was the best forehead and ear thermometer for kids and adults, since it gives you two different reading modes that will help you verify if you’re getting the right numbers with your technique. It’s also easy to mute if you don’t want to disturb your sleeping sicky.

If you need to check a baby’s or small toddler’s temperature, it can be frustrating to get them to sit still even for a few seconds. That’s when an instant-scan touchless forehead thermometer like the Motorola – MBP70SN makes life better. The Bluetooth functions can help you track temperatures and remember medications, but they don’t get in the way of basic temperature checks.

Finally, if you’re looking for a basic, affordable thermometer to pop under your tongue without worrying about aiming a forehead thermometer or ear wax interfering with an ear scan, the ADC – Adtemp 418N is quick, reliable and easy to read.

Best Overall: iProven - DMT-511

With two read modes, a two-second forehead scan and an instant ear scan, this thermometer is both versatile and easy to use. It's quick, accurate, and the price is great.

See Price at Amazon.com

The post The Best Digital Thermometers for Babies and Kids appeared first on Your Best Digs.

Table of contents

• How we selected finalists to test
• Compare the best diaper bags
• Do you really need a diaper bag?
• How we tested
• Top pick: JuJuBe – B.F.F.
• Runner-up backpack: Eddie Bauer – Traverse
• Runner-up tote: Skip Hop – Duo (Special Edition)
• Other finalists we tested
• Changing pad replacements we tested
• The bottom line

How we selected finalists to test

Our researcher for this project has used a variety of diaper bags over the years, so we already had some expectations about what to look for. We checked the latest reviews from testing sites like BabyGearLabs and Wirecutter.

We also looked at the latest trends on The Bump, Babylist and Instagram. One trend that we had to make a call on was leather and leather-like bags: After researching user reviews for popular artificial-leather bags we decided that they don’t stand up to wear-and-tear well enough to be a best pick overall.

Genuine leather is a material that usually wears well in a bag, but water and staining are problems. We also recognize that many people simply don’t want to use leather or other animal products, so we skipped leather bags, at least for this test.

After collecting recommendations for 24 popular diaper bags, we narrowed the field to a set of finalists. We eliminated bags that had more than a handful of complaints about material quality or flaws in manufacturing. We also picked bags that at least claimed to offer insulated bottle pockets.

We eliminated bags that were expensive without justification in the materials used. Most of the bags we tested came in at less than $70. We did make an exception for the JuJuBe’s perennial award winner; compared to other bags we looked at in the $150–180 price range,  JuJuBe’s zippers and fabric are actually an upgrade (with a warranty to back them up).

We wanted to find bags with style options, rather than focusing on different diaper bags “for girls” and “for dads.” For example, the fashion-forward JuJuBe – B.F.F. comes in a range of “black-out” styles to cater to all sensibilities.

We did test a few designs that were aiming to be more trendy, too. We avoided overtly “tacti-cool” dad-bags, but we tested some diaper changing pads that you could add to any good backpack or messenger bag that you already trust.

Compare the best diaper bags

Diaper Bag	Price	Type	Organization Features	Style options
1. JuJuBe - B.F.F.	$$$$	Convertible	☆☆☆☆☆	☆☆☆☆☆
2. Eddie Bauer - Traverse	$$	Backpack	☆☆☆☆	☆☆☆
3. Skip Hop - Duo (Special Edition)	$$	Tote	☆☆☆☆	☆☆☆☆☆
4. Ergobaby - Coffee Run	$$$	Convertible	☆☆☆☆	☆☆☆
5. Maman - Designer Tote	$$	Tote	☆☆☆	☆☆☆
6. Obersee - Bern	$$	Backpack	☆☆☆	☆☆

Do you really need a diaper bag?

Should you buy a diaper bag, or is a regular messenger bag or backpack just as good? The case for buying a new diaper bag might seem to rest on style, but there are some compelling reasons to have a dedicated bag.

Most importantly, there is an essential feature missing from a shoulder bag or backpack: a changing pad.

A changing pad isn’t always necessary to change a diaper. Sometimes, though, you see a puddle on that already-sketchy changing table in the mall. Many public restrooms can make you wonder why you don’t carry a bottle of bleach solution everywhere.

If you don’t even have a changing table to work with, a diaper bag changing pad can’t make every location suitable, but it really helps in situations where you’re not prepared to sacrifice your baby’s favorite blanket.

If you already have a bag you like and just want to make it into a diaper bag with a changing pad, check out our reviews of add-on changing pads below.

But there’s another reason you should think about buying a new bag: A dedicated diaper bag means you don’t have to shuffle diapers and other essentials in and out of your favorite backpack or shopping bag.

Additionally, a diaper bag eliminates confusion about which bag has the diapers in it when a spouse or sitter has the baby for a few hours. Nothing’s worse than realizing you brought the wrong bag on a day trip just as certain smells begin to fill the car.

A dedicated diaper bag doesn’t automatically re-stock itself with diapers, so picking the best bag doesn’t solve all your problems. But knowing exactly where to stash your emergency supplies is at least a start to winning back some sanity. This is the bag you’ll take everywhere you go with your baby, so make sure it’s a good one.

How we tested

We started our testing with a survey of seven experienced parents, many of whom had three or more kids already out of diapers. We asked them to rank the importance of factors like storage capacity, specialized organization options and backpack straps versus shoulder slings.

After in-depth testing of all the bags, we ranked them against these concerns. We then asked our group of testers to rank the bags from most-desirable to least-desirable.

Diaper Bag	Organizer Pockets	Comfortable Straps	Changing Pad	Insulated Bottle Pocket
JuJuBe - B.F.F.	☆☆☆☆☆	☆☆☆☆	21"x12"	Open Pouch
Eddie Bauer - Traverse	☆☆☆☆	☆☆☆	22"x14"	Zip Pocket
Skip Hop - Duo (Special Edition)	☆☆☆☆	☆☆	22"x12"	Open Pouch
Ergobaby - Coffee Run	☆☆☆☆	☆☆	22"x18"	Open Pouch
Maman - Designer Tote	☆☆☆☆	☆☆	22"x12"	Open Pouch
Obersee - Bern	☆☆☆	☆☆☆☆☆	23"x14"	Removable Cooler

Storage versatility

This is the category where our testers were fairly ambivalent about specific bags. Organizer pockets are a great idea, and they can turn out to be perfect for what you need to keep on hand. Most times, however, a bag is just a bag.

After testing, we decided that the best organization features were options to separate the contents of your bag. Especially if you have stuff for more than one kid in there, this helps you find a specific item without pulling everything out.

The stand-out bag here is the JuJuBe – B.F.F. It combines a spacious main compartment, extra side pockets and organizer pouches to make it practically perfect, even for those parents who keep extra stuff in the diaper bag all the time.

On the flip side, the Obersee – Bern is a great backpack that really doesn’t distinguish itself as a diaper bag. The tall compartments and organization features are better for carrying laptops and pens than wipes and spare socks.

Comfortable straps

How well a particular bag carries definitely depends on your body, but good straps never hurt. We ranked these bags based on how we felt about them after an all-day outing.

In the case of the two backpacks, we took them on a trip that involved shambling around the SFX airport for hours late at night with a three-year-old and an infant.

The Obersee – Bern isn’t going to win awards from backpackers on a through-hike, but it’s definitely the best diaper backpack for comfort. The closest competitor was the Eddie Bauer, though we have to give JuJuBe credit for designing convertible backpack straps that actually work and keep up with the purpose-built backpacks.

The cross-body straps on the rest of the bags are fine if you only need to wear them for a half-hour, but you’ll be looking for ways to ditch them after that. This is one area where the convertible JuJuBe and the Ergobaby – Coffee Run really stand out.

Changing pad size

We used the changing pads for diaper changing and they’re all good enough — that is, they provide you with the reassurance that your baby won’t be lying on top of something icky during a change. They’re all fairly small.

The pads are also waterproof enough, but none of them are large enough to change a diaper in a puddle. Check out our add-on changing pad review if you want something bigger.

The Eddie Bauer and Maman bags lose points here because the fabric soaks up a trace of liquid and they also use sponge padding instead of closed-cell foam, so they could trap liquid inside. Water beads up and rolls off quite well, but you do not want to leave these pads sitting in something wet and nasty.

Insulated bottle pockets

An ice pack is essential for keeping bottles chilled if you’re on a day-long outing in the heat, even if you’re using a fully-enclosed cooler. We found the same results in our cooler review and when testing the best lunch boxes: Insulation helps, but you need ice to keep perishable food safe for longer than a few hours.

This is another case where our testers had mixed feelings. If you use a lot of bottles every day, having a way to carry them for a little bit longer at safe temperatures is a big deal. But only one of our testers was really sold on having a bottle cooler integrated into a diaper bag.

If you’re carrying a bottle around for more than a few hours on a hot day, an insulated pocket will do very little to keep it cold. You will need to use an ice pack to keep cooler temperatures on an all-day trip.

Detachable Bottle Cooler: Obersee - Bern

This backpack features a bottle pouch that's well-insulated and easy to separate from the bag. You can stash it in the fridge while you're getting ready for an outing.

See Price at Amazon.com

The Obersee – Bern is the only diaper bag we tested with insulation worth noting. It can hold three small bottles along with a slim ice pack, which might make all the difference when you’re traveling.

Style options and diaper bags for dads

Many dads resent diaper bags. The look of most trendy diaper bags mimics designer purses or tote bags, so a handful of enterprising men have started companies to offer alternatives. There’s now an entire market segment for diaper bags designed around military aesthetics: Stuff like MOLLE-style ladder straps and velcro for clever diaper-joke morale patches.

Jason McCarthy of GORUCK bags insists that a specific bag design for diaper-bag duty is a ridiculous idea, and he’s not entirely wrong. McCarthy tells you to buy his $400 GR1, of course. It and a lot of other great “tactical” bags are very capable of holding diapers, wipes, a change of clothes and other necessities.

We’re well aware of the diversity of preferences among parents. Not every dad wants to use an ammo pouch to carry bottles, and not all diaper bags for girls will have pastel floral prints. Happily, there are now diaper bags on the market that suit nearly every possible taste.

Diaper Bag	Style Overall	Styles Available	Dad-Friendly Options
JuJuBe - B.F.F.	☆☆☆☆	14	☆☆☆
Eddie Bauer - Traverse	☆☆☆	3	☆☆☆☆
Skip Hop - Duo (Special Edition)	☆☆☆☆☆	12 (Two in SE)	☆☆☆
Ergobaby - Coffee Run	☆☆☆	4	☆☆☆
Maman - Designer Tote	☆☆☆	6	☆
Obersee - Bern	☆☆	18 bottle pouch colors	☆☆☆☆

As we’ve already said above, though, we don’t think it’s as easy as saying your favorite bag for other purposes is also your best choice for a diaper bag. If you’re splitting play-date duties with your spouse, finding a diaper bag you can both be happy with will save you some confusion when you’re rushing to get somewhere on time.

Fortunately, most of the bags we tested come in at least neutral colors and design options. Our dad testers and our mom testers didn’t think any specific bag style was objectively “most neutral.” Taste is still going to play a big role in what you like. That said, we did have some popular picks.

JuJuBe won big with moms for the huge range of styles available. There are offerings that cover the entire spectrum of fashion sensibilities: many are colorful prints, but they do offer more subdued versions, like the “Gray Matter” style. It’s not going to pass for “tactical,” though.

The Eddie Bauer- Traverse won some points in this category with the subdued-but-not-boring textured gray fabric. It’s only available in that color, but nearly everyone loved it.

There’s nothing stopping you from buying two diaper bags if you can’t agree on one design or shape. Just make sure you and your partner are on the same page about which bag actually has diapers and spare clothes in it.

Top pick: JuJuBe – B.F.F.

The JuJuBe – B.F.F. is a lesson in excellence through compromise. This isn’t a gigantic bag, but it’s not too small to carry more than the essentials. It’s not a bag for all-day trekking, but the comfortable straps can be un-clipped. This is both a great shoulder bag and the best backpack diaper bag.

The fabric is durable, with a Teflon coating that makes it washable and stain-resistant. It feels smooth and supple, a real upgrade from the cheap polyester or even the Cordura-style nylon you find on suitcases and messenger bags.

Organization features are the real key to the B.F.F.’s success. The main compartment is spacious and allows for carrying bulky items along with your diaper-change essentials. The front zippered compartment keeps smaller items from getting lost, and there’s a no-scratch front pocket that’s great for sunglasses or smartphones.

The side pockets are great, easily holding baby bottles as well as our favorite water bottles and sippy cups. They’re insulated with Thinsulate, which is very good as far as insulation materials go. On a summer day when you’re out for more than a few hours, you’ll still want to use an ice pack inside the bag to maintain safe temperatures for milk or formula.

The founders of JuJuBe came from the world of sneakers, backpacks and sunglasses, and they’ve put together one of the largest selections of styles and prints available. This is a designer diaper bag, but it doesn’t sacrifice functionality for style.

This range goes from chic patterns like the “Queen of the Nile” print we tested to florals like “Sakura at Dusk.” They also meet the needs of parents with subdued tastes with the “Gray Matter” style and their blacked-out “Onyx” collection. They’ve even released Tokidoki and Hello Kitty collaboration editions.

Top Pick: JuJuBe - B.F.F.

JuJuBe is a company that was founded to make better diaper bags, and this design has yet to be topped. It easily converts from a great shoulder bag to a very good backpack, and it's just the right size. The great materials are also backed by a lifetime warranty.

See Price at Amazon.com

When it comes to the changing pad, there’s a lot to love about the quality, but it’s the smallest pad we tested. The memory foam in the middle provides great cushioning, but it would probably be too thick to fit easily in the side pocket if it were any wider. The pad has one satin and one waterproof side to help with a variety of diaper emergencies and environments.

JuJuBe has been making this bag since 2005 and it’s a design they haven’t topped. Some of our friends have used JuJuBe bags for more than five years, and they just don’t die.

Key Takeaways:

• The JuJuBe – B.F.F. is a near-perfect balance of style and functionality.
• You can make the B.F.F a backpack or a shoulder bag and it’s great either way.
• This bag is not too big for one baby, not too small for two toddlers.
• Good materials, zippers and buckles are guaranteed for a lifetime against defects.
• JuJuBe promises these bags will stand up to machine washing.

Runner-up backpack: Eddie Bauer – Traverse

The Eddie Bauer – Traverse backpack diaper bag has a look that all of our testers liked. It’s not the height of fashion, but the gray textured nylon has a sleek look that helps it blend in anywhere. This diaper backpack also has some features that make it great for carrying your baby-care essentials.

This is definitely the best diaper bag backpack on a budget. The zippers and other hardware are all fine. Not amazing, but perfectly acceptable for a $50 backpack. The one place where the price shows most clearly is in the changing pad: It will work well enough for a year or so, but the stitching on the edge of the pad started to unravel after washing it once.

Among our testers, the only thing more important than good organization features is good backpack straps. This bag has both. If you weigh it down with books it won’t beat a high-end backpack, but the shoulder straps are still comfortable when the bag is full of clothes and diaper-change supplies.

The main internal compartment is narrower than the JuJuBe, but it’s still a great diaper bag. There are obvious places for diapers, wipes, and other essentials. Our lead tester took this backpack on a Christmas vacation trip with two kids, and the sheer number of pockets with external zippered access was impressive.

Having a few carefully planned pockets is usually better than having random pockets all over a bag. That principle becomes apparent when you’re getting used to a backpack like this. There are many pockets that could hold your keys, wallet or baby’s favorite pacifier, but the chance you’ll forget which one you used is high for the first week or so.

Runner-Up Backpack: Eddie Bauer - Traverse

Eddie Bauer has put together a great backpack, with thoughtful features that make diaper changes easier. The changing pad is the only place where the low price really shows. It's not the best backpack we've seen, but it's just right for diaper-change essentials.

See Price at Amazon.com

The wipe pocket on the side of the bag is a handy feature to have that we quickly learned to appreciate in a late-night airport layover. Tossing a 100-count pack of our favorite wipes into the bag is less annoying than figuring out how many wipes to load. The side-pocket dispenser makes going back for that last sneaky blob of poop less of a hassle.

Stroller clips are built in to the top of this backpack, so you still have a way to hang it if you’re just out for a stroll. We know that some people don’t like stroller-mounting bags since a heavy bag can tip some strollers, but it’s nice to have the option.

Key Takeaways:

• The Eddie Bauer – Traverse looks like a regular backpack, but inside it’s all diaper bag.
• Real backpack straps make this easy to carry for all-day outings.
• Our testers all liked the style of this bag.
• For the price, quality and materials pretty good.
• Wipes are kept handy in a convenient dispenser pocket.

Runner-up tote: Skip Hop – Duo SE

This is a special edition of the Skip Hop – Duo that brings some extra touches to a reliable budget-friendly tote. The handles and buckles all look better than the nylon luggage look of the original model, but the upgraded wipe-clean fabric is also stiff enough to help this bag stay upright better.

Compared to the JuJuBe, this is a smaller bag, about 13 liters instead of 16. But the fact that it’s tall and slim means it feels even smaller than it actually is while carrying loads of baby gear.

The real downside to the slim-and-tall shape of this bag is when you need to carry heavy, bulky stuff. Pumps, lunch boxes and shopping items have to be narrower than three inches to fit down to the bottom of the main compartment. That’s not a big problem since it’s a bag that will mostly carry folded clothes, diapers and wipes. However, if you like carrying a jumbo-size package of wipes you might be surprised at how much it fills the space.

This is a cross-body shoulder bag only, which means if you’re on an all-day outing you may start to resent it flopping around at your side. The shoulder strap is decent, but nothing special. Skip Hop has also sewn in a set of stroller attachment loops.

There are some simple but very effective organization features in this bag. The side pockets are a good size for bottles, and they’re zippered so the bottles sit inside the bag. This way you get even better insulation than you would with a bit of padding on the outside of a pouch pocket.

Runner-Up Tote: Skip Hop - Duo Special Edition

Skip Hop has been making the Duo since 2003, and this updated Special Edition really does take it up a notch. The SE style options are more limited than for the regular Duo, but in either case you get a tote that holds plenty and still feels small.

See Price at Amazon.com

A zippered accessory pocket on the top holds as much as a mid-size purse — it won’t keep your glasses safe from your keys, but it’s a great catch-all for stuff you don’t want to lose in the bottom of the bag.

There’s a key-clip ring conveniently positioned on the zipper pull (we’ve never met anyone who used a key-keeper that’s hidden inside a pocket), but it doesn’t actually have a clip. Points for making it potentially useful, but none of our testers actually used it.

Front pockets on the Duo have magnetic buttons that don’t really do much to keep stuff in if you turn the bag upside-down, but they’re big enough for a 32-ounce insulated water bottle like our favorite Klean Kanteen.

There’s also a pen loop cleverly hidden in one of the front pouch pockets. We’d rather keep a pen in the zippered pocket, but at least it won’t fall out in either case.

The quality of the Skip Hop is not at the same level as the JuJuBe: The fabric stained in one spot after a few weeks and the zippers definitely feel less reliable (though we didn’t have any problems). Skip Hop won’t cover damage from a washing machine under warranty either. There’s a two-year warranty against defects.

The price is definitely a crowd-pleaser, though: Some of our testers assumed it was a $200 bag like the JuJuBe, but the list price is $70 and we’ve seen it going for as little as $42.

Key Takeaways:

• The Skip Hop – Duo Special Edition is an even better version of a mainstay budget diaper bag.
• You can still hold a lot of diaper-changing gear in this tall, deceptively-slim design.
• Special Edition style choices are limited, but they’re top-tier looks.
• While this version only comes in fashion-forward patterns, the regular Duo comes in more neutral styles.
• A shoulder bag only, so if you’ve got a long day you’ll be relying on the stroller clips.

Other finalists we tested

Ergobaby – Coffee Run

In many ways, the Ergobaby – Coffee Run feels like an attempt to make a better version of the Skip Hop Duo. The shape and pocket configuration are similar, though this is about 40% bigger than the Duo. The big difference is the addition of shoulder straps to make it a convertible design.

On the plus side, Ergobaby has included a big, totally-waterproof changing pad with this bag, six inches wider than most of the others. The organization of the interior pockets is good, and the front zippered pouch is insulated.

Ergobaby is famous for their baby carriers, which are usually made from materials that feel great and have excellent padding. We mostly bought this bag on faith that it would live up to that legacy. It’s a bit of a let-down that their foray into diaper bags feels like a cheap nylon school backpack.

Even with the water-resistant tub bottom and mesh panels on the shoulder straps, and after looking at the other color options, the look and feel did not impress any of our testers. Many assumed the Ergobaby was the least-expensive bag we tested, when it was actually more expensive than most at $70.

That said, all but one of our testers said backpack straps are in their top two priorities for diaper bag features. Even if the Ergobaby straps aren’t exactly class-leading, they’re better than nothing. Compared to other large totes, like the Skip Hop – Grand Central or the JuJuBe – Be Prepared, these backpack straps can really save you from an aching neck when you load up the bag.

Maman – Designer Tote

The Maman – Designer Tote is putting all their style-eggs in the quilted-jacket basket, and it works pretty well. If you love this look, there’s a lot to love about the design of this bag, too.

As far as we can tell, this style launched around the same time as the Skip Hop – Duo Special Edition, so we’re not going to call out an original or a copycat. The styles are distinct because of the fabric, but most of the actual features are surprisingly similar. That’s not a bad thing, though, since the Skip Hop tote design has been a great choice since they launched it in 2003.

The same things we loved about the Skip Hop are present here: it’s a slim, tall tote shape that stands fairly well on its own. Maman gives you places to keep stuff from sinking to the bottom of the bag, but it’s not an overwhelming number of pockets to lose your keys in.

After using the bag for a few weeks, we started to wonder how well it would resist stains. The waterproof coating on the fabric does its job and it’s more durable than we expected. The quilt-stitching is almost certainly going to be the weak point in the long-term if you let this bag get buried under other stuff in your trunk or closet: wear on the corners of a bag is one thing, but there’s nothing appealing about a running stitch on a quilted design.

Obersee – Bern

Obersee has made the Bern backpack diaper bag out of a unique combination of pieces you’d expect to see other places. This is basically an anti-diaper bag, but in the best way.

