You can do not do a front carry with the Ergo. You can put the ergo on your back and the child will face froward.
And omg I saw someone using an Ergo with a front carry the other week. I haven't yet gone up to someone to chat about their carrier choices, but she nearly got me to do it. I would rather have seen that baby in a Bjorn (and I despise Bjorns) than what she was doing to the baby facing front in the Ergo.
OP, let's go back to him not being a huge fan of carriers. Are you getting all ready, even down to shoes on and keys in your pocket, then put the carrier on, put the baby in, and GO? So many people want to practice around the house, but the fussier babies simply cannot stand that. You've got to get OUT.
I read about people wearing their babies while on rides, and it just boggles my mind; my son would NEVER have stood for that. He wouldn't even deal with it if we sat down to eat somewhere. even if asleep he would wake up and be unhappy about everything. He had no problem sitting on my lap or being held on my shoulder or cradled while sitting, but to be in a sling/ergo/etc while sitting? Oh gosh no.
He definitely had to get out and about once in the sling/carrier. So if you haven't been doing that...even if you're only slowing things down by a minute or two, it could make all the difference.
Facing outwards can be WAY too overwhelming for wee ones. Obviously the wearer can't see all expressions on baby's face while wearing them outwards, but other people do, and I've seen very distressed babies facing out. With the Bjorn there's also a level of what appears to be low level strangulation based on where baby's chin is hitting on that front part. It's really disturbing to me! But the overstimulation is bigger for me (b/c I doubt the Bjorn is *actually* strangling the baby...it just LOOKS like it is).
And of course let's not forget the parents. When babies face out, every time they startle (often while facing out) or react to something, their bodies create stress on the parent's body. While facing out, the stresses are much higher than if they are facing the parent. It's a LOT less stressful on the parent's body to have baby facing them rather than out. All those tiny (and big) spinal muscles don't have to react as strongly with every single movement of baby.
Lastly, babies still get to experience things and see almost all around while facing the parent! They get to have the LONG view of things that you're walking away from, they can see the sides, and most importantly they can see mom or dad.
