Advice for baby carrier for short hikes

Family, Education, Health and Pets
1
I'm looking for a baby carrier, aka toddler carrier, kraxe, kindertrage, for carrying a 1-year-old on my back. It should be fairly robust for short hikes, and comfy for both of us. I was surprised to see just a very small selection in the local shops, basically just the deuter Comfort I or II. Has anyone any experience with those, can they recommend them?

On Amazon I saw a Jack Wolfskin one which looked similar but cheaper, but I really need to see it and try it on before buying something like that. I assume there are other good brands around too, I just don't know the best places to be looking or the good brands to look for.

Has anyone any advice / tips to offer?

2
In hiking forums in Germany the Deuter Kid Comfort 2 has got very good reviews. It really depends how much you want to hike. It is not cheap!

When our baby will be older I will go for the one from Deuter.

Right now I bought a Beco Butterfly2 (done a lot of research). My friend is very happy with the Ergo Baby carrier.

Hope that helps.

3
We had the Jack Wolfskin Watchtower Deluxe for our kids. Both mysel & my husband found it really good for hikes despite quite a big difference in height between us. It lasted really well & the boys seemed to find it comfortable.

4
I loved the Ergo for when my daughter was small. At that age I carried her on my back and my front. It's very light, very comfortable and we managed to carry her for quite long hikes. It was also very easily adjusted for either one of us.

5
I'd stay away from robust, since it is usually really expensive and heavy, for how short time it is really needed for your kiddo. They grow up so fast...If you want a really good work out, go for robust, though.

I was thrilled with ergo, super practical. Just had it in my kiddo bag, no matter if we went hiking or just strolling around, the softness and lightweight killed any competitive brands we had (like BabyBjorn, ugh, so uncomfortable). You can store it anywhere and it is from birth till....when did I stop using it, 3.5yr?

Ergo fan all the way, not one of those hippie people, but ergo really did it for me. I got mine in Hawaii, with a bag to attach to it, liners, detachable drool thingie, etc.

6
Ergo absolutely! My little boy is just 3 and I am still happily using it .. he actually wants to walk a lot but after an hour or so is tired, so I just whip out the ergo and in he hops, sometimes even for a short nap. Brilliant. Could not recommend it highly enough. Plus, the carrying position is right into your body which is not the case with the "proper" heavy duty child carriers (we have a bush baby carrier as well) meaning that if you are smaller and slighter (like me) you can carry a heavier baby/child in the ergo than you can in a proper back pack (where the child is held further away from your body so requiring more core strength to carry).

7
Absolutely, thanks, for pointing this out..Same issue here. If you are strong build, I think the regular sized and robust hiking construction is absolutely fine, but those were always way too big for me. I loved ergo since you use it home to walk to sleep (or simple housework), outside to hike and it is soft and cozy for both mom(dad) and child, and, ultimately, you can discretely nurse in it, even if you are walking, nobody sees a thing. It lifts tots feet up around your body, too, redistributes his/her weight so evenly, that even smaller/slender frame moms don't feel anything.

8
Wow, thanks for the tips!

I understand what you're saying about the weight, do you know anywhere where I could see and try on one of the Ergo ones here? Or are they only available by mail order?

9
Beco Carrier for us, works really well and I still occasionally carried my 2 yrs old.

Bec is basically like the Ergo but IMHO has the GREAT advantage that you put the carrier on first then slide the baby in, also you can put the baby in and put it on your back like a backpack.

The Ergo I found way too fiddly... for example to put the baby on your back you have to lean forward with baby on and sort of throw the straps until you catch them...

I ordered them via www.sonnenkind.ch where you can also order them to try and then only pay the one you keep.

I definitely reccommend trying them as you can see so many people actually like the Ergo so it is really a matter of taste!

Cheers,

K

10
I use an Ergo baby for short outings when I don't want to take the stroller but I can't get my 17 month old in the backpack position by myself.

My husband likes a backpack carrier but my daughter pulls my hair We have the Phil & Teds one. It is one of the lightest I found and very small - no metal bits with the frame hidden inside a handy storage section in the bottom.

11
For the rucksack style, I'd recommend one with stirrups for the feet. We had one which didn't have them and we had little mucky feet digging into our waists for the duration of the hike. (The notion of zip-ties crossed our mind more than once..)

For the "soft" carriers we tried BabyBjorn and Ergo, both of which did the job but the BabyBjorn is easier to get on and also supports the head when they nod off. With the Ergo, you have to use one hand to stop their head lolling around when they are asleep (or use the weird hood attachment which I found a bit of a faff to fasten when you've got a handbag, or shopping to deal with, too).

BabyBjorn is only good up to 11 kilos, though.

12
Ergocarrier is good because the weight is on the hipps. And the baby is sitting not hanging like in BabyBjörn.

13
In bülach there is a happy babyworld store http://www.happy-babyworld.ch/d/produkte_index.php and there are all kinds of carriers of lots of brands that you can actually try on before you buy. In my case I bought the baby björn with the thingy for the back because I was pregnant for 2 years in a row and my back was very damaged and that one helps me a lot.