If you cover up the labels, you could easily mistake this bag for a SwissGear laptop backpack. Obersee is a real family-owned American company that mostly sells gymnastics gear, not a giant luggage-brand-conglomerate that just swaps labels, so there’s nothing disingenuous about saying this was designed as a diaper bag. But the changing pad pocket is definitely a repurposed laptop pocket, complete with a fleece-lined tablet pouch on the side.

This is still a good bag for carrying baby gear. There’s a full-length zip-up mesh compartment for a change of clothes and plenty of room for whatever you might need to throw inside. There aren’t any features designed around carrying baby-specific items, but maybe you want a music player headphone pass-through more than a wipe dispenser. We won’t judge.

There are a few pieces that really do seem like the result of carefully thought-out design and clever innovation. The changing pad is slightly bigger than average, 23 by 14 instead of 22 by 12 inches. It also has a nice easy-cleaning waterproof side, like the Ergobaby changing pad.

The clip-on bottle pocket is a nifty design that does a much better job of keeping two or three bottles cold on a long summer day, but only if you slip an ice pack into the mesh pocket. Without ice it’s still not really any safer than throwing a bottle in the bottom of a regular diaper bag.

Having a bottle cooler is a great idea. When we took this bag on a trip it was very rewarding being able to store bottles, liquids and gels in it to detach when going through TSA checks before a flight.

Most of the time, though, this clip-on system wasn’t any better than having a separate bottle cooler bag. If anything, it kind of gets in the way when you need to open the backpack. We found ourselves leaving it detached most of the time we were testing.

If all of that sounds good, maybe this bag is for you. The price was what pushed it to the bottom of our ranking, though: For $80, you can probably find a backpack you like even better and slip an accessory changing pad into it, with money left over for a great small cooler.

Changing pad replacements we tested

If you have a backpack or tote you like already, there’s nothing stopping you from adding a changing pad to make it a great diaper bag.

We tried the DaffaDoot and Baby Loovi changing pads, both much bigger than the average diaper bag pad and fairly affordable. They’re also great replacements if you happen to lose the pad that’s included in your diaper bag.

An absorbent pad: DaffaDoot

The first changing pad we tested is the DaffaDoot. It’s gigantic — double the size of the average pad. It’s soft fleece on one side, water absorbent in the middle, and waterproof on the bottom. All that plush material makes this more difficult to fold up and stow in a bag, but it’s an excellent changing pad.

A Backup for the Car: DaffaDoot Absorbent Pad

This is an extra-large changing pad, but it's also soft and absorbent on one side. We wouldn't want to rely on this as a changing pad on every outing, since you'll have to carry around everything it might soak up in your bag, but for protecting your car's upholstery it's perfect.

See Price at Amazon.com

If you’re looking for a replacement to carry around in a bag, though, all our testers agree that a waterproof pad is definitely better than something that absorbs the kinds of fluids you might encounter during a diaper change. If you have a containment leak in a mall washroom, you want to be able to wipe everything off then and there.

For an emergency in the car (where keeping the upholstery clean is mission-critical) DaffaDoot’s pad is perfect. You’ll probably be happiest if you store it in a plastic bag you can seal well until you have a chance to wash out whatever it soaks up.

A wipe-down changing pad: Baby Loovi

We also tested the Baby Loovi change pad, an even bigger pad than the DaffaDoot at 25 by 31 inches. It’s easy to wipe down after any sort of messy encounter with a leaky diaper.

If you’re the kind of person who appreciates a well-folded roadmap (do they still make those?), or someone who can get a bed-in-a-bag sheet set back in the storage pouch, you’ll love that the Loovi comes with a storage pouch that’s just big enough to keep your bag tidy.

Waterproof Pick: Baby Loovi

This is a gigantic changing pad. At three times the size of a regular changing pad, you can probably use it doubled-up most of the time for extra padding. It's still easy to fit in a bag, and you can probably use it as a mattress protector when you're done with diapers.

See Price at Amazon.com

If you can’t fold things to save your life, The Baby Loovi still a pretty manageable changing pad without the pouch. It isn’t as cushioning on hard surfaces as the DaffaDoot, but it’s much better than your average changing pad and easier to carry around.

The bottom line

Buying a diaper bag is a lot like buying most parenting gear: After spending years researching our baby carrier review, car seat review and baby monitor review we think it’s clear that parents are faced with overwhelming choices. After carefully selecting and thoroughly testing six diaper bags, we’re confident that this is these picks all have something you’ll appreciate.

We asked our testers what stood out after using a bag for five years or more, and they told us that backpack straps really do make a difference, but sometimes it’s also nice to have a shoulder bag.

The JuJuBe – B.F.F. is the best example of a do-it-all bag: The straps totally convert from one mode to the other. Either way, the bag is great at keeping stuff organized for one or two babies.

If you prefer a purpose-built backpack or tote, the Eddie Bauer – Traverse and the Skip Hop – Duo SE are great bags too. They don’t quite live up to the great materials that make the JuJuBe such an unstoppable force in the world of diaper bags, but these two bags are still dependable and well-made for the price.

Top Pick: JuJuBe - B.F.F.

This convertible design is a great shoulder bag and also a very good backpack. It's just the right size for most families, and the materials have proven durable over years of testing. The price is higher than most bags, but the quality and warranty are unbeatable.

See Price at Amazon.com

The post The Best Diaper Bags appeared first on Your Best Digs.

Table of contents

• How we selected products to test
• Compare the best double strollers
• Important features to consider
• Types of double strollers
• How we tested
• Best for twins: Contours – Options Elite
• Versatile Value: Joovy – Caboose Too
• Best side-by-side: Britax – B-Agile
• The bottom line

How we selected products to test

Double strollers are a tricky category since the different types of strollers available have very different strengths and weaknesses. We spent a week searching forum posts, watching YouTube videos, and listening to podcasts to figure out what other parents love and hate about double strollers. We paid close attention to top picks from review sites like Baby Gear Lab, Wirecutter and Lucie’s List, and we hunted for negative reviews and accounts of long-term pain points.

By the end of our research, we had seventeen potential picks and we worked for another two weeks narrowing down the list. After looking at the core criteria, we settled on some main features.

Compact folded size

Many people who use doubles every day love jogging strollers because they’re easier to push and offer rugged durability. Popular joggers like the B.O.B. – Revolution aren’t easy to fold and store, though, and right off the bat we eliminated any stroller that wouldn’t fit in the back of our tester’s compact car — a Toyota Corolla. If you’re driving something bigger maybe that isn’t as much of a concern, but if you’re driving around with two or more kids, you probably need all the cargo space you can get.

Options for infants

Umbrella strollers are compact when folded, but even the well-reviewed Zoe XL2 double umbrella (which we nearly tested) doesn’t recline far enough for infants. We did test one stroller that doesn’t have attachment options for carrying an infant car seat, but that model folds down to a very low angle to protect infant necks from flopping around. Umbrella strollers are also hard to push around and fold.

Comfortable seating positions

We settled on two tandem strollers and one side-by-side design for our testing group. The phil&teds – Sport (with an added second seat) is a well-reviewed stroller at a moderate price, but nobody we talked to actually liked using a stroller with the second seat so low to the ground.

Budget

This is where picking a “best” product gets tricky. Some will insist that the premium materials used on UPPAbaby or Mountain Buggy or Bugaboo strollers are well worth the price, but when we looked at the features we really needed and compared the strollers in person, we settled on a budget more of us can afford.

Sensible design features

We also paid close attention to tell-tale factors like weight ratings. Many strollers give a weight rating for each seat, but on a side-by-side model, that’s really just half of the limit of the whole stroller’s weight capacity. The exceptions are strollers like the UPPAbaby – Vista, which has a low limit in the front seat because all the weight is directly over the small front wheels (which have trouble swivelling with a bigger child in that seat). We also looked for comfort perks like adjustable handlebars and flip-flop-friendly brake releases.

After all that research, we sent our expecting double-dad with his three-year old and pregnant wife to local retailers to try every prospective stroller he could get his hands on (and to interrogate the staff about returns and warranties). After exhaustively comparing all the relevant stats, we settled on three top-ranked strollers that get you the features you need without breaking the bank.

Compare the best double strollers

Double Stroller	Price	Rear Wheel Diameter	Weight (lbs)	Flip-flop Friendly Brake	Type
A. Contours - Options Elite	$$$$$	10"	34	Yes	Tandem
B. Joovy - Caboose Too Ultralight	$$	8"	23	No	Tandem / Sit & Stand
C. Britax - B-Agile Double	$$$	9"	26	Not really	Side-by-Side

Important features to consider

Stroller width: This measurement is a catch-22. Wider strollers are easier to turn, but they also may not fit through some passages or doors.

Folded size: It’s important that you can actually take your stroller where you need it. If you haven’t bought a minivan yet, trunk space can get tight.

Wheel size: A larger wheel rolls and swivels more easily, plus handles bumps better. They also make the stroller bulkier when folded.

Recline angle: A stroller seat that reclines far enough can safely carry a newborn. Sources we checked list 30 to 45 degrees from horizontal as the maximum angle you should have your newborn sitting up.

Car carrier compatibility: Not all car seats are compatible with all strollers. Generally speaking, if you’re buying from one of the bigger car seat manufacturers that also makes popular strollers, you don’t get any options for carrying other brands. Two of our picks have universal compatibility options.

Disney park stroller and wagon restrictions: Since the spring of 2019, Disneyland and Disney World have specifically banned strollers bigger than 31 inches (79 cm) by 52 inches (132 cm). What’s more, no wagons or stroller wagons are permitted, even if they’re well within that size.

All the double strollers we’ve tested are technically approved, though the Britax B-Agile just barely squeaks through a 31-inch doorway; lots of reports say that it’s accepted by Disneyland staff, but it’s the tightest fit of the models we tested.

Stand-up fold position: Some strollers will stand on their own when folded, which makes them less likely to fall over in front of your car when you’re parking in a small garage. Toddlers love climbing on parked strollers even when they’re folded, so storage hooks for hanging are still a good idea.

Flip-flop-friendly brakes: This design allows you to both engage and disengage the parking brake lever with the downward motion of your foot, so you don’t have to use your toenails to take the brake off.

Strollers for toddler and infant: There are a few ways to optimize a stroller for tinies and bigs at the same time. All of our strollers feature dual full-sized seats, so two kids get the full stroller experience. Two of our picks also carry infant car seats. Other options when one of your kids gets bigger include a sit-and-stand or rear-facing bench configuration, where a bigger kid can ride in the back without needing to be lifted in and out of the seat for every single ride.

Types of double strollers

Tandem strollers: Arrange the seats one behind the other. The biggest benefit to a tandem stroller is that it can be just as narrow as a single stroller: you can still fit through nearly all doorways and between parked cars. The downside, of course, is that they’re long. This makes the stroller more difficult to steer, and can even make turning some corners quite difficult. You won’t have as much trouble fitting down the aisle at the pharmacy, but you may not be able to make the turn at the end.

Side-by-side strollers: This style has seats arranged next to each other, so they’re as short in wheelbase as a single stroller but much wider. The big benefit to this arrangement is that they’re easy to turn: our side-by-side pick can be spun in a circle with one hand. The wide wheelbase means that you may have trouble fitting through some doors or walkways, though.

Double jogging strollers: This is a specialized variety of the side-by-side type. Jogging doubles have big bicycle-style wheels, locking front steering wheels for coasting without wobbles, and safety brakes that activate automatically if you let go of the stroller. The big wheels are a benefit any time you’re pushing, especially on rough terrain, but these strollers are harder to fold and transport in a car (they don’t even fit in some SUV hatchbacks). We didn’t test any jogging strollers, though many of our friends are “B.O.B. snobs” who wouldn’t go back to a regular stroller unless you forced them.

Strollers vs. wagons

If you’re in the market for a double stroller because you have too much stuff to carry, you should also check out our review of the best folding wagons. We’ve compared the popular models that come in at less than $400 (sorry, Keenz and Veer fans) and found that they’re good at different things than a stroller is.

The big question when comparing a wagon and a stroller is how long your kids will be riding at a time. If you just need to get your kids (and a diaper bag, and a beach chair and pop-up shelter and a small cooler on top of all that) down to the beach, wagons are amazing. Wagons are less helpful if you want to quickly click in an infant car seat and walk around the mall for an hour or more.

Alternative Kid Mover: Radio Flyer - EZ Fold

If a double stroller doesn't quite suit your needs, the classic red wagon is now easy to bring in your minivan, complete with seat belts and shade! This wagon isn't as maneuverable as a stroller, but it's perfect for hauling extra stuff around.

See Price at Amazon.com

Comfort is also a trade-off: Strollers are unquestionably more comfortable for kids to sit in for a long period of time when they’re strapped in and you’re walking, but kids have less room to wiggle or lie down. A wagon like the Radio Flyer – 3-in-1 is like a combination between a bassinet and a rolling bench, and it folds to a more compact size than even a single stroller.

How we tested

Our lead tester has cycled through these strollers for ten months of day-to-day use with his three-year-old and newborn. Each stroller went to parks, festivals, on walks to the library, and car trips out of town. We tried to find the worst situations for each stroller, and we also consulted with other testers who owned the same strollers or similar strollers to find long-term pain points.

Mobility and accessibility

We wheeled these strollers over all kinds of urban terrain, from muddy parks to busy malls. Broken sidewalks, cobbles and curbs all revealed the difference in ride quality you get with larger wheels and spring suspension.

It quickly became clear, once we had walked the strollers on the same paths, that wider wheels make for better maneuverability. The Britax – B-Agile Double Stroller is so easy to turn, it’s almost a game. The weight is evenly balanced over the wheels, and the adjustable handlebar means short or tall parents don’t have to hunch or curl their arms awkwardly.

In comparison, the tandem-configuration strollers we tried became more difficult to steer the narrower they got. The biggest difference with a narrow stroller is a feeling of instability, like you’re going to push the stroller over instead of making a tight turn.

There’s a trade-off to make, of course. A wider stroller won’t always fit where you need to go. If you arrive at a hotel room with two screaming kids and your stroller doesn’t fit through the door until you unload everything and fold it, you might start crying, too.

Kid comfort

The biggest impact on kid comfort in a stroller is definitely personal space. If you’re looking for a narrow tandem-style design so you can fit through tight doorways, you’re turning your stroller into a tiny two-seat version of an airplane cabin. If the front seat reclines, the kid in the back will feel it. That said, the Contours – Options Elite gives a good amount of legroom for a tandem, and its seats give more headroom for taller kids than the Britax does.

Folding and storage

Not everyone who needs a double stroller will need to fit it in the back of a small car, but many of us do. Even if you’re driving a minivan while sightseeing on a road trip, a compact fold can be the difference between enjoying your stroller and wishing you’d left it at home.

The Joovy – Caboose Too Ultralight is a long, skinny, flat package when folded, and technically takes up the least volume. The Britax scores points here, though, because while it takes up more height and depth there’s room to slide a carry-on suitcase beside the folded stroller.

Folding the Contours (pictured above in the trunk of a Toyota Corolla) you have a similar footprint to the Joovy, but in some configurations you’ll have to take one seat off before you load it in a small trunk so you don’t run out of height.

Double Stroller	Wide	Folded Length	Weight
Contours - Options Elite	25.75	43.5	34
Joovy - Caboose Too Ultralight	21.25	54	23
Britax - B-Agile	31.25	30.5	26

Versatility

All of these strollers offer various options. If one of your babies is already three years old and you have a newborn on the way, you may not need a seat for your oldest very often. A stroller like the Joovy – Caboose Too is perfect for this scenario, with any combination of a car seat cradle, forward-facing seats, a bench seat, and standing platform.

If you’ve got two infants of the same size and want to keep them both in car seat carriers while you go for a stroll, Contours easily wins this category. Joovy only handles one car seat with the Caboose platform, and Britax has discontinued car seat adapters altogether. Contours also allows you to re-orient the seats to face any way you want.

Double Stroller	Compatible Car Seats:	Wheel Diameter	Seat Back Height	Recline (Degrees Above Flat)	Flip-flop Friendly Brake
Contours - Options Elite	Click-in for most brands, plus universal strap-in	10"	23"	25	Yes
Joovy - Caboose Too Ultralight	Universal strap-in	8"	24"+	32	No
Britax - B-Agile	N/A (recall on old adapter for Britax)	9"	18"	18	Not really

Best for twins: Contours – Options Elite

The flexibility of its seating positions makes the Contours – Options Elite the best double stroller for twins. It handles beautifully compared to other tandem strollers in this price range, with bigger wheels and a wide wheelbase to make rolling and turning easier.

Unlike other strollers that prioritize one seat over the other, the Options Elite uses identical seats in both positions. You can also add car seat adapters in either position, with click-in adapters available for all of the best infant car seats we tested. Note that because of seat size, some pairs of car seats may only fit in certain orientations.

The fact that these seats can be installed to face each other was a huge highlight of our testing time. There’s opportunity for fighting siblings to torment each other this way, of course, but changing to facing-away mode is just as quick and simple.

Best for Twins: Contours - Options Elite

If you need to dock two car seats at once, the Options Elite stroller gives you compatibility with all the major brands. The seats can dock in any position, and the quality is great for the price. Bigger wheels make the ride quality good, too, though this stroller is slightly trickier to fit in a small trunk.

See Price at Amazon.com

Everything about the Contours stroller is a little bit nicer than the other models we tested, but list price is $399, only a third the cost of a premium stroller like the UPPAbaby – Vista.

The wheels on the Contours are already quite large for its class, which is part of what makes this stroller roll smoothly. Unfortunately, those 10-inch baller rims also make this stroller tricky to fit in your trunk. The seats also won’t let you fully fold this stroller if you have them in certain positions or recline angles.

You can easily pop the wheels and seats off if needed, and we could usually figure out a way to adjust the seats or wheels to make this stroller still fit in our tester’s Corolla with everything attached. Forget about fitting anything else bulky in the trunk at the same time, though.

The one other caveat with wheels is that the rear wheels stick out wider than the rest of the stroller. If you’ve ever owned a stroller with this design feature, you’ve probably got the rear wheel stuck on a tight doorway. It’s a minor complaint, since the wider wheelbase goes a long way to making turning more stable, but it’s something you should be aware of when comparing strollers.

The other minor sticking point on this stroller is the fold-release lock. While the folding action is smooth and works well, the multitude of possible seat positions means the lock that keeps the stroller folded isn’t a tight fit the way the locks on the other two strollers are. The amount of wiggle room makes it slightly more difficult to disengage the lock while you’re unfolding, and if you try to pull the stroller apart after the lock accidentally re-engages enough times, you could break it.

Unlike the Joovy, the Contours doesn’t come with a snack tray. If you want to buy accessories, though, you can add a tray to both seats, unlike the Joovy which doesn’t have an option for the rear seat.

The seats themselves are also loaded with features. The recline mechanism allows each seat to go all the way down to 25 degrees above flat — not as far as the Britax, but lower than the recline of most car seats. The leg rests are also adjustable and the built-in canopies are bigger than average. The zip-open mesh “peekaboo” panel on the canopy is a nice touch, too.

Another great feature of the Contours is the storage basket. It’s big and easy to get into in most configurations. Even if you’ve got a kid’s legs obstructing your access from the back, there’s a side access option.

When you’ve got the stroller unfolded and ready to go, this is a dream ride compared to the Joovy. It rolls and turns more easily because of the wide wheelbase and the more balanced weight distribution — not as easy to turn as the Britax side-by-side, but it’s good for a tandem stroller.

The most obvious reason to pick this stroller is if you want to use two car seats at once. Even if you just want to use one car seat, click-in adapters for all the different car seat brands make this stroller nicer to use than the Joovy.

Key takeaways:

• The Contours – Options Elite gives you more seating options: each seat can be mounted forward or rear-facing.
• Adapters available to click-in most car seats in either position.
• This tandem design makes a good compromise between easy pushing and narrow width.
• This is the biggest stroller we tested when folded, but it still fits in a compact car trunk.
• Full-featured reclining seats with room to grow.
• More expensive than our other picks, though still very competitive with other brands offering the same features.

Versatile Value: Joovy – Caboose Too

The Joovy – Caboose Too Ultralight is based on the popular Joovy Caboose sit-and-stand stroller, with the addition of a snap-in extra rear seat. It’s a very popular stroller in either configuration. The flexibility and value are the real stand-out selling points: if your babies are spaced more than a year apart, this stroller will grow with them.

For mounting a carrier like the ones we tested in our car seat review, Joovy’s built-in system uses the side-rails and a front-mounted neoprene cradle for the front of the car seat. There are two straps stored permanently in side pockets so you can cinch the car seat down tight. The way the strap is attached to the buckle makes finding the right length more difficult than it could have been, but it won’t loosen accidentally.

If you’ve got twins, the Joovy is a great stroller as soon as they can sit up. Even with older twins, the bench configuration offers enough leg room to get a year or two more of use when the rear forward-facing seat is too cramped.

With an older toddler and a baby sibling, the space offered in the forward-facing back seat is just big enough for a three-year-old like E.J., the blondie in our pictures. Joovy designed this stroller so you’ll probably hit the 80-pound weight limit before they outgrow the legroom. The canopy is taller than most, too, at more than 24 inches above the base of the front seat.

Unlike taller convertible tandems like the Contours, the Joovy lets you move a heavier child to the rear seat (so you can still steer the front wheels) without having to lift them so high off the ground.

This stroller is identical to the regular Joovy – Caboose Ultralight except for the addition of the snap-in rear seat. Once your oldest is too big for the constraints of the rear seat, converting to Joovy’s signature rear-facing bench seat is simple. In a few more years, it’s just as easy to slide the bench forward so an older kid (or two, if they’re light enough) can hitch a ride by standing on the platform.

The flexibility of the Caboose Too is its strongest suit. Long after other doubles are uselessly small, you’ll still be able to throw your library books or groceries in the basket and give a seven-year-old an occasional break from walking while a four-year-old naps in the front.

Folding and unfolding the Joovy is very similar to other tandem strollers. The trickiest part is figuring out how to stand so you can pull the outside pieces of the frame together; if your arms are long enough, you can stand at the back and grab the front tray or seat and just pull it toward you.

