What kind of baby carrier is best for use walking and climbing in the hills?
I'm going to be a Dad for the first time early next year. My wife and I are very active outdoorsy kind of people. I've started looking at a baby carrier so we can take our wee one out on short walks and for me when I take our dogs out for a walk (which I do a couple of times a day).
I want a carrier as we live quite rural and a lot of the places I go on a day to day basis have no pavements, etc. So a pram simply won't be practical. I also often climb the local hills and I'd like to take the baby with me occasionally.
Looking at baby carriers though there is a bewildering array of different styles, positions, etc. From the high end fully outdoors backpacks:
To simple baby slings:
Obviously money is a factor here, we've got a baby on the way, we're not exactly flush for cash so I don't want to spend a lot.
Given activities such as:
Gentle hill walks
Walking in low country
What kind of carrier should I be looking for? What features do I want, which are over kill and which are required?
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All our kids have been coming on hikes with us since they were newborns. We have two types of baby carrying hiking packs, two more snuggly baby carriers, and a variety of baby wraps.
The answer to your question is to carry the kid in the carrier suitable for their size and age. When your baby is brand new and can't sit up on it's own, then you should carry it in a wrap, after it gets to about 6 months old, then you can carry them in a back pack.
We had our pack and a couple snuggly carriers before we got our first baby wrap. I highly recommend getting a wrap first, the babies like them much better because they keep their arms and legs tucked in and hold their heads too. They literally just sleep the whole time when they're in the wrap.
When they get bigger you can move them into the backpacks. We were hiking this year with my 4 and 2 year old both in backpacks, that way my wife and I could have a good hike without having to wait for littles to keep up, or listen to them complain about being tired.
But for a brand new baby, you definitely want to go with a wrap like this one:
They're very versatile, they keep the baby up close to your centre of gravity, they're comfortable for you and the baby, and you can wear a backpack over top of them. After that, invest in a nice comfy hiking backpack for the kid.
The one I have comes with a hood and a full rain cover, so I can basically take my kids hiking with me in any weather.
Sometimes the littles want to hike too:
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As a supplement to @ShemSeger's answer, NZ rucksack makers Aarn offer clip-on front pockets that help counterbalance the weight of a kid on your back if you're using a carrier with a waist-belt and sternum strap.
The idea is that you fill the pockets with some of your heavier gear and your water. As well as keeping your stuff to hand, balancing the load in this way makes a surprising difference if you are carrying a larger kid for any kind of distance - it's less fatiguing and kinder to your back and shoulders.
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/17387. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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