LugBug is a strong, lightweight, and ergonomic handle for baby carriers. It isn’t easy to move about with a carrier as you take it from your car to the stroller and back. Baby carriers are designed with babies in mind, and they all have a generic handle that is not comfortable for parents.
In fact, it can be dangerous, as carrying them around for long trips can result in the chronic arm, shoulder, and neck pain for parents. Nathan Day saw this problem with baby carriers and decided to invent an ergonomic handle as a solution.
He spent countless hours formulating the best possible solution and came up with LugBug, which promises to be the most convenient way to carry a child seat or baby carrier. His design underwent a lot of experimentation and R&D before turning into a strong, lightweight, and ergonomic solution we now know as the Lugbug.
LugBug can be installed easily and quickly on any child seat or baby carrier with a single handle. It simply clips on at the center of the handle and allows parents to forget about the worries of lugging their babies around in carriers.
You may recognize this product from ABC’s Shark Tank, as Nathan Day appeared with it on Season 10 of the show in 2018. He was seeking a $300,000 investment for 10 percent of his company. He impressed the Shark Tank investors with his numbers because LugBug secured nearly $200,000 in sales the year before.
Nathan also told the Sharks how he invested $750,000 of his own money into the company to secure the patents for LugBug. He even invited Shark Robert Herjavec’s newborn twins on the set to demonstrate his product, which further improved the mood of the Sharks.
However, this was the highlight of the pitch, as Robert soon demonstrated how his pediatrician showed him a workaround to the baby carrier problem that LugBug aims to solve. His alternate method of holding the baby carrier was simple, effective, and didn’t cost a penny.
Ultimately, the Sharks lost interest, and Nathan had to leave the Shark Tank without a deal. Since then, LugBug has passed numerous safety tests and has been approved to carry weights up to 100 lbs.
There are still plenty of parents who experience pain from lugging baby carriers around, and LugBug offers an effective solution, which is why we decided to review it.
Our Review of LugBug
For this review, we ordered our LugBug samples from Amazon, but you can also order them from the LugBug website directly. The handle is available in many colors, including Seafoam, Aquamarine, Cotton Candy, Mint, Raspberry, Robins Egg, and Dark Gray.
LugBug is made from high-quality materials, and this is obvious from the moment you hold it in your hands. It is sturdy, sleek, compact, lightweight, and comfortable to touch and hold. The product is a helpful handle that is very easy to install on any baby carrier or car seat handle.
The clip at the bottom easily locks on the handle and can be adjusted to fit various-sized handles. The swivel mechanism of the LugBug offers a variety of comfortable positions to carry your baby around.
The engineers and ergonomics experts that worked to create this product have designed a handle that is truly comfortable to hold, even for long periods. LugBug repositions your arms, wrists, and shoulders into a more natural position that is comfortable and convenient to move around with.
It effectively eliminates the strain and discomfort parents face from awkward carry positions, and we experienced this first-hand. Lugging babies in carriers and seats for long periods of time often result in injuries to the wrists, arms, shoulders, necks, and back pain or injury, especially as your baby gets older and bigger.
While pediatricians may teach you better ways to carry seats and carriers around, those techniques mostly just work for small babies and infants. However, LugBug offers a wide range of movement and excellent ergonomics that not only remove pain from carrying small infants but also larger, grown babies.
Pros of LugBug
As a baby carrier handle, we found LugBug to be the best one we have tried so far. It offers plenty of benefits, and here are some of its most notable pros:
- Expert engineering and thoughtful design from countless product trials
- Passed multiple safety tests
- Can carry up to 100 lbs
- Works with any single-handle baby carrier or car seat
- Lightweight, compact, durable, and highly ergonomic design
- Removes the pain and injury caused by carrying baby carriers and car seats for long
- Easy clip-on style installation and removal
- Swivel handle offers a wide range of motion without shaking the baby in the seat
- Movements create less mess in the seat as you carry your baby
- Allows longer trip durations for parents, as they can carry their babies farther for longer
Cons of LugBug
As with most things, there are a few cons of LugBug:
- Slightly overpriced
- Free techniques available to carry smaller infants
Who Is LugBug For?
LugBug is a great product for all parents who carry infants and babies around. It is especially useful for parents who take long journeys on foot with their babies or move from place to place and have to constantly move their baby in and out of vehicles.
LugBug also makes for a great gift item to give to expecting or new parents. Whereas parents with heavier, grown babies can also benefit from this product.
Are There Any Alternatives?
There are plenty of baby carrier handles and “ergonomic” handles on the market, and you can find most of them at online stores like Amazon or physical retail stores like Target. However, none have the simplistic design and superior ergonomic capabilities of the LugBug. This is primarily because Nathan Day patented his design early, so other brands are unable to copy the LugBug.
Our Final Thoughts
Despite being slightly overpriced, LugBug is the best ergonomic solution for parents who experience pain from lugging car seats and baby carriers around. It makes a significant difference and can easily prevent pain and injury.
Its lightweight and compact design make it easy to store, and its durability is incredible. You can carry up to 100 lbs, and the product refuses to break under usage, storage, or other tough conditions. These features justify the price, as you may never need to buy another handle ever again.
We highly recommend baby parents try it out at least once, so they can understand the difference it makes and how exactly it can benefit them.