Fitting this stroller into storage or the back of a compact car is a cinch. We looked long and hard to find another tandem that’s as compact, and we have yet to find one. The Joovy lies flat in your trunk so you can fit groceries and backpacks on top, but it will take up most of the width.

That said, if you’d rather have a stroller take up nearly the full height of two-thirds of your trunk but still have room for a carry-on suitcase beside it, the Britax side-by-side is what you want.

When it’s folded, the Joovy doesn’t stand on its own. With the brake on it’s stable leaning against a wall, and you can also wheel it around in the folded configuration if you leave the brake off. It’s also the lightest full-function stroller we found and you may prefer to carry it around.

Versatile Value: Joovy - Caboose Too

Joovy hits the sweet spot with this stroller. It's a real upgrade over other budget tandems, but it's still affordable. The light frame and narrow wheelbase make this easy to handle and store when folded, but it's also more robust and versatile than an umbrella-fold double. If your kids are three years apart, the modes on offer here are practically perfect.

See Price at Amazon.com

For twins, there’s no way to attach two infant car seats to this stroller or fully recline both seats. You could still use the front position with a carrier in the universal-fit cradle while you carry a twin in a baby carrier, but if you’re expecting twins that’s probably not what you had in mind from a double stroller. Contours and Britax are both much better choices if you’ve got two babies who can’t sit up yet.

Our long-term tester, A.A., says maneuverability is her biggest complaint. You can’t steer this stroller with one hand, and it’s tricky with tight corners. “I knew this going in,” she said, “and as much as it bothers me from time to time, I put up with it to have a relatively small double stroller.”

The four-wheel suspension doesn’t work nearly as well as Joovy would like you to think. When you roll over cobblestones or uneven sidewalks, you’ll definitely feel it. It’s better than some umbrella strollers, but doesn’t compare well to the suspension systems used by bigger strollers we tested.

A.A. also notes that the open-cell foam used for padding the handle does pick up perfumed scents from the hands of anyone who uses the stroller.

Key takeaways:

• The Joovy – Caboose Too Ultralight is a flexible and affordable double stroller.
• When folded, this is a very light and compact package.
• A stroller that grows with your family, from the birth of your second child until you don’t need a stroller anymore.
• The front seat reclines down low, though it gets into the space of the back seat.
• This isn’t an option for infant twins, since the back seat has limited recline.
• With a long, skinny wheelbase, this is not a maneuverable stroller.
• If your kids are spaced further apart than three years, skip the second seat and just get the regular Caboose Ultralight.

Best side-by-side: Britax – B-Agile

The Britax – B-Agile Double is a classic take on a side-by-side design. It’s light, easy to fold and pack, and easy to maneuver. If you can manage your infant (or twins) without a travel-system attachment for your car seat, this our pick for best side-by-side double stroller.

The Britax is the easiest to maneuver out of our three picks. The handlebar height quickly adjusts to make things easier for parents who are shorter or taller than the average, and you can turn this stroller on a dime. It also has a 100-pound weight limit, 20 than most strollers in this price bracket.

The only downside to the short wheelbase is that this stroller is wide. It’s one of the narrower side-by-side designs we looked at, at only 31 inches, so it’ll fit through any doorway that complies with the 32-inch Americans with Disabilities Act standard for accessible design. That’s not every door everywhere, but it’s most of them. We ran into trouble at a hotel in San Diego when we found out that our room had a 29-inch doorway.

It’s a full 10 inches wider than the Joovy, so on a narrow sidewalk or in a crowded store aisle you could find yourself obstructing other people, but at least you’ll be able to turn around easily if you get stuck.

Reclining the Britax means loosening the support strap that holds up the backrest, like on many strollers. The Britax uses two straps, which probably makes the seat stronger than the seats which use plastic gears at the attachment point, but you have to hook your finger through two loops when you’re pulling. It’s not a bad seat design, but the other seats are quicker to adjust with one hand.

Best Side-by-Side: Britax - B-Agile

Britax nearly has the market beat with this easy-pushing and easy-folding side-by-side model. It's wider than our other picks, but the great features make this an amazing value. If there were still car seat adapters available, this stroller would be nearly perfect. Don't worry, the seats recline very low so you can still stroll with a newborn.

See Price at Amazon.com

Car seat adapters and recalls

The elephant in the room with this stroller is the car seat adapter. Britax used to make one that works as a click-in docking system with their own car seats, and also a universal strap-down cradle. Then there was a recall.

The recall reports are pretty shocking: The car seat attachment adapters were totally exposed and sticking out when the stroller is folded, and became unreliable after they were damaged by dropping or sliding around in car trunks. Car seats fell off of strollers.

Britax issued a replacement part with a safety strap that should prevent them from detaching, but you can’t buy any of these parts in North America. The attachment point is still part of the frame, and the EU version of the B-Agile adapter is still sold over there. Britax HQ says that the car seats used in the EU are “totally different,” and they aren’t concerned.

If you really want to attach a car seat to a side-by-side stroller like this, the Baby Jogger – City Mini Double works the same way the old Britax system did. Baby Jogger has also recalled some of their strollers and car seat adapters over unrelated issues, though you can buy the replacement versions.

If you can find the safe updated version of the Britax adapter, or you decide to shell out the extra cash to buy the Baby Jogger and get more car seat compatibility (for Graco, Cybex, and Maxi Cozi car seats), think twice before resting a Costco box on top of them in your trunk. These bits of plastic are going to bear the entire weight of your child and car seat.

Other features

The adjustable handlebar on the Britax is a pretty great perk that even the Baby Jogger – City Mini Double doesn’t have. In addition to more comfort for short or tall parents when strolling, it also allows you to position the handlebar so that the stroller can stand up when it’s folded. That makes this the only free-stander from our top picks.

The brake release on the Britax doesn’t really qualify as flip-flop-friendly, but it’s close. The pedal is large and easy to release. There aren’t sharp edges, either, so our testers didn’t feel like it was a problem when wearing sandals.

The mesh panel windows with cover flaps are a great way to keep an eye on what’s happening down below the canopy, and make it easy to take a peek when your baby is taking a nap inside the snug little cave created by the fully reclined seat.

These seats are very nice and roomy, right up until your child is too tall. The back measures 18 inches from seat to the start of the canopy: an older kid (like O.M. in the image above) can still ride on the stroller, but leaning against the edge of the canopy is barely more comfortable than the bench seat on the Joovy.

Key takeaways:

• The Britax – B-Agile Double Stroller lives up to its name, and is the easiest stroller to push without spending more than $400.
• This side-by-side design won’t fit through 30-inch doorways, but otherwise it’s good to go.
• A square-ish folded shape makes this even easier to fit in a trunk than a long-but-narrow tandem.
• The Britax is 20% lighter than the closest competing side-by-side, and half the price.
• The seats are shorter, but this stroller easily carries more weight than the others we tested.
• An adjustable handlebar makes this great for parents who fight over how tall things should be.
• Recline angle goes very low for newborns, but Britax has discontinued all car seat attachments for this model.

The bottom line

We researched dozens of strollers and spent ten months testing our top picks, and it’s tricky to say that any one stroller is going to be the very best for everybody. But we’ve got three great strollers that are a good value and have specific perks that could make them the best stroller for you.

The Contours – Options Elite gives you, like the name says, options. You can get this much seating flexibility in other convertible strollers that cost more, but we like that Contours has balanced the seat placement specifically to make it a good double stroller. The wheels are big enough to give a smooth ride, but they don’t stop you from fitting the folded stroller in your trunk.

If you have an older child and a baby, the Joovy – Caboose Too Ultralight will synchronize better with your needs than nearly any other stroller. Even after your older child is too big for the removable rear seat, Joovy has you covered with a bench seat and a running board. Joovy’s strap-down car seat cradle system doesn’t give you snap-in compatibility, but you won’t have to worry about finding adapters.

If you don’t care about car seats at all, Britax has you covered with the truly easy-to-push B-Agile Double. Extra perks like low-recline seats and adjustable handlebar height make this a very tough competitor to beat. It’s also the most compact double stroller in the trunk, and very light if you need to carry it.

Best for Twins: Contours - Options Elite

For those who hate transferring a baby from car seat to stroller, Contours gives you the option to connect two car seats from any manufacturer. The ride is quite impressive for a tandem stroller, and it still fits in the trunk of a compact car. These full-featured seats give you lots of position options right up until your kids are too heavy to lift into the top seat.

See Price at Amazon.com

Versatile Value: Joovy - Caboose Too

This is a version of the very popular Caboose stroller that adds a snap-in rear seat. The stroller is light and compact, but it's a real upgrade in usability over umbrella-fold stroller options. Built-in universal car seat compatibility is also a plus. This stroller will morph as your kids get older, so the low purchase cost is an even better deal than you initially think.

See Price at Amazon.com

Best Side-by-Side: Britax - B-Agile

This is truly an agile stroller in a side-by-side design. The great handling, compact folded shape and light weight make this stroller very nice to work with. If you don't mind taking your newborns out of the car seat, this stroller is easy to push nearly anywhere — so long as your path is wider than 32 inches.

See Price at Amazon.com

The post The Best Double Strollers appeared first on Your Best Digs.

You never want to underestimate the importance of baby proofing your home, as little fingers have the potential to get into some unexpected areas. Follow our guide to learn more on how to baby proof your home room-by-room, so you never have to worry about an accident happening.

Table of contents

• Bathroom
• Bedroom
• Kitchen
• Living Room
• Garage
• Backyard
• More Tips

Baby Proofing Your Bathroom

One of the biggest safety concerns with babies in the bathroom is keeping an eye on them if they are ever near water to prevent drowning — whether that’s the toilet, bathtub or sink. Find out how to ensure a safe bathroom with the tips below.

• Lock your toilet: Babies are curious. Secure the lid of your toilet with a toilet lid lock. Since toilets come in various shapes and sizes, confirm that the product you choose will correctly fit the frame of your toilet.
• Use non-slip bath mats: Use a textured non-slip bath mat that suctions to the bottom of your bath to prevent you or your baby from slipping while bathing.
• Install anti-scald device in bathtub: Baby skin is very sensitive to heat, so to avoid too high of temperatures, you can install an anti-scald device in your bathtub before the scalding occurs. Many of these devices will automatically shut off the water if it becomes too hot, so it’s one less thing you need to worry about.
• Be aware of hot hair tools: If you use a curling iron, hair dryer, hair straightening brush, or flat iron, turn them off after using them, keep the cords on the counter while cooling and stow them away before your baby enters the bathroom.
• Lock medicine cabinets: If your medicine is kept in the bathroom, make sure that all medications are out of reach and are locked in a cabinet to avoid from your baby gaining access to harmful medicines.
• Be aware of water level: When bathing, make sure that the water level in the bathtub doesn’t exceed 2-3 inches to avoid any accidents. Additionally, make sure that you never leave your baby alone in the bathtub regardless of the water level.

Baby Proofing Your Bedroom and Nursery

Your bedroom is where you spend the most time, and whether or not your baby is sleeping in yours or their own nursery, you’ll want to ensure that your baby is protected while spending time in it.

• Assemble a safe crib: You might be surprised by how paramount it is to assemble cribs properly. Follow the instructions properly and confirm that there are no gaps larger than two fingers thick on the sides of the crib. Although it may be tempting, make sure not to place pillows or thick blankets in the crib with the baby to prevent suffocation.
• Window proximity: Don’t set up your crib near a window or in proximity of curtain cords so there is no potential for them to get tangled in the cords.
• Placement of furniture: Make sure that your furniture is positioned away from any area where the baby will be, as well as strapped to the wall so there is no chance that they will tip.
• Install a safety strap: Although you should never leave a baby unattended on a changing table, a safety strap will keep them in one place while you’re changing them.
• Use a baby monitor: If you’re leaving your baby alone in their crib for a nap, keep a baby monitor near them and with yourself at all times even if you’re only one room away.

Baby Proofing Your Kitchen

Your kitchen is often considered the heart of your home, so it’s likely that you spend a lot of time there. Although there are a lot of dangers in an average kitchen, these are some tips to make it safe for your baby.

• Use oven knob covers: Once your baby starts walking, they’ll be curious to touch everything in reach — that means your stove knobs are an easy target. To make sure that your stove isn’t turned on and gas isn’t released while you’re not looking, use safety oven knob covers until they’re old enough to understand not to touch them.
• Secure drawers: Avoid cutlery or other sharp objects from being accessible by putting locks on all of your reachable drawers.
• Cover garbage disposal: Create a finger-safe drain by covering it and installing a child-proof switch.
• Turn pot handles inward: When you’re cooking, turn your hot cookware handles towards the backsplash to avoid from any pots from falling on the ground.
• Keep anything toxic out of reach: It might feel like second nature to keep all of your cleaning supplies under the sink, but you’ll want to make sure they aren’t accessible to a little explorer. Either lock your cabinet, or move them to a higher cabinet to get them out of reach.
• Secure garbage: If your garbage can is easy to knock over or get into, secure it in a cabinet or make sure it sturdy enough to avoid from your little one toppling it over.
• Use anti-split underlays: Rugs can easily slip on tile or hardwood floors. Use an anti-slip underlay under your rug to keep your rug in one place.
• Don’t use tablecloths: As you can imagine, tablecloths can easily mess up a dinner with a small tug. Avoid using tablecloths around babies.
• Remove delicate and sharp items: If you’re not using them, remove any sharp objects or delicate china from your dining room.

Baby Proofing Your Living Room

Your living room is an easy place to overlook since it’s a place you likely spend a lot of time with friends and family, but it’s also a spot with dangers that you may not have considered. Learn more about why your cords, corners and outlets could be a potential hazard and how to make them safe for babies.

• Block off stairs: Restrict your baby’s access to the stairs with a quality baby gate that has an effective locking mechanism. Once a baby is beginning to crawl, open stairs are curious and an easy place for falls to occur.
• Tie up window cords: If you have cords dangling from your blinds or curtains, make sure they are far out of reach to babies and children to prevent strangulation. You can either cut them shorter and re-tie the knot at the end, or you can invest in cordless blinds which open by pulling and pushing the bottom rail.
• Install corner bumpers: Protect your little one from bumping into the corner of your coffee table or television stand by installing protective bumpers on sharp corners. You can either purchase corner bumpers online, or make them yourself for a fraction of the cost with pool noodles or styrofoam.
• Use one-piece door stops: Replace any metal spring door stoppers with a solid one-piece door stopper to prevent babies from playing with them and removing the cap. Even better, you can install one that stops the door from closing all the way and trapping little fingers.
• Cover outlets: If you’re not currently using an outlet, make sure to cover it with a plastic outlet cover. A 20-piece pack runs around $3-4, so it’s worth the investment.
• Block the fireplace: If you have an open fireplace, surround the area with a baby gate to avoid from the baby getting near it, whether lit or not. Another solution is to install fireplace doors, but remember that they will get hot if the fire is burning, so make sure to have a baby gate handy if so.
• Secure furniture to wall: Something often overlooked, but very important is to secure heavy furniture to the wall to prevent your baby from knocking it over. You can install wall straps or anchors to make sure that they are secure, but still slightly moveable for cleaning purposes.
• Tend to plants: If you have plants in reach, move them to a higher location and be aware of long vines.
• Conceal cords: If you have loose lamp or television cords visible, you can either use a power strip cover or cover each individual cord to avoid from babies teething on them or pulling anything it connects to to the ground.
• Block radiators: To prevent winter burns, create a barrier between little fingers and the hot metal of a radiator. You can either build a barrier yourself or get a custom built radiator.

Baby Proofing Your Garage

The garage isn’t a good place to allow for your baby to explore, so it’s recommended to keep it locked from the house at all times. In the chance that a baby does have access, you’ll want to take the following procedures to avoid any accidents.

• Check garage door sensor: Confirm that your garage door discontinues from closing if someone runs under it before it touches the ground. That way, there is no chance for your baby or child to get caught if they run under it at the last second.
• Stow away hazardous substances: If you have antifreeze, lighter fluid, gasoline, oil or other harmful substances in your garage, make sure to put them out of sight and lock them up. Some of these substances can taste and smell sweet, so you don’t want your baby or child to get the wrong idea.
• Reduce water heater setting: Reduce the water heater setting to 117°F to prevent the risk of a burn if it’s touched.

Baby Proofing Your Backyard

Between hard surfaces and high balconies, there are a few ways you can safeguard your backyard to ensure your baby is safe when you go outdoors.

• Install a fence around pool: Not only does installing a fence with a locked gate around your pool ensure your own family is safe, but also the surrounding community. In fact, every state has their own regulations when it comes to fencing a pool, so make sure to check your own state laws.
• Beware of your garden: If you have a green thumb, make sure that everything you grow is friendly for babies. Avoid cacti and prickly succulents.
• Block grilling area: Your grill may be the centerpiece of summer gatherings, but you’ll want to make sure to keep it at a distance from your baby to avoid burns.
• Secure banister on balconies: If you have a balcony, you’ll want to install a banister that has small gaps between the spindles so it’s not possible to fall through. If you don’t want to install a new banister, there are spindles or guards you can purchase to temporarily fill the gaps.
• Create a soft landing: If you have mostly concrete, dirt or rocks in your backyard, create a soft area where a baby can play using rubber play mats and portable safety gates.

More Baby Proofing Tips

Before your baby can crawl, you’ll want to have all of your rooms baby proof to prevent accidents. For additional precautions, follow these tips to be extra prepared.

• Block stairs: If you have a multi-level home, block the stairs using a strong baby gate to ensure that there is no potential to fall down the stairs.
• Take an infant CPR class: Even if you’re aware of how to perform CPR on an adult, the steps are much different for an infant given their size. Turn to your local American Red Cross or hospital to learn more about getting CPR certified.
• Keep a first aid kit handy: In the event that something does happen, keep a first aid kit in your home to be well prepared.

After you baby proof your home, you’ll feel so much better about bringing your baby home. Life with a new family member should be filled with love and excitement rather than any reason to worry. Easily reference how to safeguard every room in your home by downloading our printable cheat sheet below.

The post Extensive Guide to Babyproofing Your Home appeared first on Your Best Digs.

Table of contents

• How we selected finalists to test
• Compare the best infant car seats
• A word about crash tests
• How we tested
• Top pick: Britax – B-Safe Ultra
• Best for small cars: Cybex – Aton2
• Other finalists we tested
• The bottom line

How we selected finalists to test

Shopping for car seats can be a nightmare. The number of brands is staggering and they all seem to be offering different approaches to keep your baby safe.

We spent three weeks checking reviews from the top baby product test websites, like Wirecutter, Consumer Reports and BabyGearLab. Some of the models mentioned in those reviews have been replaced with new designs, so we talked to retail associates at two local BuyBuyBaby stores and looked at video coverage from baby product trade shows.

We honed in on the $200 price bracket as the best value. If you spend $180–230 you can get some premium features that trickle down from more expensive seats. Spending more than that doesn’t seem to get you more features than the Britax has, while the sacrifices you make at a lower price point are pretty big losses in convenience.

The features we prioritized when shopping were all related to daily use: adjusting the fit of the harness, moving the seat from one car to another, and using the seat “bucket” without its base (like you would in a taxi or Uber).

We compiled a list of 15 car seats and inspected them in-store before purchasing our test lineup. We also checked Amazon buyer reviews and looked for recall notices.

Compare the best infant car seats

Car Seat	Price	Features	Easy adjustment	Weight (Lbs)
1. Britax - B-Safe Ultra	$$$	☆☆☆☆☆	☆☆☆☆☆	11.5
2. Cybex - Aton2	$$$$	☆☆☆☆☆	☆☆☆	8.8
3. Chicco - Keyfit 30 Zip	$$$	☆☆☆	☆☆☆	10.25
4. Graco - Snuglock 30	$$	☆	☆	7.5

Who needs an infant car seat?

Put simply, if you want to move a baby in a car, you need a purpose-built car seat. If you’ve done your planning for delivery day, you’ve probably already found out that hospitals and birth centers won’t let you take a baby home unless you have an approved infant car seat.

It’s good to plan ahead and make sure you buy and know how to install your car seat a few months before your due date. You don’t want to be caught off guard if baby arrives early!

There are two main qualifications for a seat that will protect a newborn. First, the car seat has to be rear-facing (and in the back seat). In a crash, the force of baby’s weight has to be spread out along the padded back of the seat, not just into the straps. Most states require rear-facing seats for the first two years, and many safety experts advise keeping your kids rear-facing for as long as possible. Given the number of drunk and distracted drivers on the road, your newborn deserves no less than the best.

Second, the seat has to recline quite low, but not too low. Official specs range from 35 to 40 degrees incline. Recline is necessary so a newborn’s head won’t just flop down onto their chest, but if it’s too low the momentum in a crash would just go into the shoulder straps instead of the back of the seat.

It’s possible to move your baby to a less-reclined seat once they have enough neck strength, but typically a baby won’t be able to sleep comfortably sitting up — most people keep the reclined position until their baby is too big for an infant car seat.

Important features to consider

Extra crash-protection features: Most car seats will make claims about design considerations that specifically go above and beyond the baseline crash test performance allowed under federal regulations. Sorting through these claims, and linking up claims with tested results, is tricky at best.

Installation aids: The more readily apparent benefits come from systems that make securing your car seat to the anchors in your car quick and simple. Clips and belt-paths are color coded, and safety labels point out exactly what to do for an installation. Most seats in the same price bracket have comparable features, but not all are created equal.

Options for no-base installs: If you find yourself taking a car seat in a taxi, Uber or your mom’s car, will you be able to secure the carrier without the base? European standards include the option to wrap the shoulder belt around the front of the carrier for easier and more secure installs — you never know when you may need it.

Seat size and adjustment: Most parents don’t know exactly how big their baby is when they buy a car seat, so it’s important to have a seat that can fit a range of heights. It should also be easy to adjust the seat straps to grow with your baby.

Weight: If you leave the car seat installed in a car all the time, this may not be a critical feature. But if you’re lugging one of these carriers around for extended periods of time, you may appreciate saving a few pounds.

Materials: All the big car seat manufacturers target parents with exclusive materials and patterns. We didn’t find anything ultra-luxe like flame-retardant-free wool in the $200 price bracket we tested.

