A few weeks ago, I attended an event at the BabyBjörn [office/showroom] in NYC to unveil a new carrier they're releasing. I was there with Morgan from their marketing team for a livestream, giving babywearing educators an early look at the Baby Carrier Hold.

Morgan and I walked through the carrier on camera: how it goes on, how it adjusts, who it's built for, what a family might actually do with it. Some of it was a product walkthrough; some of it was a demonstration. We tried it on a few different bodies, then opened it up for questions, which is always my favorite part.

The whole thing felt familiar, and it took me a minute to place why. Ah yes! It’s the season. There's a time of the year when the broader industry starts unveiling what it thinks families will want next.

So it’s New Carrier Season!

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When fall meant ABC Kids Expo

For a long time, fall meant the ABC Kids Trade Expo.

ABC was where brands showed up with the new thing, retailers decided what they were putting on the wall next season, and everybody tried to see as much as possible before their feet gave out. The floor was enormous and loud, and the conversations happening there weren't happening anywhere else.

I spent many hours in carrier booths. Sometimes looking at what was new, sometimes teaching sessions right there in the booth with people walking past. The topics were rarely just how to use a carrier. We talked about retail, education, and the strange overlap where the two meet.

“Showrooming“ consistently came up. An expecting parent would come into a store, try on several carriers for several hours, ask good questions, get real help from someone who knew the products, and then buy the carrier online that night. Retailers were working out how to keep offering education and fit support when the sale might land somewhere else entirely.

Perfect fit came up just as often. Not the mythical carrier that fits every body and every baby, which has never existed and is not coming, but the practical question of how a retailer or an educator helps one specific person find the best fit for their body, their baby, and the life they are actually living.

ABC still runs, but the calendar moved. It shifted to spring in 2022, which rearranged things for those of us who had fall permanently associated with walking a trade show floor, seeing the next wave all at once, and networking with so many in our industry.

A lot of that attention has now moved to Kind + Jugend in Cologne, September 15 to 17 this year. Like ABC, it’s much broader than baby carriers, but carriers and slings are part of it, and it’s where many international brands announce new products.

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BabyBjörn Hold

The Hold is expected this fall. BabyBjörn calls the construction ‘SnapWrap.’ It goes on more like a jacket than a carrier, with a softer wrap-around feel on the body and buckle-carrier closures.

They also call out something called DualFit. The wearer's fit and the baby's fit are adjusted separately. According to the company, once it is set for a particular adult and a particular baby, you can take it off and put it back on without starting over. It will still need adjusting as the baby grows, and a different-sized wearer is a fresh adjustment, of course, but the everyday on-and-off is easy. They also kept the two parts connected, reducing the risk of crushing a connector or misplacing a section.

It’s listed for 7 to 30 pounds, roughly birth through 18 months, with inward- and outward-facing front carries. Padded shoulder straps, a double-layer waist belt, and an integrated sun shade that’s actually pretty cool; it tucks away right into the shoulder pad. Oh, and a waistband pocket.

I’m also considering where it lands in their ‘line.’ BabyBjörn already has carriers that families know, and the practical question in a class is never whether something is new. It’s who this carrier serves that the others don't, what it costs, and what positions it offers.

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DIDYMOS DidyHip

The DidyHip is built for a completely different stage of carrying: the mobile baby or toddler who wants up, and then down, and then up again.

DIDYMOS describes it as a compact carrier for the hop-on, hop-off phase. The pouch adjusts with drawstrings, the symmetrical design lets it go on either side, and the shoulder section spreads across the wearer's body. It is intended for children with solid head control from around five months, listed at 5.5 to 20 kilograms, roughly 12 to 44 pounds.

I appreciate that it doesn't pretend to cover birth through preschool. It tries to solve one specific problem: repeated short carries with a child who is also spending most of the day on their own two feet.

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The update cycle

Not every arrival is a new idea. Sometimes the new thing is the next version of a carrier everybody already knows, and that’s just as much a part of the season.

The Ergobaby Omni Deluxe is already out. It maintains the 7 to 45 pound range and the four positions the Omni offers, with revised materials, adjustments, and added storage. They really leaned into pockets for things like snacks, keys, phones, and maybe the small treasures an older child hands over for safekeeping.

Tula's redesigned Explore landed in late 2024, so I would not file it under fall 2026, but it follows the same pattern: updated lumbar support, built in storage, revised newborn neck padding, a cleaner look.

CYBEX has the Amya and the Laya, both built around self-adapting stretch panels meant to grow with the baby. The Laya adds magnetic buckles and a front kangaroo pocket that lets the wearer put a hand against the baby through the carrier. Infantino announced two earlier this year: the Honey Blossom, their first cross-back design, and an updated Flip Luxe 4 in 1.

This isn't a complete list, and it will look even less complete once Kind + Jugend opens. Still, the direction is readable from here. Wrap-like construction without the actual wrapping, fewer adjustments, faster on and off, panels that adapt on their own, lighter materials.

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What I want to know after the first exploration

I love seeing a new carrier. I can be delighted by a clever adjustment or a piece of construction I haven’t seen before. But I’ve also been doing this long enough to know what a demonstration can and cannot tell me.

When I get extended time with a new carrier, the list is:

And there are more, but that question’s more important than it might first seem. A carrier can be beautifully engineered and still be hard to use if the person opening the box cannot work out what the manufacturer wants them to do.

New doesn't mean better, and it doesn’t mean every educator needs to own one. It does mean different carriers are likely to start turning up in classes, consultations, on registries, and in the hands of people asking for help.