I have some reader e-mail and I'm soliciting comments for her.

Has anyone taken a baby in a backpack carrier to a Disney Park?

We just took the 2-y/o to a Railroad Festival in the backpack this weekend. It worked out pretty well, but we weren't really going on rides much.

I have to say that it wasn't nearly as convenient when Doc took the backpack off. I was 'stuck' with Spencer. If we had the stroller, I could've walked around.

This reader is taking a 10-month-old. When ours were 10-months-old, we took a stroller and the Baby Bjorn. We used the carrier when we wanted to. It was easy because we could trade using it easily (we have to adjust the backpack a lot more than the Baby Bjorn.) But we could put the baby in the stroller when it was more convenient and we had the stroller to carry the diaper bag and other necessities. That's especially helpful with an under-1-year-old.

Adrienne

Hmmm.. at 10 months I would think a soft frontpack/backpack would be the easiest along with a stroller. What I would do is bring my own stroller, one that had a basket big enough to cart all the essentials. I would then bring something like a baby bjorn or similar. I had a babytrekker, basically something that can fold up and be put in the stroller basket. A sling even, if the mom knows how to use one and is comfortable with that - it would definitely be the most portable.

I think a frame backpack would be more comfortable for longer stretches, but it would be cumbersome when you wanted to take baby out of it and all go on a ride. A soft pack could just be folded and put in the stroller.

If you don't want to take a stroller at all then I guess just go with whatever you're most comfortable with. Keep in mind though that strollers are more than just baby transporters, they are also food carriers, extra change of clothes carriers, shade for the baby, basically they are very useful even if you don't normally use one.

HTH! :)

We never used a back pack for Nickolas, but I did look at them. the one I liked was a backpack that would convert into a stroller.

We took my oldest at 18 mt to France and my second child at 18 mts also to WDW with a backpack. 18mts is older than 10 though. But if the baby likes to see- it is a great option. It worked really well for us. The backpack collapsed flat when we got onto rides and we had no troubles taking it on anyride that would take a baby. We did get a good quality backpacking one with a metal frame and belt to put most of the weight on the hips. We also "trained"-taking many walks before the trips. I think both of our kids were so much happier with the tall view (Daddy is 6' 4'') than the butt's eye view of a stroller. If you are taking a lot of stuff anyway- can you just take both an light stroller and the backpack and trade off during the trip as it seems good for you?

I have two year old girls.

My husband and I each wore a baby backpack on our last trip to the parks in July.. Not only was it hot, but it made it less convenient to get on and off of rides.. It's also a lot more tiring to carry one of those around than it is to just push a stroller.

We far prefer strollers, and this will be our preffered method of transportation for the babies from here on out.

In February when my son was 5 months old we took him to WDW for a week. During that time his primary means of transportation was a convertible backpack/stroller. The pros of it were:

1) He loved being up so high when the parades came by.

2) It kept him in an upright positons instead of the seated/lying down position of a regular stroller and he much preferred being able to kick his legs about.

3) The entire unit was only about 9lbs and my son about 18lb so all in all pretty light for a framed backpack.

4) On and off the monorail was very easy as he was able to stay in the stoller.

5) If we all wanted to go on a ride we'd just convert to a stroller and leave it with all the others. I did bring a ski lock to lock up the wheels but hardly ever used it.

6) The particular unit had a diaper bag that zipped onto it so even if only one of us wanted to be with him there were no extra bags to carry. And there was a small storage space on the bottom for extra items like jackets.

Cons:

1) It was difficult switching between me and my wife as she has a much shorter torso than I do.

2) Got stopped by alot of people who wanted to ask questions about the stroller.

3) He had to sleep standing up. He managed as he could just lean his head back but we did have to plan time for him to be out of it to sleep.



Any question or if you want to see pictures of him in it let me know.

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Alex