A word about crash tests

Crash test results are an interesting wrinkle in car seat safety. The National Highway Transportation Safety Agency (NHTSA) has rules about minimum car seat protection and they test car seats extensively to help make every seat on the road safe, but many car seat manufacturers claim safety features that aren’t related to the core set of crash test measurements.

After running a four-year pilot study, the NHTSA determined that “a rating program based on simulated crashes would not provide practicable, readily understandable, or meaningful information to consumers.” Thus, if you see a safety “rating” on a car seat at a retailer or in a review, it’s not based on a standardized test that’s recognized by the NHTSA.

Review publications like Consumer Reports have chosen to run crash tests themselves. These tests are looking at factors outside the scope of federal regulations to see if they can find differences between car seats. An example is side-impact testing: some review tests are designed to show an absolute worst-case scenario of a vehicle sliding sideways at 30 miles per hour and colliding with a stationary object exactly on the door next to a car seat installed in a side seat.

Nobody’s saying that side-impact performance isn’t something worth paying attention to, but you should spend more time reading an instruction manual and finding a way to install your car seat in a center seat than you do combing through crash test results.

Learn about how the anchors in your car and attachment systems on your car seat work together to make a tight, secure installation. That, and driving safely, are the best things you can do to protect your children.

The NHTSA does provide a rating on how easy a car seat is to use. They look at instruction manuals, installation features, labels and harness restraints. We tested four car seats for ourselves, and the official scores line up closely with our assessment.

What about a convertible car seat?

A convertible car seat makes sense in a lot of ways. You buy just one seat and can use it in different positions for years — maybe even until your child is tall enough to use a seat belt without a booster.

A convertible can replace three different car seats and that’s a big money saver. You also get all the safety benefits of a larger seat, and if you want to spend money on premium features you only have to spend it once.

The downside, though, is literally huge. The back of a convertible is so tall that when it’s reclined in rear-facing mode for an infant, it takes up a lot of extra room. In anything but a minivan, it’s a tricky fit.

In our experience, this even makes it difficult to get convertibles to recline far enough for use with newborns. Unless your vehicle has legroom to spare, a dedicated infant car seat makes far more sense for the first year.

Once your baby is big enough to sit in a more upright rear-facing position that won’t take up all your legroom, these tall-back designs make a lot more sense. You’re usually ready for this shift when your baby is one year old, but follow manufacturer instructions about height and weight limits.

If your family is continuing to grow, separate infant, toddler and booster seats can be a good way to get the most value out of your purchases. Check out our review of forward-facing booster seats for big kids here.

How we tested

We asked a team of five moms and one dad to try out these car seats. They compared ease of installation and fit with their babies, plus we tested each of these car seats with our universally-compatible double strollers.

We installed the carriers in cars with and without bases, and our lead tester’s family used them all to carry B.J. — a chunky-monkey little newborn — during shopping trips and outings for two months.

Installation of the car seats

Car Seat	NHTSA Ease-of-Use Rating	LATCH Tensioner Score	Euro-Style Belt Path	Length (with Base)
Britax - B-Safe Ultra	24/25	☆☆☆☆☆	Yes	26.12
Cybex - Aton2	20/25	☆☆☆☆	Yes	25.17
Chicco - Keyfit 30 Zip	19/25	☆☆☆☆	No	26.3
Graco - Snuglock 30	18/25	☆	No	26

For testing, we installed car seats in four different vehicles: a compact sedan, minivan and two SUVs. Obviously, the more space between the seats, the easier installation was. The “Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children” (LATCH) system is a nearly universal standard that makes attaching seats pretty similar across vehicles.

There are some perks and quirks that differentiate each system, but our biggest takeaway is that you should get a car seat with some easy-to-use tension aid for secure installation. The Cybex is a good example, with a giant tensioning lever that makes sure the belt or latch strap is extra tight without all the knee-on-seat gymnastics you’d need to get the same results with some other systems.

In comparison, the basic strap-mounted tensioner that Graco uses on all their seats requires too much work to get tight, and even more work to remove. Our lead tester has used that system on four different infant seats and convertibles, and he’s ready for this bare-bones style of LATCH strap to just disappear.

All the car seats we checked provide a mechanism for leveling out the base when on an angled car seat, and they all provided a nearly identical degree of adjustment. Sadly, many cars have seat padding that’s even more dramatic than these systems account for and you may still find yourself adding rolled up receiving blankets, towels or pieces of pool noodle under the car seat base to help level it out.

Length and leg room

Installing a car seat in the back also often means losing some leg room in the front; about the only way to get around that is to drive a minivan. We checked the length of the seats in a few different positions, and found that the Cybex – Aton2 gives you the most space.
When resting on level ground as in the photo above, the Britax has a slight edge over the Chicco, but if you adjust the recline angle for a newborn the difference basically disappears.

Installation without a base

This is where the better seats start to distinguish themselves. Britax and Cybex both provide a “euro-style” belt path. This means that if you’re installing the car seat with a three-point retractable shoulder belt, you can actually wrap the shoulder belt around the front of the seat and use the retracting mechanism to make it more secure.

If you’re in a situation where you have the car seat and not the base, this extra level of security is a big deal. H-clip accessories (provided with the Chicco and Graco) can help make a conventional belt path more secure, but most of us will struggle holding everything in place to get the belt tight. The wrap-around installation is even more secure and much easier to do by yourself.

Fit and tension of harness

Car Seat	Seat Back Length (Inches)	Seat Width (Inches)	Strap Adjustment
Britax B-Safe Ultra 35	19.6	7.5	Sliding, 6 positions
Cybex - Aton2	18.4	8.5	Rethread, 3 postions
Chicco - Keyfit 30	17.5	10.5	Rethread, 3 postions
Graco - Snugride 30	18.5	10.5	Rethread, 3 postions

All of the models we tested except for the older Graco have a front-adjusting harnesses. On basic models like the Graco – Snugride 30, you have to adjust the fit of the harness from the underside of the seat, which is awkward at best. Graco has addressed this with a front adjustment on the Snuglock 30.

Once you move up to a quick-release tension system with an adjustment strap in the front, it’s easy to tighten and loosen the harness every time you take baby in the car. Just pull the “tail” of the harness with one hand while you check for fit with your other hand. Releasing tension to make unbuckling easier was simple for all of these systems.

The other adjustment that you’ll need to make periodically, though, is harness height. Straps should always start at a level just below your baby’s shoulders to pull them down into the bottom of the seat.

Britax is the only manufacturer we found that sells a seat with a no-rethread harness in this price bracket. When your baby hits a growth spurt, that lets you quickly and easily adjust shoulder harness height without having to take apart the seat.

Rethreading isn’t very difficult if you read the directions carefully and pay attention to which slot you’re coming from and which slot you’re moving to — but it takes time and you have to take your baby out of the carseat. Any feature that helps you keep up and stay sane is well worth considering.

Weight and age range

How do you know when your baby is too big for a car seat? This is one of the tricky parts of purchasing your car seat: you may not even know your baby’s sex when you purchase a car seat, let alone how tall they’ll be at six months of age.

Weight and height ranges are prominent in the specs for these car seats, but in almost every case you’ll find that the reason you have to stop using a carseat is that your child’s torso is too tall, regardless of how short their legs may be.

We checked the car seats for “seat back length” in the chart above by measuring along the back-board where your baby’s spine rests, from the bottom of the seat to the rim of the seat. Note that manufacturers typically consider a seat too small when your baby’s head comes up to an inch before the head comes up to the top of the back-board part of the seat.

Legs can stick out of a carseat without any issues, but if the head is within an inch of the top level of the carseat, your baby is growing up fast and ready for a bigger car seat.

The other factor to consider is the width of the cushions included. The Cybex – Aton2 has the biggest, fluffiest cushions and the second-narrowest “bucket,” which makes it the best fit for tiny babies. One of our testers, A.M., seemed entirely too small in the Graco and Chicco.

Stroller compatibility

Sadly, this is an area where combinations of strollers and car seats are either fine or not good at all.

We looked at compatibility across all the major stroller and car seat brands, and there’s a pattern: the strollers from big-name manufacturers like Britax, Graco and Chicco just don’t work with other car seat brands.

If you want compatibility with a stroller that doesn’t come from your car seat manufacturer, there are still options. A few third-party stroller manufacturers like Joovy and Contours have done a good job of providing universal fit adapters: this means you can put nearly any car seat into a cradle and strap it down securely.

Some manufacturers also provide click-in compatibility with adapters for a wide range of brand compatibility. It’s not free, but it gives you all the convenience of a made-to-fit travel system. One of the top picks in our review of the best double strollers, the Contours – Options Elite, makes adapters to fit all major car seats.

Top pick: Britax – B-Safe Ultra

Picking a winner from this group of award-winning car seats was actually easier than we thought it would be. After comparing all of the features and using the car seats, our testers nearly all said the Britax – B-Safe Ultra is the car seat they’d choose to take home.

The Britax is a bit bigger than the others we tested. At 11.5 pounds, it’s the heaviest, and at 26.5 inches it’s the longest carrier front to back. We didn’t have trouble fitting it in our tester’s Corolla, though, even in a side seat behind the driver. Yes, there was more leg room with the Cybex, but when it’s in the base the Britax is slightly shorter than the Chicco despite giving more room to grow.

The Britax seat is also the deepest when measured from the bottom to top where your baby’s back will rest, so there’s more room to grow before you need to move up to a bigger seat.

Installing the B-Safe base is a breeze. Coming from three years of using various Graco seats with fiddly strap-mounted tensioners, one tester admired the way Britax lets you pull on two independant LATCH straps directly. This gives a little bit more control and feedback than tying them together in a single pull-strap, like Chicco does, or forcing you to rely on a lever, as Cybex does.

The NHTSA rates this a 24 out of 25 for ease of use — and an easy-to-use car seat is a safe car seat. Labels are clear, instructions are well-written, and the important installation and adjustment components are color coded and easy to use.

Top Pick: Britax - B-Safe Ultra

Britax pulled out all the stops with this upgraded model. The B-Safe Ultra has easier strap adjustment, better options for temporary installation in Grandma's car or an Uber, and a great look and feel. This isn't a compact or lightweight car seat, but it's top-rated for easy installation and adjustment.

See Price at Amazon.com

Britax provides two key features on this model that are still rare at this competitive price point.

The first is an adjustable-height harness system. Instead of taking your car seat apart after every growth spurt, you can just slide the adjuster up and down to one of six positions. No complicated buckles, no forgetting to thread the straps through the head rest pad, no excuses. The Britax is the only car seat we found in this price bracket with a no-rethread harness.

The second distinct feature is the European-style belt path for installing without the base. If you only ever use your car seat in one car, maybe you’ll never use this feature. But that one time your spouse leaves you at home to spend the afternoon with Grandma and the base is still in the minivan, you’ll be thankful for the option.

There are other safe ways to install a car seat without a base (always check the manufacturer’s instructions to see your options). But wrapping the shoulder belt around the front of a car carrier is so much quicker, easier and more secure it’s hard to believe this isn’t a standard feature for every car seat.

Both of these features are missing from the base-model B-Safe 35, and the better seat belt path option is still missing on the Elite, so we’d definitely recommend spending the $30 or so to upgrade to the Ultra.

The padding inside this top model of the B-Safe line is plush and smooth. In our tests, we didn’t have any difficulty wiping off spit-up and snacks, but it’s also easy to remove the cover for washing. We liked the shoulder strap pads better than most, since they don’t have exposed snaps, seams or velcro to leave an impression on baby’s neck.

The flip-up sun shade feels just a little bit more luxurious, and it offers better coverage than any other shade except Chicco’s zip-on accessory extension.

If you want a little bit more in the way of safety-conscious design, the Britax – Endeavours is the same as the B-Safe, but the base has an anti-rebound bar bolted on for about $60. (Yes, it’s literally the same base with an added part. No, you can’t buy the bar separately.)

Key takeaways:

• The Britax – B Safe Ultra packs in nearly every convenience feature for a reasonable price.
• With no-rethread adjustment, you have no excuse not to keep shoulder straps at the correct level as your baby grows.
• This base is easy to install: the carrier connects and disconnects easily.
• A European-style shoulder belt path makes this carrier easier to install securely, even without the base.
• The sun visor provides ample shade.
• This is a bigger, heavier car seat, which is a good thing for safety.
• Gets a near-perfect score for ease of use from the NHTSA and from our testers.

Best for small cars: Cybex – Aton2

For something a little different, we looked to the Cybex – Aton2. This dark horse contender comes from Germany, and it comes with distinctive features that set it apart. It wasn’t the most convenient to use every day, so it narrowly missed top spot, but it’s still a car seat we like.

Let’s talk about how compact this car seat is: at just less than nine pounds, it’s not the lightest seat we tested, but it’s close. It’s definitely the easiest to fit in a compact car, though, with a design that maximizes the amount of space you have between seats.

The Aton line also has a base that’s easy to install, with a large flip-up lever that presses down on your LATCH straps to suck the base tight into your seat. You can get the same effect by pushing down on a base and pulling hard, but some people will prefer this mechanical advantage. The NHTSA gave this car seat full marks for installation.

Extra safety features

Cybex includes two features that are rarely seen in the U.S. market at any price. The first is a “load leg” feature that sticks out from the base. This leg is designed to absorb forward inertia in case of a head-on crash. The LATCH tethers will do a great job of preventing a car seat from flying forward, but as the seat cushion underneath compresses there’s still room for momentum to rock the seat forward, then rebound.

The other unique feature is a “linear side-impact protection” (LSP) system. These are two plastic wings that snap out, only for use when you install the Cybex in a side position next to a door or panel — never when seated beside a person or another car seat. The LSP is designed to absorb side impact energy which would otherwise cause the seat to bounce off the car door or other side panel.

Videos of European crash tests like this one are pretty convincing. That said, you can still have a safe car seat without these features and U.S. safety agencies aren’t currently testing them: The Cybex is tested and approved with these two features folded in, and U.S. standards don’t currently test side impacts.

Also best for smaller babies

The Cybex – Aton2 is also slightly better for the tiny infants like A.M. who get lost in bigger car seats. The seat bottom was the second-narrowest we tested and has a nice fluffy insert to help keep baby in place.

Cybex also gives you a “newborn insert” that fills in some space in the bottom of the seat. This helps the harness fit small infants better and makes the angle of your baby’s body a little bit flatter to help out baby’s developing neck.

You should never deliberately recline a seat past the level indicator on the base since that changes the way the harness and seat can absorb weight in case of a crash. This car seat was designed with the newborn insert in mind, so you can rest easy.

The drawbacks

The mechanism that keeps this car seat locked in the base is a bit tricky to work with. There’s a two-step removal procedure, where you have to lift the foot end of the carrier out of the base before the head latch will unlock. It isn’t that hard to repeat once you learn the feel of it, but four of our testers said it was a deal-breaker after seeing a demonstration.

The harness on the Aton2 requires you to re-thread the shoulder straps as your baby grows. That’s not unusual, especially at this price point, but the fact that the Britax manages to provide a non-rethread harness at a similar price is a real bonus.

Best for Small Cars and Small Babies: Cybex - Aton2

Cybex is one of the few companies bringing the latest European design features stateside. You don't need all these extra features to have a safe car seat, but it sure can't hurt. The infant insert is also great for smaller babies and this takes up less of your front row legroom than any other seat available in the U.S.

See Price at Amazon.com

Also, the sun visor on the Cybex is fairly small and doesn’t extend far enough to prevent low-angle sunset glare when used in a stroller. This isn’t a dealbreaker, and many parents will use a blanket or stroller canopy when the carrier isn’t in the car, but it’s annoying that you can’t get just a few more degrees of rotation out of the shade.

All things considered, this is a quirky little car seat that has a lot to offer at a competitive price. If you can afford to spend a little more, the Aton Q adds a bigger sun canopy and non-rethread harness adjustment, but the tricky carrier release latch is still the same. The Aton2 is a great car seat for those with small cars, small babies, or who want the peace of mind that comes with buying the latest safety features.

Key takeaways:

• If you’re looking for cutting-edge safety features, the Cybex – Aton2 has extra protection at a reasonable price.
• This is also the best fit for cars without legroom to spare.
• The base is easy to install with a nifty strap-tensioning lever system.
• Sadly, you’ll still have to re-thread the shoulder harness as baby grows.
• An infant insert may help smaller babies ride more comfortably.
• This is also one of the lighter car seats we found, less than nine pounds.

Other finalists we tested

Chicco – Keyfit 30 Zip

Chicco’s car seats are great and the KeyFit 30 Zip is no exception. We don’t want the ranking in this review to be overstated: if it weren’t for a few features that made other car seats easier to use in specific cases, this car seat would have been very close to the top pick.

The biggest point holding back the Chicco from ranking higher is the lack of a better option for seat belt routing when you don’t have the base with you. The fact that you get the European-standard belt-path feature along with a no-rethread harness adjustment on the Britax makes it just that much better.

The Chicco is the shallowest seat we measured measured along the back-board part of the seat, with 17.5 inches of room for your baby’s torso to grow compared to Britax’s 19.6.

Many reviewers give this car seat top marks, but all of our testers preferred the installation and safety features of other seats. The NHTSA rates this car seat a 19 out of 25, docking points for label clarity and the harness system.

We tested the upgraded Zip model so we could see what the premium features are like to use, and the additional foot cover and visor extension are nice to have on chilly days. If you’re just going to buy some other privacy or cold-weather cover, there’s not much reason to spend extra on this upgrade, but child passenger safety technicians will give you bonus points for sticking with factory-designed accessories that have been fully tested.

Graco – Snuglock 30

The Graco – Snuglock 30 is a budget-friendly, lightweight car seat that will keep your baby safe. This is a minor update of the seat our lead tester had been using for his two children and there’s really nothing about this car seat that was missed. The extra couple of pounds you’ll have to carry with a Cybex are well worth it when it comes to plush materials, easy installation and other quality-of-life improvements.

The bottom line

Buying a car seat is intimidating. It’s hard to know which features are most important and which features are going to come in handy unexpectedly. When you’re buying, you probably don’t even know how big your baby will be yet.

Five out of our six testers picked the Britax – B-Safe Ultra as their favorite car seat. Britax brings features you’d usually only see on $300 or $400 car seats down to an affordable price, and it’s one of the easiest seats to work with.

For a runner-up, we also like the Cybex – Aton2. This seat doesn’t have all the convenience features of the Britax, but it makes up for it with two innovative crash-protection features that are rarely seen in the U.S. car seat market. Cybex also made their car seat light and compact, which could be a real plus for those with small cars to squeeze in and out of. The Aton2 base takes some practice to get used to, but if you want these features it might be worth the learning curve.

Top Pick: Britax - B-Safe Ultra

Britax has packed premium features into this car seat, and we found it the easiest to install and use every day. If you're looking for features like sliding harness adjustment, a European-style seatbelt path and luxurious padding, look no further.

See Price at Amazon.com

The post The Best Infant Car Seats appeared first on Your Best Digs.

Table of contents

• How we selected products to test
• Compare the best baby carriers
• Who needs a baby carrier?
• Important features to consider
• How to use a baby carrier
• How we tested
• The best overall: LÍLLÉbaby – Complete
• Better for newborns: Ergobaby – Omni 360
• A budget carrier: Infantino – Fusion
• Another finalist we tested
• The bottom line

How we selected products to test

Our test team for this review consisted of our resident babywearing dad and six volunteer moms. We also reached out to some friends who are experienced baby-wearers for research and to participate in our photo shoot.

Our lead tester has been using a soft structured carrier for three years with both of his kids. He’s got extensive experience with the original Tula and a few wrap-style carriers. Our test parents have used everything from the old-school crotch-dangling BabyBjorn and the Infantino to an older version of the Ergobaby.

As parents, we’ve followed the developments in babywearing with great interest. Most of us have been fairly satisfied with carriers for specific uses, but frustrated by limitations and complexities.

We read reviews of baby carriers extensively, noting selections from Wirecutter, BabyGearLab and reviewed.com. After compiling a list of 14 noteworthy carriers based on their popularity and features, we checked in-depth comparison videos on YouTube and watched all of the manufacturer instruction videos we could find to get an idea of what the different models were like to use. We also scoured Amazon reviews for signs of long-term reliability problems or drawbacks to specific designs. In the end we narrowed our list using a few key design qualifications.

Our first concern with selection of products was ensuring that the products we selected were safe for babies. The International Hip Dysplasia Institute has been studying the effects of carry positions for decades. They now advocate for baby carriers to create a “m-shaped” seat posture when you’re looking at the legs of your inward-facing baby in the mirror. The IHDI provides educational information and now certifies popular designs — all of our picks are “hip healthy.”

A note on hip dysplasia: Some babywearing advocates have started to downplay the importance of this point, as there’s now some evidence against the effect of swaddling and posture on the development of hip problems in babies who aren’t born with existing dysplasia, but the wider seat offered by hip-healthy carriers is comfortable and certainly can’t hurt.

Second, we only picked designs that provide infant neck and leg support without an insert. After using baby carriers in the past that require bulky extra pieces to accommodate infants safely, we were happy to find competitive designs that work out of the box for newborns.

Finally, we looked for convertible designs to allow forward-facing carry (when a baby is old enough).

We didn’t test any of the new designs that try to do something beyond baby carrying: the MiaMilly with its hip-ledge, for example, or the Onya Cruiser that converts from a carrier into a chair harness. There’s even the Mountain Marsupial babywearing jacket. These products require an infant insert for newborns and the extra functions didn’t seem like a clear benefit for all the extra bulk and complexity.

Compare the best baby carriers

Who needs a baby carrier?

Using a baby carrier is now popularly referred to as “babywearing” in the U.S., but it’s a practice that seems to have been around for as long as busy parents have been taking care of babies. Some kind of cradleboard, sling, wrap or other style of on-the-body baby carry can be found in the history of people on every continent.

Attachment parenting advocates are quick to cite the developmental benefits of close and lasting contact — while that’s certainly a plus, there are plenty of reasons carrying your baby around will help you, too.

For one, carrying a baby with a harness frees up your hands. A carrier isn’t an excuse for ignoring your baby, but often babywearing is a far more effective way of soothing a fussy infant than any amount of rocking and cooing. The fact that you can catch up on washing your baby’s laundry at the same time racks up the bonus points.

