Hello, wonder if anyone can offer any advice on this one.
I'm soon to be a dad of our first child. I'm a quite outdoorsie kind of person who loves walking. I am looking into the best way to take baby out walking with me when he/she is old enough. Push chairs are fine if you walk along tarmac but tarmac doesn't do much for me. i prefer days out walking hill's in the peaks and stuff like that.
I've been looking at baby carriers, the rucksac type things, just wondered if any body has any thoughts or advice on these. Any recommendations? there's one which seems to be getting good reviews "bushbaby pinnicle" i think its called? anybody got one, how do u find it?
I want something which will be confortable for baby and me for long day hikes in most british weather. Ideally after something which will cater for baby 6 month to 3 year maybe?? and can be used mostly by me but easily adjustable to be used by my wife too..
Any info, thoughts, or advive would be great. Thank You. Chris.
We had this one and also a Vaude one. The Pinnacle was far superior, very comfortable to carry (feels like one of them well supported 70 litre framed rucksacks) and more importantly very comfortable for the child (we had the odd complaint with the Vaude one, i think the seat wasnt padded enough).
If you want a baby carrier i would recommend this one. My only word of warning is personally we never had much success with baby carriers. i suppose we done a few walks we couldnt have but as we paid full price for the Pinnacle i dont feel we got our use out of it. I found often the weather was either too bad (or too good/hot!) for the child to make it a pleasant experience, i also found that once they hit about 2 years old trying to get them in was a kicking and screaming situation (which didnt occur with pushchairs as they were used to them)
Overall we had mixed results, i would definitely try to get one second hand if you can but the Pinnacle or Macpacs are the better ones
...and on that note I have a Macpac Vamoose that was a great success with my daughter and I am about to sell it. It is in excellent functional condition with a few marks from suncreams etc. that might wash off if I tried!
Send me a personal message if you want to make me an offer. (enable this feature in your 'my profile' setup page).
Even if you don't want it I can thoroughly recommend both Macpac and the top-end Bushbaby (which my friend bought and I tried). I recon the Macpac has the edge and is made of tougher fabrics but that might be like choosing any rucksack in terms of fit and personal choice. I thought the littlelife one was a waste of space, the Kelty one was quite good and the Vaude one was worth a look.
It has an adjustable back so that my wife and I could both use it. It fit well for the most part though I always felt I couldn't quite get it to pull in far enough at the top towards my body. It meant that I always felt that when my son leaned back really far the pack was pulling against my shoulders. My wife never had this problem though so it could have just been me.
We never had any complaints from the rider in the back though. It also has good storage and you comes with a sun shade. You can also buy a full rain cover for more protection.
Like any back pack I'd recommend trying to get out and try them on, preferably with a child in, before you buy. As you said that means you'll have to wait till your new arrival can sit up on their own. But do start early with short walks to get them used to it. My son loves being outside so it has never been a big problem.
First of all you cannot put babies in a carrier. You can put toddlers in a carrier but certainly no babies. The term baby carrier is misleading....
As long as a baby cannot sit up right by it self it's not ready to put in a carrier. Please bear that in mind it's not good for their spines. For the same reason it's not advised to make long car trips in a car with a maxi-cosy, even in this semi-lying position there is unbwanted presurre on the spine of a baby, hence the advice not too long car trips.
So find something else you can use before toddler phase is reached and then the backcarrier might be an option.
As Ben Turner says, look at that old link. I have had a Deuter Kid comfort III for 6 and a half years now, and I will probably be using it for at least another 18 months. I have had plenty of use out of it, plus when the kids are at an age when they can walk but get tired they are great for popping them in to give them a breather and you some training on your legs.
I much prefer the connection of carrying my children rather than pushing them.
Used Macpac Vamoose for day hikes in the Alps, Lakes etc including some pretty steep/long slogs. Great Macpac build quality. Didn't fit my other half comfortably though, so we're now looking at the Deuters too.
Worked for us from 6 months. As per previous post you need stable head/neck - until then it's the babybjorn type things worn on your chest. Much better from 12 months though. If walking more than 2-3 hrs you need to think about whether they can nap in it - unfortunately you'll only know that after trying it a few times.
Buy used and you'll get back pretty much what you pay.
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