Baby Carriers VS Strollers after a baby is able to sit

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I love the idea of carrying a baby in front of me, so I could see his/her eyes.

But, it seems to me, the baby wants to move around after he/she learns to sit, so a stroller would seem to be better than a baby carrier in this instance.

However, I've been made aware that adjustments could be made for babies who are growing up.

What would these adjustments be--pertaining to baby carriers?

Thanks very much for any input.

FOUND YA!! !

Ok. I'll reply here.

Ok. So there are many reasons why a stroller could be exchanged for a carrier, but it would depend on why you are using a stroller. Personally, I only used one when clothes shopping, as it is very difficult to try on shirts (specifically) with a baby on you.

Keep in mind that babies are 'sat up' in strollers as early as 3 months old, but do not really start crawling until 6-10 months (there are exceptions to this). So the ability to sit and be mobile are not interchangeable for many.

Generally, when a baby is in a stroller, they are not really getting freedom to move like you think. Also, the perspective at that level is not very.... entertaining. Think about it. If you have a baby ON you, they are at about your chest through eye level. You can carry them on your front, facing you, or facing out (Front Facing Out, or FFO). You can also carry them on your hip, in a hip carry. OR you can carry them on your back in a back carry, even better if in a high back carry, so they can see over your shoulder. Not only does this allow them to interact with the world at a level that most of our society interacts at, but it keeps them distracted and soothed for longer periods of time than if in a stroller. Also, the desire to be more interactive is typically developed around 3 months, and this is the age when a hip carry or a high back carry is introduced (depending on the baby's muscle tone, head control, the carrier, and the parent's skill/experience at babywearing). This period of curiosity can sometimes cause over stimulation, which also is decreased with babywearing, as they can 'burrow' into mom/dad, whereas in a stroller, there is no real way to turn off stimulation (similar with a FFO carry, which is one reason to limit that position to 20 minutes or the child's tolerance--much more complicated answer).

Add into this all of the original benefits of babywearing, and there are that many more reasons to do this.

The biggest for ME, is that my three year old (just had a birthday on the 19th), broke his stroller, as well as his wagon, and they did not 'hold him'. He could escape, run off, and get into trouble as active, curious preschoolers are capable of doing. By wearing him either in a wrap (long rectangular piece of woven, not knitted, fabric) or a soft structured carrier/SSC, he has the ability to talk with me, look around, point to the things he wants, and experiencing more without getting into trouble, hurt, or worse. Can I also mention that if you are grocery shopping, as you probably have experienced, when kids are in a cart, you have germs to worry about. Shoplifting (as they steal stuff and put it in the cart or 'car'. Throwing fits. Throwing your food out of the cart. And more. But when babywearing, they aren't touching the germ-infested areas of the store. They can't reach your purchases. They can't REALLY hide much to 'steal'. And the fits are generally in the beginning when you put them up, but they are happier in the long run instead.

Plus, if you have other children, it makes it easier for you to run after them. Every try to run with a conventional stroller? It is a bad idea. The wheels and/or carriage can swerve, flip, or fall. It is frustrating. Many jogging strollers are bulky, or don't have a steering front wheel. Etc, etc, etc.

Add into this a child with sensory issues. A child who cannot tolerate clothing, or changes in routine can make it difficult for the parents to leave the house. As one mother explained, learning to wrap her SPD/ASD daughter enabled them to leave the house with both minimal clothing (as the child was covered by the wrap), as well as giving the girl an 'escape' even in a public place (by ducking inside the carrier). Because they are on their mother's backs, eye contact isn't as required, and strangers do not tend to TOUCH your children when they are harnessed to you. On the other side of the sensory spectrum, a child who requires constant movement even as an infant may scream when put down to rest, but in a FFO carry/carrier may be happy and soothed. Another mother spent the first year of her son's life wearing him for 9-12 hours a day. Once he started crawling/walking/running, he was worn less and less as his own ambulation filled that need for movement.

Adjustments to carriers is another long post as there are multiple kinds of carriers, each having their own options regarding adjustments or sizing depending on the age and size of the baby being worn.

Thanks very much.

Is it also easier to carry a 3-year-old's weight on a carrier?

I can't speak for ALL 3 year olds, but my son isn't too hard.

Keep in mind that when he was 10 months old, he weighed 32 lbs, at about 28 or so inches. (Typical weight at about a year is around 20 lbs). He is 3, 38 inches, and 36-38 lbs. So he actually feels lighter in some ways than he did back then, I'm guessing because of how his weight is spread out. At the same time, it is a work out because he refuses to be worn much of the time, so when he IS worn, I do get a little sore from not being used to it any more. When he was under 1 year old, he was worn for many hours every day. We use buckle carriers now, which I don't find as comfortable as the completely customizable fit of wraps, which could contribute some to the discomfort.

It is easier to carry him and shop than it is to use any other method. He broke our jogging stroller during a fit, and he can unclip the seatbelts in shopping carts, as well as climb out of them. If he isn't strapped down, he likes to run down the aisles. That's ok in a relatively empty store, or a small one, but NOT in busy stores. Wearing him makes shopping trips much easier. With a SSC, I can clip it around my waist, and toss him up and down in less than a minute. Wrapping takes a little longer, but we are talking about less than two minutes to get him up there, and less than a minute to get him down.


Edit to clarify: My son is a really good boy. But when he has a meltdown, he throws his head back with a lot of force. He has to be caught in every other situation because he has come very close to injuring himself. When he did it in the stroller, he snapped the backrest. But he is a tall and strong kid. Very sweet and loving unless he has these 'fits'. They are, thankfully, not as often as they were.

Yep....he's growing up!

Pretty soon, you won't have to carry him, any more.

I forget: is your son on the Spectrum?

I highly doubt it. He is highly social, will talk to anyone about anything, motor skills are fine, engages in highly imaginative play, is very empathetic, expresses emotion (even at his age he names his emotions much better than I do), etc. He is almost completely normal. LOTS of eye contact, even as an infant. He doesn't have one marker on the assessments for autism. His only things is that he avoids certain textures like they are acid and will dissolve his fingers. Only kid I ever knew that would not dip his fries/chicken nuggets etc in ANY sauce. (But will eat salad with balsamic vinaigrette). And his meltdowns. But comparatively my daughter has/had many more indicators, so I really doubt it.

Thanks for the info.

My favorite part of Jersey is the Northwest part--especially near Delaware Water Gap and Netcong.

No problem. My daughter, 11, has many more signs/symptoms. But still not as much as to warrant an evaluation. Most of theirs can be explained by having me as a mom. Some, like her toe walking, cannot. My sons fits/meltdowns and he tends to flap, those can't be explained by his parents, not in a nurturing sense.

I'm in South Jersey. My favorite place in NJ is usually the drive out of it. In all seriousness though, there are some beautiful places here. It is a completely different place than North Jersey or the Jersey Shore (as tv would portray it). I grew up near Ocean City though. Not the raucous partying you see on MTV.

And our accents don't exist the way they are purported to in media. We say our 'R's' correctly, LOL.

I know.....the only part of New Jersey which has the NYC accent is the area immediately surrounding NYC--Essex, Passaic, Bergen, and Hudson Counties mostly. Not even all of Bergen.

My mother used to vacation in Wildwood frequently.

Ha, Wildwood was always called a party town growing up (very conservative family).

On the sad side, a girl disappeared from there a couple weeks ago.

I use a carrier more then the stroller. It helps me feel closer and baby loves being carried.

Are those your kids, Yoshi?