The carrier also means you aren’t stuck with lugging around a cradle or stroller if a nap sneaks up on you. (That said, having the option to leave your sleeping baby in another room with a baby monitor while you’re working is still great for sanity.)

Another reason to prefer babywearing is that it’s often much less work than some other means of transport. Strapping on a carrier isn’t instantaneous, but using a stroller means stairs are suddenly insurmountable obstacles. If you can lift your ultra-plush car seat into a shopping cart and let your child sleep, more power to you — but that doesn’t usually work on trips to the DMV or post office.

Double strollers and Disneyland go together like PB and J, but all of our testers who’ve bought double strollers still sometimes use a baby carrier for the extra versatility and mobility at the park or for hiking.

Back-carry with an older toddler is a great way to extend the range of your family outings. Especially when you have more than one child walking, a carrier gives you flexibility you just wouldn’t have otherwise.

This leads us to the other benefit of babywearing: it’s a great workout! But with the right carrier, you’ll forget about how much weight you’re lifting and just enjoy the time spent close and seeing the world together.

Important features to consider

Weight range: Our top pick and runner up are both designed to handle weight up to 45 pounds, while the others are rated at 35 or less. That’s a lot of weight to carry around, but the better weight-bearing designs have stronger construction and more comfortable straps even with a smaller toddler.

Crossable straps: If your shoulders are narrower, crossing the straps behind your back can help distribute weight and keep the harness feeling secure.

Infant/fetal carry options: All of the carriers we tested are designed to carry infants in a way that doesn’t unnaturally straighten the hips. These carriers also provide neck support, either as a neck pillow or flip-up head covering.

Extra carry modes: While the ergonomic baby carriers of yesteryear were often limited to just inward-facing front and back carry modes, these new carriers all offer a seat that supports baby’s legs in a posture-friendly outward-facing mode. Some carriers also give instructions for leg-tucked-in fetal position options and hip-carry.

Mesh panels for ventilation: On a hot summer day, you’ll be thankful for all the ventilation you can get. Usually you’ll need to buy a different mesh version of a carrier, but LÍLLÉbaby makes their All Seasons version with a zip-off panel.

Snaps, buttons and toggles: For securing the seat panels and neck support flap, Ergobaby and Infantino use buttons or toggles, while the other manufacturers use snaps. Each method has its own quirks.

How to use a baby carrier

While researching for this review, we reached out to Holly Kohlmann, a local babywearing coach, for some advice about getting the best fit in the most popular carry configurations. She offered to help us film this video demonstrating how to use Ergobaby carriers in three commonly-used positions: Newborn, hip-carry, and front-facing carry.

How we tested

For three months our seven babywearing testers took these carriers everywhere. On hikes in the Sierra Nevada mountains, in airports moving between connecting flights, festivals and concerts, and even shoveling snow. For context, our testers compared the carriers against other soft structured carriers they’ve used in the past, as well as slings and wraps.

Comfort

While wearing the carriers in sessions of two hours or more, we compared factors like weight distribution, padding, ventilation and adjustment options to decide which carriers would be the most comfortable on a long day.

The LÍLLÉbaby – Complete All Seasons has an edge in this test for a few reasons. The thick padding is also more breathable than the other models and there’s the zip-off panel that reveals a mesh panel for summertime wear. But even without the ventilation, the lumbar pad is bigger and there’s a little more adjustment range for the straps.

Our babywearing coach notes that some petite parents find the long shoulder straps on the LÍLLÉbaby more of a nuisance than they’re worth, but none of our testers has specific complaints. The lumbar pad will probably need to go if you have a smaller waist, but with the pad removed it’s the same as the Ergobaby and smaller than the Beco.

Convenience

Easy loading and adjustment of the carriers is essential. For example, we loved the velcro tabs for adjusting the seat width of the Ergobaby – Omni 360, but really didn’t like fumbling with the extra-large buttons to change other flaps.

The Infantino – Fusion is tricky to score in this category, since it’s the only design to use a fully separate set of inner straps. If you unclip the baby-supporting buckles, this carrier doesn’t just fall off your shoulders like the others do. That’s pretty convenient for loading and unloading quickly, but the extra straps mean you can’t really breastfeed while your baby is in this carrier.

Most carriers have an accessory pouch somewhere, and it’s often a great place to stash your phone or keys when you’re on a quick errand. LÍLLÉbaby wins this one as well, with a big pouch that’s easier to reach than the rest.

Versatility

All of these carriers give fairly similar instructions for how to carry babies and toddlers at different ages.

LÍLLÉbaby is the only company that provided instructions for a leg-tucked-in fetal position, aided by a swaddling blanket tucked inside to replace the giant carrier-within-a-carrier infant inserts of older models like the original Tula and Ergobaby. LÍLLÉbaby gets points for offering clear instructions, though our coach notes that if you’re carrying a small newborn then LÍLLÉbaby’s optional insert is easier to use than the blanket, and the ErgoBaby has an edge for simplicity.

The Infantino is the only carrier that won’t allow crossing the back straps, which makes it a little bit less versatile.

The best overall: LÍLLÉbaby – Complete

The LÍLLÉbaby – Complete All Seasons really lives up to its name. This carrier is designed to handle any situation you can think of and it’s competitively priced.
This is an updated version of the Complete, with a few modifications. First, it has the zip-open panel in front that allows for more ventilation. This is a thoughtful addition; in every other case we saw, a completely different carrier is necessary if you want mesh for hiking on a long summer day.

For newborns that are bigger than seven pounds, but too small for the seat pocket made by the shape of the carrier in the narrow mode, LÍLLÉbaby provides instructions for using a swaddling blanket to create a “fetal carry” position that doesn’t squash baby’s hips. Check out their video here. Some parents find folding and positioning a blanket tricky, but we were satisfied in our testing. We should note that our local babywearing coach prefers and recommends the optional LÍLLÉbaby newborn insert rather than a blanket when she uses this carrier.

LÍLLÉbaby’s belt is well thought out, with a really big lumbar support pad. This is a nice perk when you’re carrying a heavy toddler on a long walk. Another benefit of this design is that you can remove the lumbar pad if you don’t like it — other carriers just have padding built into the front section of the belt.

The maximum waist circumference for the belt is lower than average, but at 48 inches it will serve most people well. Plus, you can purchase a ten-inch extension if you need more.

LÍLLÉbaby is also the only soft-structured carrier manufacturer that offers baby carrier stirrups if you really want to test your limits. Stirrups shift the weight of an older child’s legs from your shoulders to your hips, which can make a big difference on a hike.

LÍLLÉbaby includes a storage pouch in the zip-off panel on the front. This isn’t a perfect solution, since that panel rolls up for summertime venting and you’ll lose the pocket, but if you really need a place to stow your wallet, phone or keys it’s always an option and it’s easier to reach than a pouch down on the belt. The pocket measures four by five inches, so a bigger cell phone will peek out at the top.

The zip-open panel actually makes itself a big pocket when it’s zipped up, which is a nifty feature if you find yourself in need of a place to keep something big like a set of passports. Just don’t stick anything lumpy or sharp in there since it’s going to be pressed against your baby’s back.

The Best Overall: LÍLLÉbaby - Complete All Seasons

LÍLLÉbaby has wrapped up all the popular features into one model. The name might not be as recognizable as some other brands, but this is a bestseller for a reason. A top-rate carrier that's comfortable and built to last — and it's competitively priced.

See Price at Amazon.com

The biggest drawback of the LÍLLÉbaby is that you have to thread the waist strap through two loops in the seat-support flaps in order to convert from narrow to wide mode. In comparison, the other carriers use velcro, toggles and snaps.

If you’re carrying a toddler and you switch between inward-facing or back carry and outward-facing carry modes frequently, all that threading could get annoying, since you need to thread the belt through the loops and the lumbar pad each time you convert.

Fortunately, if your baby is at an age where they’re old enough to face outward but still likely to fall asleep in the carrier, you won’t have to change the seat width to face the little one inward.

If you find that a blanket is too difficult to keep in place when you’re carrying a smaller newborn, Lillebaby also sells a pillow insert that will help you get the perfect position. Our babywearing coaches say they always recommend buying the insert for a newborn, since they’ve seen too much confusion about what blanket to use.

If the LÍLLÉbaby were the same price as the Ergobaby, most of the differences would come down to individual fit we’d tell you to try them both out. The LÍLLÉbaby is almost always about $40 less expensive than the competition, and all our testers were happy with the range of adjustment to get a good fit.

Even LÍLLÉbaby’s limited-edition patterns (right now there are 21 to choose from) are less expensive than the Ergobaby and they go on clearance from time to time.

Key takeaways:

• The LÍLLÉbaby – Complete is a do-it-all design at a good price.
• Adjusting seat width takes a bit of work, but the rest of the buckles and snaps are easy to use.
• A zip-open mesh vent panel gives year-round comfort options.
• The big lumbar pad helps make long hours with big kids easier.
• A big pouch holds the biggest cell phones.

Better for newborns: Ergobaby – Omni 360

If you’ve been watching the trends in baby carriers for the last 15 years, you’re probably quite familiar with Ergobaby’s reputation.The Ergobaby- Omni 360 brings together all of the best features of past models to make a versatile, comfortable and high-quality baby carrier.

Founder Karin Frost says part of Ergobaby’s mission is to make a “thoughtful” baby carrier — the Omni 360 has some great features that demonstrate that philosophy.

The big difference between the Ergobaby and the other carriers we tested is how easy it is to adjust seat width. If you’ve got a bigger toddler who needs full-width seat support when facing in, but you still like to use the front-facing mode once in a while, you’ll be impressed at how simple the velcro tabs are to adjust. There are still upper flap buttons you need to switch, but it’s a much quicker process than it is with the LÍLLÉbaby.

The way the shape of the seat “pocket” changes as you vary the width and adjust the upper tabs is very impressive. Ergobaby is one of the few manufacturers to convince experts that you really don’t need an insert for tiny newborns. The LÍLLÉbaby works, and our testers don’t have any real reservations about recommending it since most babies will only be tiny for a few months, but the Ergobaby design is definitely more elegant. That’s what makes this the best baby carrier for newborns, in our opinion.

This feature isn’t enough to make it a better carrier for the other two years you’ll use it, though. What did bug us frequently was the extra locking tab on the side-clips: Ergobaby decided the usual quick-release buckle needed improvement, so there’s a tab you have to lift while you squeeze the sides. It’s not difficult to learn how once you know about it, but it’s definitely an adult-proof feature when you’re taking off the carrier for the first time.

One of our testers, R.D., compared the new Ergobaby to her old carrier, the original 2004 Ergobaby. She said it was great finally being able to do hikes in a front-facing carry position with her seven-month-old, which was something she’d always wanted to try with her first baby. Happily, the Omni 360 also does away with the noisy velcro waist belt of the 2014 Ergobaby – 360 All Positions model.

R.D. lamented that none of the new Ergobaby models have a chest-panel storage pouch as big as the one on the original carrier. There’s still a wide and shallow pouch for the rain hood, but a bigger smartphone won’t fit through the six-inch opening and it’s hidden under a flap in most modes. The new Sporran-style crotch-dangling storage pouch is functional and roomy enough for the essentials, but it’s not easy to find the zipper on a pouch you can’t even see. It’s really no surprise Ergobaby removes it for most promotional photos.

Better for Newborns: Ergobaby - Omni 360

Ergobaby's Omni 360 fixes almost every drawback of past models. The no-insert newborn mode is especially good. This is almost just as good as our top pick, but a few missing features and a higher price kept it from taking top prize.

See Price at Amazon.com

Now that Ergobaby is expanding into other corners of the baby-product marketplace, we hoped we would start to see the special-edition patterns coordinating across different lines. There’s a diaper bag with a dedicated storage compartment for the carrier, but it’s only available in one pattern. In our review of the best diaper bags we found that other bags are a better value anyway, but it’s an opportunity we hope Ergobaby capitalizes on.

If the buttons and storage pouch were a bit easier to work with this would be have landed in first place. As it is, the Ergobaby is a great carrier that only really outshines the competition when you’re transforming it from one mode to another, which isn’t something you’ll do every day. This carrier takes a close second place, but the LÍLLÉbaby was a slightly better carrier overall and is less expensive.

Key Takeaways:

• The Ergobaby- Omni 360 is a versatile, flexible design.
• Velcro seat-width adjustment makes that part of changing between modes easier.
• Seat design is top-of-class for carrying infants without an insert or other workaround.
• Other buckles and buttons are more complicated than on the LÍLLÉbaby.
• Ergobaby’s dangling belt storage pouch is kind of annoying.
• The price is also higher than our top pick.

A budget carrier: Infantino – Fusion

If you’re looking for a good carrier but aren’t ready to spend more than $100, the Infantino – Fusion is an option worth investigating.

Based in our own dear San Diego, Infantino (formerly a part of the Step 2 company, but now owned by an overseas toy manufacturing group) has been making carriers since about 2005. They’ve always targeted a wider retail market rather than chasing the babywearing enthusiasts who are willing to splurge on more luxurious materials.

The lack of limited-edition designer prints and the lower price might actually make this the best baby carrier for dads — or a certain kind of dad, anyhow.

Infantino’s carriers share a core design feature with the classic BabyBjorn carrier: The straps and the carry cradle are mostly independent, so you can put the carrier harness on your torso securely before you even pick up the baby.

This is either a great benefit or an inconvenience. One of our testers loved the design and said she found it much easier to set up and get ready to go with the Infantino: the carrier stayed put on her shoulders as she picked up her baby. A few other testers felt like the extra elastic webbing and straps just got in the way.

If you’re hoping to breastfeed in your baby carrier, a design with inner straps like the Infantino is definitely not going to help. It’s not as restrictive as some of the new BabyBjorn designs with a full mesh panel, but it’s still going to get in the way.

Unlike the “crotch dangler” carrier designs of last century, the new Infantino models are all designed to properly put a baby’s hips and legs in a natural position. Like the other carriers we tested, the Infantino has a supportive seat (adjustable to grow with your baby) that allows the knees to make a natural M shape when you look at the carrier in the mirror.

The difference we noticed right away is that this carrier seems smaller than the others. The basic dimensions of the support structure — like width between buckles and the height of the neck support point — are nearly identical to other carriers. Infantino has cut-out sections at the sides, though, and the fact that the front panel isn’t part of the shoulder straps means it doesn’t need to be full-width to provide the same support through the clip-in strap points.

Budget Pick: Infantino - Fusion

Infantino isn't afraid to try competing for the very lowest budgets, but their designs are still well-thought-out and useful. There isn’t as much luxury in the materials, but it's still a fully-featured carrier. This particular Infantino also features an inner harness that keeps the carrier from falling off when you're loading or unloading your baby.

See Price at Amazon.comSee Price at WalMart.com

The Infantino is the only carrier we tested that won’t allow crossing the back straps. Since they’re permanently attached to the front part of the harness with elastic, it won’t slide off before you clip the side support buckles. The inner harness design does mean hip carry mode isn’t going to work.

Infantino says that this carrier shouldn’t be used with a toddler bigger than 32 pounds — we think that’s a bit on the high side. We wouldn’t say it’s useless above 15 pounds like some reviewers have, but the useful life is definitely shorter than its $150 competitors.

Infantino’s training video is here and explains the carrier modes very thoroughly. Check it out if you have any questions about how the carrier works.

Key Takeaways:

• The Infantino – Fusion comes in at less than one-third the price of other models, but still provides a full-featured carrier.
• The materials and padding used here are definitely not as luxe as our top picks.
• Infantino’s smaller carrier panel gives less coverage than other brands, but the support fundamentals are the same.
• The straps for the inner-harness design make this carrier more complex and get in the way if you want to breastfeed.
• Loading and unloading your baby can be quicker with this design.

Another finalist we tested

Beco – Gemini

The Beco – Gemini covers all the basic functions, but doesn’t offer much to justify its price tag. There’s really not much wrong with the Beco, so if you find the style you want at a lower price than the LÍLLÉbaby it’s a pretty good pick. Beco’s list price is high, but when they’re clearing out certain patterns they can go lower than $100, just like the LÍLLÉbaby.

For the extra money, you get a simpler construction and conversion system and thick padding everywhere. That said, all the extra perks from our top picks are missing. If anything, all the padding in the front panel is too thick to be comfortable in hot weather.

The one feature our testers really didn’t like about the Beco was the snaps for adjusting seat width. Some brands use buttons, and LÍLLÉbaby puts snaps on the outside of the belt, but on the Beco you’ve got two open female snap rings on the inside of the belt, just ready to dig into your skin. It’s not a fatal flaw, but some kind of fold-over cover for the snaps (along with a lumbar support pad) would make the Beco more competitive.

The bottom line

When you learn how to adjust the fit and support of a baby carrier, it can really transform the time spent holding your baby. Babywearing not only frees your hands, but it gives your baby a chance to see the world around you while still being protected and supported.

For extra comfort and versatility, we love the LÍLLÉbaby – Complete All Seasons. This carrier has more supportive padding, nicer finishing touches, and a zip-open vent panel. Just be sure to read the instructions carefully so you don’t wind up embarrassing yourself like Ryan Reynolds did with his LÍLLÉbaby carrier.

The Best Overall: LÍLLÉbaby - Complete All Seasons

There's a reason this is one of the most popular baby carriers on the market right now. The fit, features and versatility of this carrier are top notch, and the price is lower than the nearest competition.

See Price at Amazon.com

The post The Best Baby Carrier appeared first on Your Best Digs.

Table of contents

• The 9 humidifiers we tested
• Top pick: Honeywell – HEV620
• Premium pick: Levoit – LV600HH
• Best for bedrooms and babies: Vicks – VUL520
• Other products we tested
• How we selected
• How we tested
• Two types of humidifiers
• Important features to consider
• The bottom line

The 9 humidifiers we tested

Top pick: Honeywell – HEV620

Honeywell’s HEV620 is a smart, capable, easy-to-use machine. It’s tall, so plan on giving it some floor space in the corner, but it doesn’t have a very big footprint compared to Honeywell’s other large humidifiers. It will happily blend into the background and dispense humidity as needed, without flashy fog shows to draw your attention.

The best thing about this humidifier is its tank. Even with almost two gallons of capacity, it’s shaped just right to fill in a kitchen sink. Better yet, you can fill it directly from a water pitcher while it’s sitting in the machine, since there’s a grate-style lid instead of a completely closed top.

The best thing about the grate-style lid is that you can take it off and wipe down the inside of the tank without any trouble. Filling the tank, cleaning it periodically and drying it for storage are all very easy.

This type of humidifier does rely on a fan to get the moisture into your air, so if you’re looking for something silent you’ll want to check out our upgrade pick. Honeywell uses a quiet fan, but it’s definitely noticeable when running on high speed.

This was the only evaporative-style humidifier we found with a timer or humidistat, and the fact that the tank is so much better than most makes it easy to forgive the need for occasional maintenance of the filter.

Top Pick: Honeywell - HEV620

With automatic settings, this is the only humidifier that really works as a hands-off large-room humidification solution. It’s easy to keep filled, it mostly takes care of itself and maintenance is simple.

See Price at Amazon.com

The filter, then, is really the only reason you might not like this machine. The Honeywell will remind you to check it every 30 days. Replacements can sometime be tricky to find (they’re back-ordered at some retailers as we publish this review, but available from this filter shop and from Honeywell’s store at better prices than Amazon typically has).

If you flip the filter every week (so one side isn’t always absorbing more minerals than the other), you can keep them going longer. The manual suggests soaking to loosen buildup, but if you’ve got rust in your water you’ll probably want to replace your filter every month.

The accuracy of Honeywell’s humidistat is good, but the way it works means it’s not exactly laboratory-grade. If you just want to let the Honeywell maintain a room’s humidity, it works well, but you have to run the fan for a few minutes to get an accurate display of the room’s humidity.

Key takeaways:

• The Honeywell – HEV620 has a giant tank to run for a long time in the driest climates.
• A humidistat means you don’t have to turn this on and off all the time: It knows when it’s needed.
• The giant reservoir is also the easiest to fill and clean, which makes a big difference for long-term life of the machine.
• The filter will need replacing eventually, but you don’t have to worry about water spots or buying special water.

Premium pick: Levoit – LV600HH

If you want a high-capacity humidifier to treat a large room, the Levoit – LV600HH is our pick for a model that doesn’t use filters. It had no trouble keeping up in a 400-square-foot room, though it can’t pump out moisture as quickly as the Honeywell in a performance test.

All the essential qualities and features are covered: The reserve tank is easy to fill and clean, the humidistat was the best we tested at keeping humidity at a stable average and Levoit also makes (in our opinion) the best-looking humidifier.

The electronic controls, sadly, are a bit complex: Don’t throw away the manual if you want to use this machine to its full potential. The “auto” button works well to get your room up to 68- percent relative humidity (which is the highest level recommended for indoor air), but most people are going to be better off at around 45-55 percent. (Go lower if you see any condensation on your windows or walls in the winter.) Skip the auto setting and tap the “water drop” button until it shows your target level.

Upgrade Pick: Levoit - LV600HH

Model includes heated steam, an essential-oil diffuser, and a humidistat that beat our top pick in keeping room humidity at a solid 40 percent.

See Price at Amazon.comSee Price at Home Depot

While the humidistat is very good at keeping the average humidity level you set, according to our instruments the display reads eight percent lower than the actual room humidity.

Heated mist is a feature that’s becoming hard to find because of fire hazard concerns. The Levoit has auto-shutoff features, but you should never leave the machine unattended when it’s heating, just in case something goes wrong. Also note that we didn’t find any evidence that heated mist is any better for your symptoms — it’s a nice perk on a cold day, though.

The essential-oil diffuser built into this model works just like a fan-drawn diffuser, so it won’t heat up your oil like the Vicks model does with the VapoPad holder. Diffuser options might not be a big deal, if you haven’t already bought a dozen bottles of oil blends from your EO-enthusiast friends. But if you’ve thought about buying a diffuser and a humidifier, this model does double-duty.

As with any ultrasonic-type humidifier, this machine will spray whatever’s in the water into your air. If you’ve got hard water that leaves deposits around all your sink fixtures, this type of humidifier will probably cause spots and white dust to appear on glass or metal surfaces.

