Best Baby Carrier for Hiking

[jacie87]

My husband and I plan to hike part of the Appalachian trail (probably about half) this summer. We have a 2 year old and a 3 month old. What are the best carriers we could use that have enough storage for a days worth of water bottles and meal bars?

Basically, what are some good, comfortable carriers (one for an infant and one for a toddler) with a lot of storage space also?

Are there any carriers that hold the baby on one side and the other side is a backpack? I may end up using a front carrier and also wearing a backpack, but it would be nice if it was all just one item/carrier.

[jocelyndale]

We have a Deuter KidComfortIII. You could pack up to your safe limit after you count in the carrier weight and the 2yo's weight. It has a pocket for a hydration bladder (you put your own in). Water + kid + carrier and maybe some meal bars, plus trekking poles. I wouldn't put an infant in it.

I take it one of you will have the heavier child and some water and the other will have a hiking pack with tent, etc, and the baby on front?

Wraps are great for hiking, but might limit what you could otherwise carry. The 3mo (and then some) could ride fairly happily in an Ergo, wrap, mei-tai, etc. You'll want some good trekking poles--front carries can be rather ungainly in uneven footing.

The Ergo has a separate small backpack which can go on the back when you're doing a back carry. You wouldn't want to overload it, especially if you have the toddler on your back.

[jacie87]

We have a friend who will be driving a vehicle with all our changes of clothes and our tent, etc. She'll drive ahead of us and set up camp, and we'll walk to it each day, so all we will be carrying is what we need during the day while we are hiking (food, water, diapers...)

Our 2yo will most likely do a lot of walking (she hiked almost 5 miles with us when she was 18 months old and did NOT want to be carried at all...) and when she is tired, DH will carry her. I would like to have the baby in front and we'll both want to have some storage to carry food, etc.

We are thinking about the Kelty TC 3.0 for DH and DD1 and still looking to see what will work best for DD2 and I. We might go with an Ergo.

[jocelyndale]

What month and which section of the trail?

Your plan does simplify things. You certainly wouldn't have to go with a framepack if you didn't want to. I highly recommend you visit a few different outdoor sports stores and try on a variety of brands/styles of packs: Kelty, Deuter, Sherpani, and I can't remember what else. I'm very short in the torso, so my options were much more limited.

If it's really hot, you might prefer a good framepack. But otherwise, an ergo and a decent hip pack might be just fine for the older kiddo, too.

I've done a lot of day hiking with the Ergo. I like it, but I didn't like keeping kiddo in a back carry when he was less than 7-8mo, mostly because he slept so randomly (catnaps) and I preferred to be able to stabilize his head ASAP. That meant I had to move much more slowly (front carry) because of balance and not being able to see my feet on uneven footing. A wrap might make more sense--I've seen some awesome and secure back carries with wee ones! An SSC with a higher torso might work better, or a mei tai with some head support (like the babyhawk).

Every parent and every baby is different, of course.

[mlh]

We always use the Ergo when hiking...there is a small pocket for storage. Sounds like it will be a great trip!

[an_aurora]

I posted a few days with a similar question; we have a ~5yo, 3 yo, and infant, and plan on doing some backpacking this summer. We were trying to figure out the best option for carrying 1 (and sometimes 2) children while still having room for the tent, sleeping bags, water, food, etc etc. What we came up with is DS in the Beco + a light day pack, and the Deuter KangaKid for the other adult.

[marinak1977]

I love my Ergo when hiking - even in a front carry it's very well balanced and puts most of the DS's weight on my hips rather than my back. I went hiking over snow and ice with DS when he was 2 months and didn't feel unbalanced at all. None of my other carriers are that comfortable