best for hiking?

[inky leeuhhh]

i am trying to find a carrier for my younger dd to use while we hike this coming spring/ summer. it needs to be easy to use and comfortable. we have a mei tai and sling and im not completely fond of either of those for her. i have been looking at ergos and kelty backpacks. im tempted by the framed kelty packs because i used a friends one time and i loved that i could get it on myself with no issues, but they are darn expensive. any advice? she will be about a year old this spring and she is already 22 lbs so pretty heavy (although weight gain is slowing down- thank goodness!). thanks

[Tav Mom]

I plan on taking my ds who is about 26lbs out hiking. I would either use my Ergo or a wrap. They both have their advantages and disadvantages. Like the Ergo has the nice hood to use to cover dc head when asleep or the sun is too bright. And the wrap is very comfy and is very versatile.
Have fun hiking!!!

[Tjej]

If you (or whoever you are hiking with and they might take the baby for a while) are a sweaty person, a framed backpack is very nice. Otherwise we use an Ergo and it works well.

Tjej

[inky leeuhhh]

thanks all!

[isabchi]

I have a old Ergo. We used with my oldest and using with my almost 1 1/2 yo. I love the Ego for Hiking and long walks. We hike quite often year around except at the middle of the summer.

[jocelyndale]

If I need to carry more than my DS and I want him to be happy on mountain hikes, we use a frame pack (Deuter KidComfort III). It can accommodate a hydration bladder and some extra stuff. Plus DS sees from above.

Now that he's bigger, we also use it for winter walks. I can bundle him up in warm clothes, snowpants, and a heavy coat and he's fine. I use trekking poles if it's icy, of course. After last week's heavy snowfall, we spent a lot of time with the Deuter--cars weren't exactly useful.

If I'm hiking about town and don't need a coat, we use the Ergo. When he was smaller, I wore him on my front in the Ergo, under my coat. I never finished my babywearing coat for back carries, so that's not been an option for us.

[inky leeuhhh]

oh i hadnt even thought about having to get a coat on. i think i am leaning towards a framed pack. we have a mei tai for more casual outings. which framed carriers are best? i have a price limit of about 200$.

[inky leeuhhh]

i remembered i had an amazon gift card, so i ended up ordering a kelty kids fc 2.0 framed carrier. anyone have this? im excited to try it out.