If you’ve already got mineral-free water, though, the fact that there are no filters to replace means this will wind up being cheaper than the Honeywell after a few months of steady use.

Key takeaways:

• The Levoit – LV600HH is an ultrasonic-type with all the bells and whistles.
• It has the most accurate humidistat we found for set-and-forget operation.
• Optional heated mist makes you feel better, even if it’s not medically significant.
• Essential oil lovers will like the evaporator pad, though it’s not exactly a diffuser.
• The tank is fairly easy to fill and clean and holds almost as much water as our top pick.

Best for bedrooms and babies: Vicks – VUL520

If you’re looking for an inexpensive bedroom-sized humidifier that won’t need replacement filters, the VUL520 from Vicks is our pick.

For parents dealing with croup or other throat infection, a humidifier is one of the first recommendations you’ll typically get from a pediatrician.

This model’s half-gallon capacity won’t last for more than one night, but it makes up for that by being easy to carry, fill and set up. The compact size means it’ll be easier to find a place to store it when your babies feel better.

Unlike the evaporative-style humidifiers, this is basically silent. The ultrasonic parts and the little fans make a quiet buzz, but the Vicks doesn’t rely on moving significant amounts of air like the Honeywell – HEV320 or HEV620 do.

Small Room Pick: Vicks - VUL520

This is a compact ultrasonic model that does its job well. The feature that seals the deal for us? You can actually clean it, unlike most other models this size.

See Price at Amazon.com

For a short-term humidity boost in a bedroom, the Vicks gives you everything you need. There’s even a slot for Vicks VapoPads (one freebie included), which gives you the benefits of VapoRub without spreading grease on your skin. This works just like a heated plug-in essential-oil diffuser, so there’s no reason you couldn’t put other essential oils on a VapoPad after the menthol/eucalyptus scent fades.

Cleaning really set the 520 apart from other small ultrasonic humidifiers. There are a few corners inside the tank that are harder to scrub, but most people will be able to easily fit a hand inside to wipe it down.

Key takeaways:

• The Vicks – VUL520 is an ultrasonic-type, so it’s nearly silent and doesn’t have a filter to maintain.
• The compact size means this is easy to store, perfect for those buying because of croup or a bad cough.
• Of the inexpensive models, this was definitely the easiest to clean.
• Optional VapoPads are a bit of a gimmick, but grandmas swear by that stuff.
• Everything that’s in the water will go into the air, so distilled water is recommended.

Other products we tested

Another large humidifier: TaoTronics – TTAH001

We tried three larger models with humidistat functions, and the TaoTronics – TTAH001 is the one that fell hardest when we ranked them side-by-side.

Beyond the humidistat, the only feature that sets this model apart from cheaper ultrasonic humidifiers is the mineral filter. If you don’t want to buy distilled water, this might help reduce the amount of white dust you see on your mirrors and windows. It’s not as good as a pitcher-style filter system, though, since you’ve still got tap water leaving deposits in the tank.

The TaoTronics tank was nearly impossible to clean well. You can pour in vinegar for a rinse, but that’s it.

The performance we saw from this model was good but nothing special. If you really don’t care about being able to scrub out the tank, then it’s a little quicker than the Levoit and more accurate than the Honeywell. The smaller tank, though, means you’ll be filling more frequently.

Honeywell – HEV320

If you don’t need a humidistat or a week of capacity, the Honeywell – HEV320 has most of the strengths of our top pick in a more affordable package.

Compared to the HEV620, the HEV320 has the same great performance of a wicking filter but without the electronic controls. This model holds half as much water as our top pick, and you have to unscrew a cap to fill it.

This is still one of the easiest humidifiers to clean, and the fan isn’t overly loud. (If anything, you might be disappointed if you were hoping the fan noise would mask loud neighbors or traffic sounds.)

Filters for this model are a little bit easier to find than for our top pick, but on the whole we aren’t sure who will benefit most from this size of machine.

If you’re running a humidifier in a large room, this model will need babysitting that the larger Honeywell doesn’t. If you’re just using this in a bedroom for occasional relief of cough or cold symptoms, you might find the visible mist of our ultrasonic runner-up more comforting.

If you don’t want to buy a big humidifier and would rather replace filters than buy distilled water, then this is a good pick over the Vicks – VUL520 at about the same price.

Vicks – Starry Night V3700

The V3700 from Vicks is a relative of the Honeywell – HEV320; it even uses a similar tube-shaped wicking filter. The big difference is that this model features a basic sort of planetarium projector to light up a bedroom ceiling.

The V3700 didn’t rank well in our testing because of a few basic shortcomings. First, the fan is smaller than the Honeywell, so it doesn’t put out as much moisture on high speed. Second, the opening for filling and cleaning the tank is small.

The star projector is a bit too simple and can’t be aimed if you need to put it in the corner of a room. There’s nothing terrible about this model, but nothing stands out as a reason to pick it.

Crane – Adorables

The Crane – Adorables line is a set of humidifiers designed to blend in with your nursery or a child’s bedroom decor. We picked the purple Hippo (our test-toddler named it “Henry”) and spent some quality time watching the mist pour out of the ears. There’s a train-engine-shaped model that makes a bit more sense if you’re going for realism, but they should all perform the same.

We like the performance of the Adorables model, but it has all the flaws of a typical cheap ultrasonic humidifier. The tank has only a tiny access hole for filling and cleaning, and you have to steady it with one hand while you fill it from a jug of distilled water. Worse, it can take a few tries to figure out which way it fits in the base, an annoyance if you’re refilling in the middle of a long, sleep-deprived night during cold season.

Cleaning isn’t much better, since most of the surfaces that would attract mold or algae are to the side of the hole and on the other side of the chimney.

We hoped this would be a great humidifier for kids, but in the end that’s only true if you’ll let your kids steal the themed spout and wear it as a hat.

On second though, it’s not a good hat, either. Don’t buy this.

Pure Enrichment – MistAire

The Pure Enrichment – MistAire is an unremarkable ultrasonic-type model. It’s not especially bad; we didn’t encounter any specific problems with it during testing, and it seems about as well-made as any of the other machines.

The reviews of this machine on Amazon are mostly positive, so it would seem most people don’t have issues in the long run, but some people have had machines stop working. (Usually, this is caused by a stuck or broken float valve.)

Nearly every critical complaint talked about how difficult it is to clean this model, and we agree; it just doesn’t make sense to buy a humidifier you can’t clean. The capacity is small, and the output is slow, so there’s no reason to buy this model.

Crane – Drop

The Crane – Drop is very similar to Crane’s Adorables model, but for whatever reason, it didn’t disperse moisture as quickly when set to full speed.

The tank here isn’t much different than the Adorables tank. It’s still impossible to scrub out, and it still can’t rest on a flat surface while you’re filling it.

The one concern that pushed this model to the bottom of our ranking is that the tank has a semi-opaque finish. If you diligently rinse this machine with clean water every time you use it and with vinegar every week, you might never have a problem with something growing inside the tank. If you do have a problem, though, you might not know until you can smell it in the air.

How we selected

To track down the best humidifiers, we checked in with discussion groups and buyer reviews, looking for real-world results from the driest parts of the continent.

When we found reviews from major publications, they were fairly polarized, with Consumer Reports favoring the inexpensive ultrasonic models and Wirecutter sticking to tried-and-true evaporative humidifiers that use replaceable filters.

Typically we filter our initial product list by customer-review averages to weed out models with reliability or quality-control problems. We look for scores well above four stars, but almost all of the models recommended by other major roundups have Amazon customer ratings below four.

It’s scary when you realize that a product category has worse average scores than the oft-maligned inkjet printers. What makes so many people leave low-score reviews for their humidifiers?

Almost every negative humidifier review brings up an issue with something growing in or around the wet parts of the machine over time, be that mold on a filter or algae inside the tank. In the end, we tried to prioritize models that are the easiest to clean so that maintenance isn’t difficult.

How we tested

For our small humidifier tests, we prepped a 35-square-foot bathroom by running a dehumidifier until our Elitech – GSP-6 humidity meter showed a bone-dry 22-percent relative humidity at a toasty 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

At that point we started our meter and recorded changes in room humidity as the humidifiers ran for 30 minutes.

If you’re just looking to improve the humidity in your bedroom or your baby’s nursery, note that all of the top performers will add moisture to the air at about the same rate, and even the worst-performing models can get a dry room above 40 percent in less than half an hour.

For larger machines, we were most concerned about their ability to hold humidity stable in a 400-square-foot space by using a “humidistat” sensor that turns on the machine when the room gets dry.

This case is a little more tricky, since we were testing in a large room not sealed off from the rest of the house. The Honeywell is the only evaporative humidifier in this group, and its big fan distributed moisture in the dry room much more quickly than the ultrasonic models.

We put our sensor at one end of the room and a dehumidifier at the other, with the tested humidifier adding moisture in the middle.

The Honeywell was also the only machine to overshoot the relative humidity target by more than five percent, while the others were very accurate.

We tracked how close these machines could hold a room’s humidity to the target, running a dehumidifier for two minutes every 30 minutes to offset any differences in ambient humidity or temperature.

After two hours of tracking the humidity in the room, we found that they were all fairly good at maintaining the set humidity, though none were especially good at displaying an accurate number for us to see. It seems that the calibration for the on/off points is separate from the numbers shown on the display.

The big surprise was that the Honeywell’s display was only accurate when it was running. When the fan was adding humidity to the air, the display reading was typically within two percentage points of our hand-held tester. Once the fan stopped, though, the display quickly counted up to about 10 percent above what our testing meter showed.

The ultrasonic humidifiers with humidistats did very well for accuracy; the displayed humidity was always off, but our testing monitor showed that they successfully maintained the average humidity of the room at the target level even better than the Honeywell did.

Ease of cleaning

This wound up being the most conclusive test we ran. You probably won’t notice the difference between keeping a room at 40 percent and 45 percent relative humidity, but you will definitely notice a tank you can’t clean. (Especially if you’re unfortunate enough to find mold or algae growing in it.)

We filled, emptied, and tried to scrub the inside of each tank a few times over our five weeks of testing. The biggest difference is one that’s almost impossible to see in advertising for a humidifier, but readily apparent when you’re filling them: Some of these tanks have tiny fill openings that you can’t even get a bottle brush into.

Fortunately, there are a few standout winners in this category. Honeywell and Vicks (both owned by Kaz USA) seem to know well that consumers want to be able to clean their humidifiers. Except for the Vicks – V700, each of the models from this company offers an opening big enough to get your hand through.

The other standout winner in this test was the Levoit, though it’s also the most expensive.

The hardest models to clean, without question, had pointy-shaped tops. Pure Enrichment and Crane don’t give you a very large opening to begin with, but even if you could fit a bottle brush inside, it would be impossible to effectively scrub all the corners.

Two types of humidifiers

Evaporative

Evaporative humidifiers use a large sponge-like filter to “wick” water out of the reservoir and allow air to pass through, meaning that there’s also a fairly big fan in all of these models that makes some noise. The vapor is invisible rather than the billowing cloud you get with an ultrasonic type, but it’s still a cool mist rather than steam.

The biggest benefit to this kind of humidifier is that because air has a limited capacity for holding moisture, evaporation works quickly when your air is dry, but a machine like this can’t easily oversaturate air that’s already humid.

The downside is that the filter will collect all the minerals in your tap water and eventually become crusty, if not brown. Plan on replacing a filter every 30-60 days if you’re using your humidifier daily.

If you leave the machine turned off for a week when there’s still water in it, non-mineral things will probably be growing in that filter, too. You should always let the filter dry and put the machine away if you’re not using it.

Ultrasonic

Also called “nebulizers,” these humidifiers use tiny vibration pulses to force water into a safe, cool mist that looks like steam. Next, a tiny fan pushes the vapor out into your room. These machines are nearly silent, and we could watch the mist rising, settling and swirling around for hours.

The downside for an ultrasonic humidifier is that it makes the same amount of vapor no matter how damp your air is already, which means if the air is already saturated you’ll start to see a puddle under the machine.

The vapor also contains the same stuff that’s in your water — mineral or otherwise — which means hard water spots on your mirrors or potentially bigger problems if your water has other stuff in it. If you don’t trust your tap water, then using distilled water is definitely a good idea. Some manufacturers, however, sell filters to collect minerals before they’re “uploaded to the cloud.”

The worst problems with ultrasonic humidifiers come from letting the tank get dirty. Rinsing the tank out every week with vinegar will make a big difference. But if you can’t get in there with a sponge or scrubber, it doesn’t take much algae growth to ruin a machine.

The dilemma

Using distilled water and cleaning diligently will solve any concerns for ultrasonic models. If you’re buying distilled water at 90 cents per gallon and using the humidifier constantly, the $12 filters (which should last at least a month) in an evaporative type will probably be a better value proposition in the long run.

Really, it’s a preference decision you have to make: Would you rather stock up on water or filters every season?

Buying a humidifier for babies

Beyond improving comfort in extra-dry climates, the main reason people pick up a humidifier is for croup or other painful coughs, especially in infants and small children.

Studies haven’t clearly demonstrated improved outcomes in settings like emergency rooms, but many pediatricians recommend humidifiers for home treatment of symptoms. Whether it’s actually changing recovery time or not, most people feel more comfortable with moist air when they have a sore throat.

Warm mist hasn’t been shown to do anything different than cool mist for symptoms, so the once-popular steam machines have mostly disappeared since there are burn and fire risks with a heating element and hot steam around. If you really like the feel of heated mist, our upgrade pick does include this as an optional mode, but be careful not to expose infants to the heated mist directly.

The main thing to note if you’re buying a humidifier for your health is to be aware of potential risks from a neglected machine. The consumer product safety council has even issued a strongly worded advisory about keeping your humidifier clean.

Although it’s recommended using a disinfectant like vinegar to clean your humidifier, you should always rinse it thoroughly with water. Never add anything you don’t want to breathe into your humidifier water: Disinfectants designed to be added during use were once popular in South Korea, but widespread reports of lung problems led to a ban in 2011.

One case study of an infant developing lung problems after prolonged use of an ultrasonic-type humidifier with mineral-heavy water is especially sobering. Using distilled water and thoroughly cleaning your humidifier tank will help eliminate risks, and that’s why we reward easy cleaning so much in our rankings.

Important features to consider

A humidistat: If you want to set-and-forget a humidifier, this is an essential feature. Just like a thermostat that turns on heat or AC when the temperature changes, a humidistat turns on a humidifier when the room gets dry.

Tank size: A bigger tank means less frequent filling if you’re running a humidifier all the time, but it will also make the unit heavier and trickier to find a place for. If you’re only buying a humidifier for temporary use, a smaller model might be the way to go.

Rate controls: If you don’t have a humidistat to automatically turn the humidifier on and off, a way to turn down the mist when the air outside is extra cold will help keep condensation off your windows.

Easy-cleaning water tank: The worst problems reported by humidifier users are cases of things growing in the tank. Rinsing occasionally with vinegar usually keeps things sanitary, but it’s much easier to clean a tank if you can fit your hand inside the filler hole.

Nightlights: A few of these humidifiers feature a separate control for turning on a light under the tank. Fortunately, you can also use them without a light if that’s just going to keep you up at night.

Oil diffusion: While none of these humidifiers can disperse essential oils the way a dedicated diffuser can, some models allow you to add drops of essential oils to a separate pad, where they evaporate and blend in with the humidifier mist.

The bottom line

Our top pick overall is for people who need a device that will maintain the humidity in a large space over an entire season. The Honeywell – HEV620 uses a high-performance evaporative system, and the large easy-filling reservoir means you’ll spend less time keeping it going.

This machine is by far the easiest to clean, and the filter is easy to monitor and replace if it gets clogged by minerals from your water. Best of all, you won’t have to worry about white dust on your picture frames or puddles of condensation on your nightstand.

Top Pick: Honeywell - HEV620

The biggest and best machine we tested, the humidistat and large reservoir mean you’ll spend less time babysitting your humidifier. Just remember to flip the filter occasionally to keep it going longer.

See Price at Amazon.com

If you’re looking for luxury features like heated mist and essential-oil diffusion in a design that’s easy on the eyes, Levoit has the goods. The LV600HH has a great humidistat, good capacity, and a tank you can really clean. The only downside is the white dust left behind if you’re in a hard water area, but distilled water is a good fix.

If you’re not looking to invest in an appliance with computerized control, the Vicks – VUL520 is a great humidifier that you can keep in a cupboard most of the year without worries. Most will want to use distilled water to avoid white dust, but there’s no filter to replace.

Small Room Pick: Vicks - VUL520

A good price for a compact humidifier that will help you deal with the toughest days.

See Price at Amazon.com

The post The 9 Best Humidifiers appeared first on Your Best Digs.

Table of contents

• The 7 baby monitors we tested
• Best video monitor: Infant Optics – DXR-8
• Best budget video: Hello Baby – HB24
• Best audio-only: VTech – DM221
• Other products we tested
• How we selected
• How we tested
• Who needs a baby monitor?
• Important features to consider
• Is a Wi-Fi baby monitor safe?
• The bottom line

How we selected finalists to test

As always, we looked around at other reviews and guides to see what features are must-haves and what’s just fluff. The Wirecutter prioritizes image quality and battery life, while reviews.com focuses on ease of use; The Bump is all-in on premium features like sleep quality tracking.

We considered unorthodox ideas like using a GoPro or an old smartphone as a baby monitor, but the success of those ideas really depends on what equipment you already have; we wanted to get a clear recommendation that will work for everyone.

We didn’t test any wearable vital-sign monitors, either; we’re not judging you if you feel that you need to constantly monitor your infant’s blood oxygen level while they sleep, but many physicians note that it’s not going to help with SIDS risks.

We narrowed our list down to video monitors for less than $200 with good reputations and essential features. On the higher end of that price bracket we looked for nice screens and motorized camera movements. On the budget end, the screens are smaller and you don’t get fancy controls, but we found models with all the essential features and more.

Some features, like noise alerts or thermometers, weren’t available on a few models, but all the video monitors we tested can link up with extra cameras and they’re all great at seeing in the dark.

We also bought one Wi-Fi based camera to test the state of internet-transmitted video monitoring, and we talked in-depth with a fellow parent who’s also a security expert to see what extra risks come along with a “smart” camera.

We included two audio-only baby monitors, since we know some parents just don’t want to put a camera in the nursery. (You’ll also save some money if you skip the camera.)

Compare the best baby monitors

Who needs a baby monitor?

Nap time is the reason we own baby monitors. By the time your little bundle of joy is sawing logs mid-afternoon, you’re usually more than ready to take a break and do something other than sit quietly in the corner. A baby monitor lets you close the door (so you can make some noise) without worrying that you’ve abdicated responsibility. We love our babies, but it’s great to be able to love them from the comfort of a downstairs sofa while they’re asleep in their cribs.

Fear of “what might happen” is also a big driver of baby monitor sales: the original “Radio Nurse” was created by designer Isamu Noguchi for the Zenith Radio Corp. after parental paranoia peaked in response to the Lindbergh baby abduction of 1932.

Some worry that a monitor might make you more neurotic about nap time rather than help you relax. If you can hear or see anything that happens behind a closed door, though, you’re less likely to interrupt a nap when checking on your baby, and that’s good for everyone. A baby monitor works great in tandem with a white noise machine to keep your baby from being disturbed without making it hard for you to know if something happens in the room.

Two of our testers for this comparison are dads working from home, and they’re not alone: 3.9 million employees are now telecommuting at least half of their work hours, which amounts to almost three percent of the U.S. workforce. (And that doesn’t even include freelancers.) A video monitor doesn’t mean you can double up and watch your baby while you’re on a call or working at your computer, but if you’re tag-teaming with another caregiver a video monitor can make life much easier.

Important features to consider

Video monitoring: Not everyone wants a video camera in their nursery, but being able to see as well as hear what’s going on can be helpful.

Motorized camera adjustments: The more expensive video monitors will allow you to aim the camera with your remote, which is helpful if the camera needs to be in an awkward position or if you’re monitoring a “baby” who’s big enough to get up and run around the room.

Range: Manufacturers often list straight-line, no-interference transmission range, but in the real world of concrete walls and wireless interference those numbers probably don’t tell you much. We found that the stronger signals were more stable through walls (from a detached garage, for example), but all of these monitors are usable in a two-story townhouse.

Battery life: Like range, the number you see on the box might not match your actual experience. The good news: these monitors all have enough battery life to cover even the longest naps. We tested each monitor under the same conditions to make sure you have a fair impression of their relative longevity.

Display size: With a video monitor, there’s a big difference between watching a blurry lump and being able to clearly see your baby.

Temperature monitor: If you’re in a different room you may want to keep an eye on room temperature, especially if you live in a place like California where you’re not using a thermostat all the time to maintain room temperature. None of the thermometers we tested had better accuracy than three degrees Fahrenheit, but it might add to your peace of mind.

Wake on noise: Most of these monitors will wake up from screen-off “sleep” when there’s a sound above a set threshold. (The LeFun WiFi camera is motion activated instead, and our top pick does not have this feature.)

Is a Wi-Fi baby monitor safe?

We talked to a friend and fellow parent, Robert (aka p0pr0ck5), who is a security researcher based in L.A. Being a security guy, he’s innately suspicious of the “Internet of Things” and all the unforeseen problems that come with it.

Now that most of us use Wi-Fi everywhere in our houses for everything from looking at cat pictures to streaming music, Wi-Fi transmission is practically free. Using Wi-Fi also means that you can see your monitor feed from work or your phone — even while you’re traveling. The internet is really the only way to get that kind of amazing flexibility.

Robert says this cheap-and-flexible approach creates the biggest risk. “Too often, IoT devices communicate with the internet without any encryption, making it easy to snoop on what your fridge has to say, what your internet-connected lights are talking about or what video stream your security cameras or baby monitor are sending to their provider.”

Even if your device uses encryption, the biggest risk is still security on the camera manufacturer’s side. Robert notes: “I can use a password that no human or computer in the universe could ever guess, but if my account provider isn’t handling my password securely, and they are breached by hackers, my ultra-secure password is worthless.”

Wi-Fi baby monitors rely on two-way communication between your camera and a server, and that means someone else might also be able to exploit mistakes that were made in designing the security protocols that should keep the cameras safe.

