Baby Carriers and Backpacks

 If you have not read my post trying to convince you to Ditch the Stroller, you should give it a read. Unless you are already convinced that baby wearing is the way to go in order to do travelling with kids. Baby wearing is in my opinion the BEST way to travel with kids. Once I started wearing my babies, I did it everywhere - grocery store, garage sales, zoo and most importantly - on the hiking trails. And we also realized that baby wearing was essential to getting anything done at home as well. 

I will have to admit though, that baby carriers and backpacks have improved immensely since we had our first baby. We used a Kelty Kid carrier. Why? Because it was cheap compared to Baby Bjorn which was basically our other choice. Fortunately, the Kelty was also a very good carrier. We were able to start wearing our babies in it once they hit 8 pounds. We were able to wear them facing us until they were able to hold their heads up and then we were able to face them out. Our babies absolutely LOVED facing out. And I will have to brag that by the third baby, I was able to actually feed my little constantly eating son while he was in the carrier. 

So, what would I suggest is important as you shop for your front carrier?

    1. Make sure it is possible to have the baby in the carrier hands free. That is what I always struggled with when trying out slings and wraps. Maybe some parents can use them and make them hands free, but I was not able to manage to do it. It was especially needed to be hands free with baby #3 because I needed to have one hand for holding on to each of my daughters. I did not have a hand to balance the baby in the carrier.

    2. Make sure that you are able to stand with aligned posture. In the picture above I am slouching a bit, but that was mainly to make sure I did not squish my daughter because my arms were not long enough to reach into the sink. Baby wearing is not for the weak and if you are slouching you will have horrible back aches.

    3. Make sure it is easily adjustable. I loved that after practice, Jim and I were easily able to swap the carrier. He wore the babies just as much as I did (possibly more) and having a carrier which fits both parents is essential. Especially when parents are nowhere near the same body shape and size. 

    4. Make sure straps are padded. While you are at it, make sure everything is padded for baby as well. I remember reading a lot about how some carriers had the carrier set to have legs wide apart and others had baby legs close together. I have to admit I can't remember which is good and which is bad. I do remember making sure that the one we had was what supposedly was the ideal fit for baby legs.

One funny story - I do remember going into the store and shopping for carriers. The store salesperson strapped it on Jim and she put in weights so that he could feel what it would be like to check on the padding, check out the back, etc. He announced quite shocked that it was heavy and he could not imagine having to carry a baby on his front because it would make him SO tired. At that time I was about 8 months along in pregnancy and quite large. If you don't see the humor in that, just go read something else.

Anyway, for the adorable factor, here is proof of how much our daughter loved being strapped on.

We didn't just use this for household chores, we hiked with kids in it as well. I remember taking #2 down a canyon in Yellowstone in it. That hike burned a bit in the legs on the way back up, but it was a good hike. And #3 spent almost our entire vacation to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in it. 

From seeing the above pictures, you might be wondering why I am doing the wearing because I had mentioned Jim did more wearing than I. He definitely did, but tended to do more of the heavy lifting. In the above family pictures from Michigan, he usually had #2 in the backpack carrier. And even once carried both.

We actually had two of the carriers shown in the above picture. Once the babies were big enough to be in this carrier, it was their main form of transportation. We wandered Annapolis, DC and western New York with daughter #1 in the backpack. When we knew #2 was on the way, buying a second backpack was one of the first things we did. (Both were craigslist finds, by the way. Back when that was the best place for finding slightly used items.) Once we had two kids, we carted them up mountains in Yellowstone and Colorado.

Anyway, since I am sure the REI Piggy Backs are not sold anymore, here is what we think you should make sure are features of your kid backpack.

    1. Five Point harness system for the kid. They will fall asleep in the pack and it is important that they are strapped in well. 

    2. Padding. On our most recent trip we had a nice chat by a waterfall with a German family about their kid backpack. They showed us that the newer packs are much better with front padding by the kid's face. Which is awesome. Because we were concerned one time when Jim walked into a post in Annapolis and our daughter ended up lurching forward from the impact. Fortunately, Jim's balls and our daughter's face were fine, but it did make us think of the padding on the front.

    3. Hip Belt. This was one thing that the German parents at the waterfall were not pleased about with their pack. It is critical that there is a hip belt and that it adjusts well so that the weight of the pack sits on the wearer's hips rather than on the back. With the weight on hips you will be able to walk much farther. Along with the hip belt it should have the stabilizing strap which goes across the wearer's chest.

    4. Kick Stand. When we were shopping for packs, many did not have kick stands. We loved the kickstand because it meant that when our kids fell asleep we were able to take off the pack and simply set the whole pack on the ground and they would just continue with their nap. Without a kickstand you have to risk them waking up when you set the pack on its side. I remember once going into a restaurant and setting the pack with our daughter still in it in a corner and she slept through part of our dinner. 

    5. Extra storage. Ours had enough room to stuff diapers, wipes, snacks, blanket, spare clothes. Pretty much whatever was in the diaper bag went into the storage on the pack. And if you are doing a longer hike it needs to be able to hold snacks and water for parents as well. 

    6. Proper footwear. I know there is a lot of discussion online now on the value of hiking boots versus trainers for hiking. We really liked wearing our boots when carrying kids in the pack. Anytime you are carrying a pack, make sure you are wearing proper footgear. We also found that using hiking poles was incredibly helpful when carrying the kids on trails. 

Hopefully this helps when shopping for packs. We loved ours and most importantly, we loved the freedom we gained from strapping on the kids. Fortunately, our kids loved the packs as well and we like to think that the effort we took in shlepping them around helped instill in them our love for exploration. Our daughters even have their names signed in a logbook from the top of Mount Washburn in Yellowstone because they made it to the top! (Happiness of the child on Jim's back was totally due to his hearty, or gasping, singing of "The Wheels on the Bus".)