Hit the trails this season with a baby — or tot — on your back with help from a robust backpack.
CARRY ON, HIKING WARRIOR By Rachel Guyah
WHAT IS IT?
Well, it’s basically a framed hiking backpack with a built-in area — called the “cockpit” — to hold your baby or toddler. Backpack carriers are a great way for the whole family to experience adventures together — both on hiking trails in the woods as well as around town (at the zoo, farmer’s market or even on paved trails around the lakes). Backpack carriers are: ⊲⊲Ergonomically friendly: Padded, adjustable shoulder straps and a hip belt help alleviate shoulder/back strain by redistributing your child’s weight to your hips and pelvic area. Unlike baby-wearing slings and other popular infant carriers, the hiking backpack includes a sort of suspension system, made up of several adjustable features, including a back panel, shoulder straps, load lifters, a hip belt, stabilizer straps and a sternum strap. ⊲⊲Sensory-rich seating: Perched upon your back, your kid enjoys a 360-degree view and high vantage point from which to soak in all the surrounding sights, sounds and smells. ⊲⊲Extended baby-wearing: Many backpack carriers are built to support up to 40 pounds (sometimes more), meaning you can comfortably enjoy the benefits of baby-wearing well into toddlerhood (provided you don’t mind bearing the increasingly heavy load). ⊲⊲Terrain versatility: Backpack carriers can often go where strollers (and newly walking toddlers) can’t, including up stairs, down steep slopes and over puddles and rocks.
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June 2016 • mnparent.com