The worst examples of vulnerabilities are shockingly bad: “back-door” access to a camera that can overwrite passwords or even install malicious software. We checked the one Wi-Fi model we tested against common vulnerabilities, like an open telnet port or easy-to-guess root password. Our untrained tester couldn’t hack it, but is that enough?

Robert was quick to caution that this is a far cry from thorough investigation of the “full stack”: the website, the applications and the infrastructure being used to get video from your camera to a server and back to your laptop or smartphone.

Robert sums it up like this: “We don’t know the real security risks, because no one with the capacity to properly analyze these things from an unbiased perspective has the resources to do so — and if they do, they most likely don’t have permission.”

“In a culture where new IoT devices constantly flood the market, consumer perception of function, affordability and integration with other IoT solutions is the main goal. Privacy and security simply are not a focus for the average consumer. Often (very often), the financial and timing costs far outweigh the value add [of a full-stack security audit.]”

After our testing, the value of a cheap-and-powerful device like a $40 camera doesn’t really seem to outweigh the risks. (Especially considering all the extra steps setting it up.) For now, our top pick has a local-transmission-only video camera.

How we tested

Video image quality

For the most part, the limiting factor that determines how well you can see your baby with one of these setups is screen quality. The camera sensors in these monitors are pretty good at picking up detail, even in low-light environments. A bigger screen lets you see all of that detail, though it also comes with a bigger price-tag.

In addition to real-world testing in the nursery, we tried to get a more unbiased measurement of picture quality using a 1/4″ grid test pattern. We measured how far away the camera needed to be in order to display the pattern clearly (with zoom turned on, if available). The best results came from the big motorized cameras with correspondingly large screens, while the little screens on more affordable monitors made it difficult to make out tiny details from far away.

All of these systems will work for you if you just want a rough idea of what’s happening in a crib, but it’s definitely nicer to be able to see facial expressions clearly on the big screens.

Night vision, surprisingly, was nearly the same across all of these cameras. Infrared sensitivity of digital camera sensors is very good, and the IR light emitters on the cameras do a good job of showing what’s a baby and what’s not in the dark. There was a much bigger difference in things like auto-white-balance adjustment, which is nice when it works, but is not as essential to your peace of mind.

Audio quality

Audio quality on baby monitors is pretty terrible, but that’s partly because the conditions are worst-case-possible: the microphone is relatively far away from what you’re trying to hear, and you can’t really filter or prioritize frequencies like telephones do.

Parents want to hear everything, but the most important sounds for a baby monitor to transmit (crying, crashes) are pretty easy to recognize even through a tiny and muffled speaker. If you want to calm your baby with the soothing sound of your voice while they’re waiting for you to come to the nursery, though, you might be disappointed.

The real stand-out in our audio tests was Samsung, but instead of being ahead of the pack as they were in the video tests, the audio components disappointed. Voices sound muffled on both ends, and the receiver is just hard to hear if there’s any noise around.

Typically, even poor sound quality is sufficient to hear your baby cry, so this isn’t a disqualification, but Samsung’s system would have ranked higher if they paid as much attention to audio quality as they did to video.

Range and clarity

Unless you’re using your baby monitor while camping on the open plains, range is going to be measured in frustration rather than distance. Range on digital wireless devices is basically an all-or-nothing scenario. If you can see the video feed, it’s crisp and clear; once you go beyond the range of the transmitter, the video starts to go blank and you’ll soon get a “no signal” or “out of range” warning.

We found that most of these monitors gave good connection quality in a small townhouse. The Levana shows its limits quickly, though: the feed dropped out frequently when we turned on the other cameras, and while it still picked up video from across the street with no buildings in between, it was by no means a reliable connection at the range limits.

The other three monitors were bulletproof in the house, but only the Samsung gave stutter-free connectivity out in the detached garage.

Battery life

For each video monitor, we charged the battery fully and turned off any screen timers to use as much power as possible, then waited for the batteries to run down.

If you need more than a few hours of screen time you should be able to hook up the charger, so even the 4-hour battery life on Samsung’s receiver is sufficient for real-world use. That said, the extra two hours provided by our top picks does make a difference if you forget to charge from one day to the next and want to sit on your patio during nap time.

Best Battery Life: VTech - DM211

If you need freedom from power cords, this audio-only baby monitor will run for almost 18 hours. In addition to that extended battery life, the VTech shines through with top-notch audio quality even at long range.

See Price at Amazon.com

If you need to move around the house and can’t keep your monitor on a charger all the time, the Levana system will run for 13 hours with the screen on. That’s so far beyond ordinary needs that it didn’t really offset the video quality and range issues when we were ranking our picks.

Temperature sensor

For the units that have a thermometer, we compared the temperature to a stand-alone thermometer in the same location to see how accurate they are. The biggest error we saw was seven degrees Fahrenheit, which is not insignificant, but for an $80 camera it wasn’t totally surprising.

The high/low temperature warning is a handy feature that could tell you about something like broken A/C or heater systems, but don’t rely on it for anything critical. The HelloBaby was the only monitor that let us set custom high/low temperature thresholds.

Best video monitor: Infant Optics – DXR-8

The DXR-8 from Infant Optics is one of the most popular cameras on the market, with glowing reviews from many parenting sites. We like this camera too, and it’s our top pick for a good match of image quality, battery life and ease of use.

The screen isn’t quite as big as the Samsung touchscreen, but it’s almost as clear. The smaller 3.5″ screen also means you get more battery life than Samsung’s 5″ offering.

The camera also gives you a bit more flexibility with a screw-mount optical zoom adapter. If you’re just watching a cradle during naptime, the zoom shows more detail. In a few years when you’re monitoring a toddler, then you can take off that zoom lens and get a wider view so you won’t need to pan and scan as much to follow the action.

The range and quality of the image from this camera wasn’t quite as good as the Samsung setup, but we did like the audio from the Infant Optics hardware more than Samsung’s. The connection worked wherever we tried it in the house, and it was reliable all the way out to a detached garage.

Best Overall: Infant Optics - DXR-8

The DXR-8 gets you all the key features in an easy-to-use package. Great image quality and motorized camera control make this much better than all the cheap models, but without sacrificing battery life or resorting to touch-screen controls.

See Price at Amazon.com

The game-pad-style controls were also easier to use than a touch screen, though remembering shortcuts for volume and zoom settings wasn’t as easy as it might have been with dedicated buttons for those functions.

If the only advantage offered by this model were a bigger screen, or pan/tilt control, or the zoom lens accessory or the better transmission range, then we might not have picked this camera as best overall. The fact that it’s better than the $80 cameras in all of these categories is not a small advantage, though. You’re not paying $100 more for any one feature, but for a better-quality package. That’s the kind of difference we like to see in a winning product.

The one surprising omission from this system is a wake-on-sound feature. There’s a feeding timer that can wake you every four or six hours, and an option to make the system warnings (low battery, lost connection) quieter, but no auto-wake. The screen can automatically turn off (to save the battery) after three or five minutes while the sound is still on for you to listen for anything happening, but you’re relying on the sound of your baby to get your attention.

This is a surprising omission, considering audio-only baby monitors have been doing vibrating/beeping notification of a crying baby for a long time now. If having the screen come on to notify you of a loud sound is a big deal, then the Hello Baby – HB24 (or the audio-only VTech – DM221 with vibrating notification) is probably a better pick.

Key takeaways:

• The Infant Optics – DXR-8 is a versatile package with all the essential features, plus a zoom lens add-on that nobody else has.
• The image quality here isn’t quite as good as Samsung’s, but the controls and battery life are far better.
• This is a solid setup, with good range and good sound quality sealing the deal.
• The only feature that’s missing in sound-activated notifications so you can listen to Netflix without being worried you’ll miss any crying.

Best budget video: Hello Baby – HB24

Compared to the 5″ screens and motorized cameras on top-ranked models, Hello Baby’s HB24 definitely made some compromises to get their price down to around $70. The essential functions, though, are all handled well.

The camera itself is compact and looks a little bit wobbly; we were surprised at how well it worked in testing, though. It seems clear that the limitations on resolution come from the small screen, and the low-light performance is great.

Hello Baby designed the most pocketable “parent unit” monitor/receiver of any that we tried. There’s no belt clip, but the fold-out kickstand works very well.

The tiny 2.4″ screen is bright enough and clear enough to see what’s happening in a crib or watch a toddler playing in the next room, and the digital zoom lets you see a little bit more detail if you need to. Camera placement is definitely the key to making this system work well, but if you have reasonable expectations this system will give you what you need.

Budget Video: Hello Baby - HB24

The Hello Baby is a good little camera for half the price of our top pick. It's a simple and compact video monitor that doesn’t have motorized pan-and-scan or a hi-def screen, but it will do the job without breaking the bank.

See Price at Amazon.com

There’s a thermometer, eight lullabies, adjustable sensitivity for the sound-activated mode and even a timer that will beep to remind you about your feeding schedule if you don’t already have a plan for that.

Hello Baby’s audio quality is pretty good. There’s not much we can say about baby monitor sound quality except that your expectations should be low. The HB24 is better for both listening and talking back to your baby than Samsung, but that’s really not saying much.

In our transmission range test this model also sits right in the middle: it’s nothing amazing, but for monitoring a room on the other side of your house it should be sufficient. When we took the monitor out to the detached garage there were some spots where the signal didn’t come through, but we always found a spot where it worked.

Key takeaways:

• The Hello Baby – HB24 is a solid performer on a budget. All the features are present and accounted for.
• The small screen makes this easy to carry without being too small to be useful.
• Battery life, transmission range and sound quality are all comparable with our top pick.
• It includes a sound-activated mode that turns on the screen when your baby cries, which can help if you’re worried you might miss something but don’t want to sit hunched over a baby monitor waiting for something to happen.

Best audio-only: VTech – DM221

Some parents don’t want video cameras in their nurseries, and we understand. There’s a good argument for a cheap, reliable audio monitor, and the VTech – DM221 is a great example.

Audio quality in a baby monitor is not hi-fi, but this model lets you hear what’s going on just a bit better than the video camera systems. The big feature VTech brings to the table is that you can mute the speaker and let the parent unit notify you of loud sounds with “silent” vibration. You can set a “beep” notification, too, if you’re worried about falling asleep and missing notification from the baby monitor.

Audio-Only Pick: VTech - DM221

With silent notification features and amazing battery life, the VTech-DM221 is a great monitor if you don't need video. An audio-only monitor will still give you a way to check on your baby’s status, and the vibrate and beep notifications on this model are far more advanced than on any video monitors we tested.

See Price at Amazon.com

The battery life on this receiver is, at almost 18 hours, pretty astounding. The battery pack itself is nothing special; almost certainly it’s made from a pair of AAA-size NiMH battery cells and the connector plug in a plastic wrapper.

It did start beeping an occasional “low battery” warning after only six hours (less than halfway through the battery’s capacity) to remind you to top it up, but if you’re in a pinch it’s got a lot of reserve battery.

Since most people will be able to plug in at some point before elapsing six hours of baby monitoring, this should be more help than hinderance. Sadly, this means that even though it could comfortably run all night on the battery, you’ll definitely want to plug this one in before you fall asleep lest the battery warning wake you up. The occasional “beep beep” isn’t as loud as the notification that your baby’s crying, but it’s not something you want going off at 2:00 a.m..

Key takeaways:

• The VTech – DM221 is a fully-evolved audio monitor. If you don’t want video, you don’t have to give up any of the useful monitoring features.
• Range and battery life are top notch, and audio quality is as good as any baby monitor we’ve heard.
• The low battery warning kicks in early, which is a bit annoying, but it’s usually not hard to have your monitor plugged in most of the day anyhow.
• This is the only monitor we tested (other than smartphone apps) that gives a vibrating notification when there’s a loud sound, which can be a great feature if you’re watching a movie or talking on the phone during naptime.

Other finalists we tested

For the networking guru only: LeFun – Fi368

We are tempted to recommend the LeFun Fi368 camera to more people, but there’s basically one thing stopping us: Wi-Fi itself.

As Wi-Fi-connected cameras go, this one is pretty solid. It has at least rudimentary firewall protocols built in, so it won’t just give itself over to you with easy-to-guess passwords like some other common cameras do. There are still risks, but that’s true of all Wi-Fi home devices.

Setup is more work than for the non-Wi-Fi cameras, since you can’t tell the camera your Wi-Fi password directly. Instead, your phone will tell the camera your password with audio or a QR code generated by the control app. This setup process requires patient obedience of strange directions, and it is more than a bit creepy when your mobile phone suddenly starts loudly chirping/screeching and the camera gives a happy “bloop” in response.

If you’re fortunate enough to have ethernet cable run to a good spot for a baby monitor camera, then you can avoid that whole setup process and skip straight to setting up an account. Sadly, the camera does not take power-over-ethernet, but it will run off a USB port with the included adapter cable.

Once you’re networked and you’ve set up an account on MIPC.com, things are both great and scary. The web page is kind of slow and hasn’t been updated since NPAPI plugins were made illegal; there’s also no obvious “password reset” function and nothing that makes clear exactly what a “guest” account can or cannot do. It wasn’t clear what plugin it’s using to run video, but it worked on the Chrome browser we tested with.

We tested both the Android and Windows programs for controlling the camera, and they worked quite well, much better than the website. The apps will do everything a baby monitor should with your phone or computer: detect sound or motion and notify you, let you listen or talk back and let you control the camera pan/tilt motors.

If you’re planning to use this in a working-from-home scenario for nap monitoring, that’s pretty great. If you’ve got a spare tablet device around, it’s even better. If you’re expecting to run this from a public terminal or a restricted-access work computer, you might be out of luck.

As far as stories of randomly logging into other people’s nurseries or pranksters playing death metal in the middle of the night … it’s as unlikely you’ll be the victim of cyber pranks as it is that someone will throw a brick through your nursery window, but it’s still something you have no control over. This camera is more secure than a Chromecast (you need the serial number off the camera to even start connecting, you can’t just walk into range and see the camera pop up on your phone), but that’s not a high bar to clear.

If you’re confident in the security of your home network then this might be a great choice, but for some people the unknowns will be too many and the benefits too few.

The even uglier side of this is that while Wi-Fi works most of the time and enables amazing freedom in our use of the internet, it’s not always reliable for some of us. The thought of one more device to troubleshoot, whitelist or reboot is enough to assure us that the extra $40-$130 for a camera with a dedicated monitor is going to be justifiable for many of the people who just need a baby monitor.

Samsung SEW3043

There were some great things about the Samsung SEW3043 video monitor, but on the whole, we just don’t recommend it. Since we tested Samsung has started including a second camera in this package, though the price has also gone up so it’s still a terrible value.
Update: After we tested our original lineup in 2018, Samsung has stopped making baby monitors altogether.

The range you can use this monitor at is great, and it was the most immune to interference or drop-outs. The screen is also the biggest, which makes it easy to see what’s going on in night vision mode. Combined with full pan/tilt control, this is a solid video setup on paper.

The performance perks come at a price, it seems: even with a giant lithium-ion battery pack, this monitor died after just four and a half hours of screen-on time. Battery life is sufficient in standby mode (where the screen only turns on for noise/motion) or if you leave it plugged in, but it’s disappointing compared to the life of the other monitors we tested.

Some little conveniences and features look good on paper, but turn out to be detrimental in actual use. For example: this monitor features a belt/pocket clip, but Samsung made it part of the snap-on battery cover. If you actually try to use the clip you’ll hear the monitor clattering to the floor after the whole battery cover pops off under the weight.

The touchscreen controls are also disappointing. It looks nice, and in 2018 maybe a new generation of parents find the icon-based on-screen menu more intuitive than our testers, but we mostly preferred the direction-pad-and-buttons interfaces on the Infant Optics parent unit.

VTech – DM111

The VTech – DM111 is very much like the DM221, our audio-only pick, but stripped of every extraneous feature and $15 cheaper. VTech probably uses the same microphone in the nursery unit and the same speaker in the parent belt pack, but that’s all the DM111 really is. No two-way communication, no rechargeable battery, no vibrate alarm when your baby cries while you’re wearing headphones.

The DM111 doesn’t include any batteries, though it’ll run without them with the included wall adapter. It accepts standard love-them-or-hate-them AAA cells; we used high-capacity rechargeable batteries for testing, and they ran for almost 14 hours. The receiver won’t recharge batteries when plugged in like the 221 will, so we think this is really only a sensible buy if you’re not planning to run it on batteries at all and you don’t want to have to think about the extra features of that model.

Levana – Jena

We nearly went with the Levana – Jena for our budget video option, since it has a few very strong design points. In the end, we eliminated it because it was the most susceptible to interference: when other monitors or cameras were turned on in the same room, the receiver would lose connection to its camera even on the other side of a wall or floor.

The range was good with line-of-sight or only one or two walls between camera and monitor, but at nearly the same price the Hello Baby system was more reliable and has better video quality. The Jena’s button layout also isn’t as intuitive as Hello Baby’s.

The Jena was very impressive in one test: for battery life, it bested all but the audio-only systems. Levana managed to get 13 hours of screen-on-time out of its 1800 mAh battery pack, and it comes with an easy-to-use charging dock, too. The Jena also has a belt clip that works, unlike Samsung’s silly clip that seems designed as a prank.

The bottom line

Baby monitors are tricky to test and recommend, since every parent will rely on a monitor in a slightly different way. Video monitors are becoming popular, though, and for obvious reasons: being able to see your baby is a big deal if you’re in the next room and you hear a sound.

The Infant Optics – DXR-8 Video Baby Monitor has a great camera and a good remote monitor to give you control of the essential features. This isn’t a cheap monitor, and there are some features we’re surprised it doesn’t have, but the design is much better than the closest competition.

For those who can’t shell out more than $100 for a system, two choices really stand out: the Hello Baby – HB24 doesn’t have the video quality of a top-dollar system, but it works well and has all the features you’d expect to see.

For audio-only monitoring with features like vibrating notification and two-way talkback, VTech has nearly perfected the baby monitor in the DM221.

Top Pick: Infant Optics - DXR-8

This is a great monitor with a motorized camera that’s actually easy to control. The battery life is good, and it has the features you need. The fact that you can switch between a zoom and wide-angle view with an included lens adapter makes it the most flexible system, too.

See Price at Amazon.com

The post The Best Baby Monitors appeared first on Your Best Digs.

Table of contents

• How we selected finalists to test
• Types of sippy cups and other transition cups
• Compare the best sippy cups
• When and how to use sippy cups
• Important features to consider
• How we tested
• The best overall: Nuk – Magic 360
• Most leak-proof: Tommee Tippee – Sippee Cup
• Best for smoothies: The First Years – Take & Toss
• Other finalists we tested
• The bottom line

How we selected finalists to test

Due to the high volume of sippy cup product offerings available, we started by creating a list of the top-rated sippy cups offered across Amazon, Target, Walmart and specialty baby stores.

We polled our friends and a private parenting group online to see what other parents were looking for, what they loved about their cups and especially to find out what they hated.

We then narrowed down the list by looking at the highest number of online reviews and ratings above 4-stars for each retailer and cross-referenced our list with Reddit at /r/beyondthebump, review site BabyGearLab and parenting websites Mom Loves Best and Lucie’s List.

Types of sippy cups and other transition cups

Soft-spout sippy cups: Soft spouts are designed to be gentle on gums while teaching a baby to drink from a spout. They’re sometimes called “trainer cups” or “transition cups,” though those labels are also applied to all the other types. Often a soft spout is designed with air vents to help reduce swallowing air, and it allows much more water to flow through than a bottle nipple does. These are designed to be easy for a baby to grip and sip, though we wouldn’t blame you if you said they’re an awful lot like fancy fast-flowing baby bottles with handles.

Spouted sippy cups: This is what most of us think of when we hear “sippy cup.” The spout means a child can control the flow pretty easily and won’t dump a whole cup of milk on his head without at least giving you a fighting chance. The spill-proof versions of these cups will save you from mopping the floor thrice daily, but the inside of the spout and silicone seal are a pain to get clean. Recently, studies have raised concerns about tongue-muscle development, tooth position and speech pattern problems in kids who use spouts for too long.

360° / spoutless cups: This is a relatively new invention, and the list of improvements is impressive: your kid still controls the flow by sucking and the lid stops leaks, but in most other ways it’s just like a regular cup. This style of cup is getting a lot of attention after the freak-out about spouts. Recommended for children 12 months plus, though the learning curve isn’t as bad as we feared.

Straw sippy cups: This is the other way to deal with the concern raised about spout-style sippy cups: the straw doesn’t interfere with tongue position as much, and it forces better posture (since you have to hold the cup right-side-up for the straw to work). They’re also easier to clean than spouts, so long as you have a way to scrub out the inside of the straw.

Compare the best sippy cups

When and how to use sippy cups

There are two reasons commonly given for transitioning away from a bottle and getting your child to use a “grown-up” cup: First, dentists warn that sucking from a bottle for a long time means sugar (even in milk) pools around the developing teeth and can lead to early tooth decay. Second, if your kid gets formula or milk in a bottle during the day, he may not want to eat solid food at mealtimes.

Most dentists recommend training your toddler to lift and drink from a regular (non-breakable) open-top cup as soon as you can. Sippy cups (or “transitions cups”) are a way to get you closer to that goal, even if you’re not actually solving all the problems right away.

We’ve seen first-hand the result of letting a child use a sippy cup like a bottle. The soothing effect is cute, and it can seem like a lifeline during weaning, but it’s hard to break the habit and it leads to extra diaper changes. Establishing a routine for when drinks are allowed can cut back on changing time and will also help avoid the developmental concerns that are getting more and more research attention.

Important features to consider

Leak-proof: If it were easy to teach kids to drink out of open-top glasses, we wouldn’t need sippy cups. Great cups go beyond just slowing down the river of milk coming off the table, though: Leak-proof means you can stow a water cup in a diaper-bag pocket or even inside your tote bag without getting everything soaked.

Easy to clean: The #1 concern among moms we talked to was mold. Any corners or crannies that trap solids and aren’t easily scrubbed will make mold growth possible, even if you’re just filling a cup with water. All those cleaning problems get much worse if you forget about a cup with milk in it for an afternoon.