No idea about St. Gallen but Im sure there is a store that has the tester selection.

14
Hi Neddie!

We have had this carrier for our baby girl since she was 7mths old. She is now 14mths and 12kg.

http://www.vaude.com/epages/Vaude-de...ucts/103292000

We looked at lots of options incl. ergo etc. but we found this to be the best option. It is unbelieveably light and has a proper back pack system so all of the weight rests on your hips and buckles across your chest. The straps are, of course adjustable. Beware that this pack cannot stand on its own, but considering you should never leave a baby sitting in any pack unattended, we decided not to bother with the heavier stand-alone options. This one rests very easily against a wall or against your legs so it's easy to slip baby in and out. The seat itself for baby is similar to the baby björn, but it has bars where baby can rest her feet and open the pelvic area up that way. We also make sure we stop every hour or so for her to get out and move around.

We use this carrier when we go shopping or on the train etc too. She loves it up there because she can see everything we do, rather than just our back or chest!

If ordered in from Germany, they're 140EUR but you can ask to remove the 19% Mehrwertsteuer (German tax). Then add 7.5%(?) Swiss tax when you pick it up at the post shop. Shopping in 'EUROLand' is really good for us and our CHF at the moment, too.

Good luck, and I hope you find the right back pack for you and your little one

Puddy

15
I too love the Ergo. I've used it with both kids for hikes up Uetliberg and getting around town. But if you hike a lot and if you go on longer hikes, I highly recommend the Deuter Comfort I. Our son loves it so much that he sometimes asks to be carried in in when we're heading out to the zoo or the park (and, he would ALWAYS rather walk or scooter everywhere). It's comfortable to wear, our son loves sitting high up (as opposed to the Ergo where they have a harder time seeing over your head), there is a great cover to protect your child from rain, snow and sun and it's nice having space to stash diapers, extra layers, snacks etc in the compartment under the seat. Expensive, but totally worth it - we use ours every weekend.

16
I just realized that the link for the Vaude Swing pack (originally English) seems to redirect to the German. Here's the English version

basket-no. 103292000

Lightweight, inexpensive child carrier with a mesh back for optimal wearing comfort. Suitable for children up to 3 years and/or a maximum weight of 20 kg. The load's center of gravity is close to the back, but the back still stays ventilated and comfortable. The carrier isn't free-standing yet still features everything a good child carrier needs: mesh side pockets for easy access of drink bottles and other small gear, roomy bottom compartment for larger gear such as blanket, jackets, toys and a snack. Optional changing pad, sun shade and rain cover can be stored in the bottom compartment. (Changing pad: Art.-Nr. 10052-0030, Sun shade / rain cover: Art.Nr. 15209-1000). Optimal child harness system, height adjustable sitting position that can be accessed from the back, and grab loops on the front and back sides all meet stringent German safety standards. In addition, the back grab loop serves as a head support for the child. An additional fully adjustable head support or inflatable neck pillow can be ordered separately. (Head Support: Art.-Nr. 10050-0030, Neck Pillow: Art.-Nr 17519-0020).

I would definitely get the ergo for babies up to 6mths (sitting age)

Cheers

Puddy

17
Holding the child's weight away from the back is a great idea as particularly in summer hiking, you do get hot.

Our Bushbaby carrier does exactly this, but even though it is fully adjustable for people of my height up to 6ft 2", it still means the child is held (slightly) away from your back meaning that your centre of gravity is shifted (albeit that it is close to the back, but it is away from your back) meaning for me that the slightest gust of wind in my face (and particularly when on a steep mountain slope!) makes me feel like I'm going to topple over backwards!! Not happened .. yet ...

Really is a question of extensive testing before you buy. If you are ever Basel way, you are welcome to road test both our carriers for the day .. but I cannot lend them to you for longer as the Ergo in particular, is on constant duty for our little one (at age 3 years and some 15kg ... )

18
I use an ergo carrier. I can easily carry my heavy son who is nearly 4 and must weigh about 18 kg. I like how light and easy to stow the carrier is too. I have never had any probe and can easily get him in and out on my own.

Regards

Katy

19
Thanks for all the advice.

Just to follow up on this one, we did get ourselves sorted out and got some great help from Baby-Walz in Konstanz. We tried on all sorts of carriers from the Ergo and Baby Björn to the Deuter and Vaude, and a few others, but we settled on a brand I'd not heard of before called Fillikid. This model is called the "Trekking" and is a bit more solid than the purely fabric ones (it's got a metal frame and padded hip belt), but nowhere near as heavy as some of the others. There's not a great deal of space to store extra stuff but that's ok. And our little one likes riding in it which is the main thing. We need to get a good neck support for when he falls asleep though.

The price was also pretty reasonable, it cost 90 EUR but then we got 14 EUR back, so it works out at less than 100 CHF (plus transport to Konstanz and back but that was a nice day out anyway).

If you're looking for a carrier I'd recommend looking at this one as well as the others suggested here.