Orthodontic and developmental risks: The concerns about oral health and sippy cups are partly about sugar and tooth decay, but a hard nozzle may lead to crooked teeth or speech development problems the same way thumb-sucking does. Straws and spoutless cups are designed to avoid those risks.

Beverage suitability: Insulated bottles mean you can carry milk in your diaper bag for an afternoon without worrying about it going bad. If you’re giving your tot smoothies for breakfast, on the other hand, a straw-cup will probably be a better investment (but watch out for tiny straws that you can’t actually drink a smoothie through!).

How we tested

Ease of use test

We tested ease of use with our volunteer toddlers, paying attention to how easy the cups are to grip, the way they handled the weight of the cups, how much effort was required to sip through the spouts or straws, and noted any reactions to specific cups.

All the spout-style sippy cups we tested scored a rating of 5 for ease of use except for the “eco-friendly” sippy cups from Klean Kanteen, Pura and Lifefactory. One two-year-old volunteer stated each was “heaby” (heavy) and handed them back one after the other, though eventually she warmed up to the Lifefactory glass sippy. Each sippy cup was approximately 50-percent full during the testing period.

When you first see the “360° spout” cups, you’ll probably be as baffled as we were about how they work. The spill-proof silicone lid inserts mean you can’t just tip the cup back and pour water into your mouth. It took us a few minutes to realize you hold these just like a regular cup, but seal around the lid with your lips and suck like you would from a wide, flat spout. Surprisingly, our toddlers figured it out almost as quickly as we did!

Rating ease-of-use for straw cups is tricky, since kids will probably have no trouble at all with straws unless you switch back and forth between straws and spouts. As soon as you teach one way to drink out of a cup, that’s what will be expected from the next cup you hand them. Our kids became adept at switching back and forth by the end of the test period, but we felt sorry for them trying to drink from the Philips – Avent for the first few times, since it looks and feels so much like a spout-type cup.

Leak test

We rated the sippy cups from a score range of 1-5 (1 being the leakiest) in the following tests: inversion (being held upside down), shaking while upside down and dropping on a hard floor from a height of about 22 inches.

The Nuk Blue Turtle and Jungle Animals cups scored high in early testing, but by the end of five months the ends of the soft silicone spouts had split enough that they now drip steadily when held upside down.

Spout-style sippy cups scored highest overall in these tests, since they use small, tightly closed silicone seals in the tips of their spouts. Sadly, that’s also the reason they’re so hard to clean.

The 360 “spoutless” cups are our favorite for spill-prevention, though they only score a 4 due to some noticeable water spatter when dropped on a hard surface, and they shed a few more drops than the sealed spout cups if shaken upside down.

For a water cup, these are all pretty great; we didn’t feel bad about letting our kids walk around the house or climb into bed with any of them so long as water dribbles were the worst result. For packing in a bag, though, we really like the flat-top shape of the 360 cups best, since any pressure on the top of the cup will just seal it better.

Hand-washing tests

We scored easy cleaning on a number of factors that will probably be easily understood by anyone transitioning from baby bottles: how many parts are there, can I fit a cloth/sponge inside to wipe it down, do I need special tools to clean all the parts, and are there any parts that simply can’t be cleaned without an army of microscopic janitors? We scored each cup on a scale of five.

Our test dad has been searching far and wide to find a brush that would fit all the way into the corners of his daughter’s Minnie-Mouse-cup spout, but it hasn’t appeared. The tiny corner-spaces trap solids and grow mold even in a cup that’s used exclusively for water, so he was ecstatic to see that in the Nuk – Magic 360, even the tiny flow-channels are designed so you can get a scrub sponge into them.

All 13 cups we tested are top rack dishwasher safe, and were fairly easy to clean by hand once all the parts were removed. Straws are probably the hardest parts to clean (in some cases even if you have a special cleaning tool or a supply of pipe-cleaners), but we also docked points for tall or narrow-mouth bottles that basically require a bottle brush.

Note: The Gerber – Graduates cup doesn’t technically have many parts to keep track of, but the valve insert is so difficult to get in and out of the lid that we docked an extra point.

Materials and eco-friendly options

One of the things you’re probably thinking about more and more as your child grows is “what’s this made of?” Another daily reality is the pile of stuff your kid has chewed up or broken, ready to be thrown out after one more drop on the floor. We gave each sippy cup a rating from 1-5 based on what they’re made from and how long you can use them before they wind up in a landfill.

While there are no certified organic sippy cups, we did give higher scores to “eco-friendly” bottles made from easily recyclable materials like stainless steel and glass, since they’ll last far longer than any of the plastic cups unless you drive over them with a car.

The glass bottle from Lifefactory has an edge for being the only totally non-reactive sippy cup, but we can’t deny that a stainless bottle is more durable. We’ve looked into the safety of stainless steel before on our travel mug review, and we still think it’s a solid choice (though, like glass, heavy for smaller kids).

The rest of the cups we tested are free from BPA and other phthalates like those used in PVC, since they’re all made from polypropylene, a common plastic that handles heat and cleaning well. Silicone is used in seals and soft spouts, so there’s no worry of allergic reactions to natural rubbers. Sadly, though the polypropylene and silicone are recyclable by specialized plants, we know that the parts are also probably never going to be sorted and shipped to places that will actually do so.

The best overall: Nuk – Magic 360

Nuk’s Magic 360 surprised us in a few ways. We were skeptical about how easy it would be to drink from and how effectively it could replace an old-fashioned sippy cup, but by the end of our testing period we were pretty thoroughly convinced that this is the best cup you can buy.

Nuk licensed the “Wow cup” technology from Wow Gear LLC, and their invention is deceptively simple: a tumbler-shaped cup without spout or straw that doesn’t spill if you turn it upside down. The first time we heard a fellow mom describe the “magic” cup she had found, we were convinced she was delusional. Surely no cup could be that good.

Best Overall: Nuk - Magic 360

You get performance and ease of use with this easy-to-clean cup, and you won’t have to ask yourself about oral development problems that come with a spout. There are other spoutless cups on the market, but this one is the easiest to clean.

See Price at Amazon.com

The secret “trick” to this design is that silicone flap on top. It forms a fairly simple one-way valve, but it’s sealed against a channel-filled lid surface underneath; the combo is just stiff and restrictive enough that you need to suck on the edge to get water flowing through.

After a week of using the Magic 360, one of the two-year-old testers seemed to have better control with a no-lid tumbler. It’s not enough of a transformation that we’re giving her an open glass of OJ to carry around on the carpet, but it does seem like it’s helping the transition.

This design isn’t 100% spill-proof: if some small person whom you know and love throws a Magic 360 across the room, a “magical” spray of liquid will certainly still come out. Even gravity-powered drops from toddler height sometimes leave drips. That said, turning this cup upside down and shaking does not cause a leak.

Transition cups and oral health

The two downsides of a traditional sippy cup are the way the spout sits in the mouth (interfering with the tongue and pushing on developing teeth) and the way it teaches kids to lean their heads back unnaturally. The 360 “spoutless” design deals with both of these problems, and it’s a nearly perfect transition to an open-top cup.

With one of our test-toddlers, we noticed right away that she didn’t use the Magic 360 cup like a bottle when falling asleep — sucking down water for comfort rather than thirst — like she previously has with a spouted sippy cup. She still takes a sip if she’s thirsty, but not out of habit. That means less overnight wetting, and hopefully will help reduce bedwetting when she transitions away from overnight diapers.

Nuk – Magic 360 vs Munchkin – Miracle 360

Nuk has some minor advantages over Munchkin despite the similarities. If you’re standing in front of a rack of sippy cups and you only see Munchkin’s cups, grab one and go before your toddler pulls down the tower of basketballs in the next aisle. If you’ve got a chance to buy the Nuk, though, it’s our pick of the two for milk and our favorite overall.

For one, we like that the Magic 360 is transparent enough that we can almost always tell what kind of liquid is inside, which hopefully reduces the number of times in a week you’ll be cleaning spoiled milk out of something.

When hand-washing, the Nuk cup has channels or grooves between the plastic and flap rather than holes, and you can actually get a scrubber or sponge on all of that surface area. A dishwasher is going to be far quicker, but one test household didn’t have a dishwasher in their apartment and Nuk’s design didn’t leave them with worries about missed grime.

Both cups present a big step up from the nightmare of sticking your nose inside the spout of a silicone-sealed sippy cup and vainly trying to find that last bit of hidden, congealed whatever-it-is. Leak-proof performance is almost identical between the 360 cups.

If branding is going to be the deal-breaker for your kid, Munchkin has versions of their cup with Paw Patrol and Hello Kitty, while Nuk has PJ Masks and TMNT. Each maker also offers a variety of generic-but-friendly designs. If you’re looking for Disney characters specifically, there’s a very comparable cup we didn’t test from The First Years.

Key takeaways:

• The Nuk – Magic 360’s spout-free design means this is easier to clean than a traditional sippy cup and doesn’t have the developmental side effects you’ve heard about.
• This is the best cup for milk, too, since you can easily see what’s inside.
• Leak-proof enough for a bedtime water cup, though there’s a splash if you drop it.
• Easy to take apart and clean with only three parts.

Most leak-proof: Tommee Tippee – Sippee Cup

The Tommee Tippee – Sippee Cup is the most complex cup we tested, but it does exactly what it’s supposed to: It prevents spills using a fantastic hidden silicone valve and a better-than-average spout, but it’s still easy to drink from.

You may have heard about this cup a few years ago in less favorable terms: The old sealed one-piece valve was basically impossible to clean and got a full recall. The new design has more parts to keep track of, but you can clean them all thoroughly by hand or in a dishwasher.

We like that the firm silicone spout of the Sippee has a tube-shaped inner passage rather than being hollow, since this prevents things from getting trapped in impossible-to-reach corners and growing mold or bacteria. Although you need a pipe cleaner or straw scrubber to scrub out the tube, it doesn’t have impossible-to-reach corners like most sippy cup designs.

The real win for this design is that it’s as close to totally spill-proof as we can imagine. The silicone valve actually locks the spout closed until you start sucking on it, at which point the pressure change inside the cup opens a little plunger and your kid can drink freely. In our testing, it also seems less prone to the high-pitched squealing that comes from air leaking into or out of a conventional seal on a leak-proof cup.

Most Leak-Proof: Tommee Tippee - Sippee Cup

This is a cup that just won’t leak. There are some small parts to keep track of, plus all the developmental worries that come with a spout, but it won’t trap mold the way some spouts do.

See Price at Amazon.com

This cup would probably leak in your luggage if it were packed upside down in a checked bag on an airplane, but other than that kind of rapid pressure change we couldn’t find a way to make this cup leak. It’s the only one we’d pack in a camera bag.

For all its strengths, the Sippee cup has tiny parts to disassemble and clean and requires an extra cleaning tool. Also, after our first washing test, we also had some major leakage problems because we didn’t get it back together just right. After a year of practice you’ll probably be able to field-strip the parts and re-assemble blindfolded, but that’s not a challenge most parents are looking for.

This cup also comes with all the developmental worries of spout-style sippy cups. We like the Tommee Tippee design enough to feel happy about recommending, but it’s not as amazing as the Nuk – Magic 360.

Key takeaways:

• The Tommee Tippee – Sippee Cup has a silly name, but it’s the most leak-proof cup we’ve tested.
• This is easy for kids to drink from without compromising thorough cleaning or allowing spills.
• Any concerns you might have about spouts will still apply, but it’s a semi-soft silicone spout.
• Extra parts make for a lot of work to take this cup apart and reassemble it.

Best for smoothies: The First Years – Take & Toss

Because it leaks so readily with water and it’s so disposable, we couldn’t in good conscience recommend the Take & Toss from The First Years as top straw cup for water, let alone best cup overall. However, because it’s the only cup we tested with a large-bore straw (just less than ¼” inside diameter, like a typical beverage straw), this is the only one we recommend for blended smoothies.

We tried berry-yogurt smoothies in the other cups, and they simply wouldn’t go. In the Take & Toss, you might have to blend longer to avoid chunks if you’re working with a straw that’s flattened on one end, but it’ll work fine. Yes, you’ll want pipe-cleaners to scrub out the middle of that straw, but otherwise the cup is easy to wash.

The downside to straws like these, compared to the softer straws on the Philips and NuSpin straw cups we tested, is that they’re hard. That makes them easier to insert in the lid and also easier to wash, but some teething toddlers will almost certainly mash the end flat after a week or two, like ours did. It’s a good thing they’re cheap. There are silicone replacement straws available, though if your kid is anything like ours those might get bitten through even more quickly.

Best for Smoothies: The First Years - Take & Toss Straw Cup

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Straw cups in general are recommended as an alternative to spout-style sippy cups because they don’t force the tongue and teeth into strange positions, and also because they encourage good posture. Unless you buy one of the exotic weighted-straw sippy cups, your toddler can’t hold a straw cup upside down and lean back the way they would with a spout or bottle-nipple, since the straw would then be up in the air.

It was a bit cruel switching our kids back and forth between straw and spout style cups during tests, and you’re really better off sticking with one style of cup if you can. One of our tester households likes the Nuk 360 cup best but uses a straw for smoothies, and for a case like that the Take & Toss is nice to have around.

Key takeaways:

• The Take & Toss Straw Cup isn’t water-tight for bedtime and you certainly couldn’t put it in a diaper bag without puddles, but it’s great for walking around with.
• It’s easier to wash than every other straw cup we looked at.
• The straw is made from thicker material than a standard disposable straw, and will hold up fairly well to biting.
• For smoothies, the straw is just the right size.

Other finalists we tested

Spoutless cups

Munchkin – Miracle 360 Trainer Cup

Almost everything we liked about the Nuk Magic cup also applies to the Munchkin – Miracle 360. That’s good, because you might not be able to find the Nuk in a moment of desperation, and Munchkin also might sell a character-branded cup or color that your kid prefers.

We did find the Nuk design easier to clean by hand, and we like that it’s transparent enough to tell the difference between apple juice and water, but they’re both great cups.

Straw sippy cups

NuSpin – Zoomi Straw Sippy Cup

There’s a lot to like about the NuSpin – Zoomi straw cup, but at the end of the day we’re not convinced that a straw is the best way to go for an everyday use toddler cup. There are lots of parents we know who started trying straws in order to make it easier for youngsters to enjoy a healthy smoothie without spoon-feeding them, but a tiny straw like NuSpin uses just won’t work for that.

This is also one of the more expensive cups we tested, and the straw isn’t easy to replace or to clean. If a straw is the way you want to go for a go-to water-drinking cup, this cup has a slight edge over the Philips for how easy it is to clean and it is more leak-proof than the Take & Toss cup.

Philips – Avent

Philips has a huge line of baby products, and they’re all packed with features, but at the end of the day all of those features just makes the Avent – My Bendy Straw Cup harder to use than it should be. The three-piece straw has a valve in the middle to prevent backwash and a curved piece inside the cup to make draining the last drops easier, but all of those pieces create spots for mold or milk-eating bacteria to hide.

The flip-down lid is effective at preventing leaks in a diaper bag and it won’t disappear in a week the way most caps do, but it’s still an extra part to break and it may frustrate a smaller toddler (or impatient parent) when you’re trying to pass a water cup from front seat to back seat in the car.

Hard-spout sippy cups

Gerber Graduates – Fun Grips

There’s a lot to like about the Gerber – Fun Grips design: the shape is hard to tip over, fairly easy to grip and nearly 100 percent leak-proof even after five months of use. All of the usual problems of a hard spout design are present, though.

The spout harbors tiny mold spots and is impossible to fully clean by hand, and to make matters worse the silicone seal insert is held in place by a piece of hard plastic that’s harder to remove than it should be.

Also, If you’re worried that your toddler will trade his milk bottle addiction for a sippy-cup addiction, or if you’re thinking about future orthodontist bills, this design won’t help you at all.

Munchkin – Alphabet Sippy Cup

The Munchkin – Alphabet Sippy Cup is about as ordinary as you can get in a leak-proof sippy cup. It’s a tiny bit easier to clean the silicone seal here than it was on the Gerber cup, but we can’t call it the best by any stretch of the imagination since the spout still holds enough moisture to grow mold and can’t be easily scrubbed.

The leak-proofing isn’t quite as good as Gerber’s, though, and neither cup has any advantage over the Tommee Tippee, let alone Nuk’s Magic 360 cup.

Eco-friendly sippy cups

Pura – Kiki Stainless Steel Insulated Sippy Cup

If you’ve always wanted to put an easy-sipping soft spout on your favorite insulated water bottle, the Pura – Kiki is an insulated bottle made for you.

Pura has got a lot of good press for the recyclable, plastic-free design, and we do like that you can keep milk cold in this bottle for much longer than any of the other cups. The soft spout is fairly leak-proof; far better than the worst sippy-cup spouts, but not nearly as carpet-safe as a Tommee Tippee or Nuk – Magic 360.

We like that this is a bottle that’s designed to grow with your child, allowing you to change the spout for the sport-oriented lid when you’re ready.

Best Plastic-Free Bottle: Pura - Kiki

This leak-proof soft spout is the best we tried, and you can buy a straw or sports cap to grow this durable bottle with your child.

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There’s a silicone cover to keep dirt out of the spout, which is a nice touch, but if your kids are anything like ours that will be lost in a few weeks. The soft spouts are also going to leak badly if you rest them upside down inside a bag, even with the cover on.

We’d say this is the best easy transition from a bottle, except that it’s so heavy. One of our two-year-olds just handed it back and didn’t want to drink from it. Given enough time, even a smaller toddler can learn to manage the weight, but the soft spout and the weight of the body are mismatched.

Another downside to this design is that the vent to replace what your kid is drinking with air is basically just the seal at the base of the silicone spout. If you tighten this lid too much, your drinking child will leave a vacuum inside the bottle and the soft nipple will get sucked in. Maybe you’re used to that from your baby bottles, but it’s an extra factor to think about when you’re just trying to get a cup of milk into the hands of a crying two-year-old.

Lifefactory – Glass 9 oz Sippy

Glass is a love-it-or-hate-it bottle material, but Lifefactory’s 9-Ounce Glass Bottle is one of the top sellers in this category. This is the same bottle that’s all the rage at yoga classes, but in a smaller size and with sippy-style spout included. There are even bottle nipples available in the full range of flow rates if you want to give your infant a head start on bicep curls with a weighted bottle. (Okay, there’s a 4 oz bottle for infants but they can all use the same lids.)

Though the Lifefactory bottle offers an inviting brightly-colored silicone wrap to offset the weight and cold touch of glass, the lack of a vent hole in the lid means (like the Pura) you can’t screw it down all the way. If you do you’ll undoubtedly hear something like “daddy, it don’t works!” Even after unscrewing a bit, it’s the most restrictive spout in our lineup (and it still leaks if you shake it).

Klean Kanteen – Classic Sippy

We like Kleen Kanteen as a company, and we think their insulated bottles are superb, but for toddlers the Kleen Kanteen – Classic Sippy design just doesn’t stand up to the competition.

One test toddler liked this bottle-style sippy least of all: it was hard for her to figure out where to hold it, and cold metal isn’t as inviting to small fingers as it is to a backpacker on a through-hike. We like the finger-loop for easy carrying of the bottle after a toddler says “hold my milk” in anticipation of snapchat-worthy stuntz, but it definitely appealed more to our tester parents than our tester kids.

The materials used here are great: The single-wall steel bottle is nearly indestructible and easily recyclable. That said, there’s the same polypropylene plastic in the spout as you’ll find in the other landfill-packing sippy cups, and the silicone ring that seals the lid to the body can be a pain to get off for a really thorough cleaning.

The biggest problem with this cup is that it leaks, badly. After a few months of use, it drips a few drops every seconds just from being upside down. The spout is harder to clean than most, too.

Soft-spout sippy cups

We were looking for a cup to recommend as the best cup for transition from a bottle or from breastfeeding, and we tried a few cups from Nuk: the Learner Cup and Active Cup. These are the most bottle-like cups we tested, with soft spouts that might appeal to some youngsters who refuse to wean with the hard spout on a conventional sippy cup.

First, the positives: These cups are simple to clean. They’re basically large bottles with high-flow nipples. Everything you’ve learned about cleaning bottles through the first months of parenting will apply here.

On the flip side, these cups are really less of a transition than a stop-gap. Most experts suggest transitioning to an open-top cup because sticking with a bottle can make it difficult to get your kid to eat solid food. If your goal is transition, this will be a change from the bottle or nursing, but not enough of a change to hit those milestones.

The main reason we’re not recommending these cups is that the nipple/spout leaks after a few months. Out of the box these were good performers, but after five months of testing they’ll dribble if you hold them upside down. The snap-on cap keeps dirt out of the spout, but how long do you expect you can keep track of a cap for a cup that a toddler will be walking around with?

The Pura – Kiki stainless insulated bottle has a similar soft silicone spout that doesn’t have as many leaking problems, but it’s a heavy bottle that’s not going to be an easy transition for weaning. (Even one of our two-year-old testers didn’t like the weight.)

The bottom line

We hope this guide has given you helpful information and helped you decide which cup is right for your toddler. We know that you’re depending on this cup to last for at least a few years, and that means you might fill it and wash it thousands of times.

For a leak-proof sippy cup that’s better-designed than average, the updated version of the Tommee Tippee – Sippee Cup really is leak-proof and easy for a toddler to drink from. It’s not even more expensive than most cups, though taking the valve apart for cleaning is a bit more work that we’d like.

For smoothies, we know it can be hard to find a straw cup that will actually work and not be impossible to clean. We liked the Take & Toss Straw Cup from The First Years for that reason: It’s not an amazing feat of engineering or a durable product that will last for years, but your toddler can actually drink a banana-yogurt smoothie out of it, and you won’t go crazy trying to clean it.

For most families, the best sippy cup is probably going to be the Nuk – Magic 360 spoutless cup. This isn’t an open-top cup, but it’s so close your toddler will definitely get a chance to feel more grown-up than the other kids with their “baby bottle” cups. Most importantly, it’s easy to take apart and clean after you leave it in the sun over a weekend and a colony of something-or-other grows inside.

Best Overall: Nuk - Magic 360

This is a bigger transition away from a bottle than most sippy cups, and that’s exactly what most of us are looking for. A great pick for a first birthday milestone, but don’t hesitate to try it sooner.

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