Back carriers before baby can sit?

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DD is 5 and half months old. She can't sit up by herself but today I wickedly and out of desparation put her in a back carrier while I did the dishes. She loved being in it. Why is it bad for her; does anyone know? She wasn't slouched over or anything. It's just over in the corner waiting for her to grow into it..

We put DD (then also 5 and a half months) into our Bush Baby for a couple of hours in the summer. She couldn't sit then, grinned when she was awake and fell asleep happily. I guess it depends how much support there is for them. Do you have the manual for your back carrier?

Just checked the BB website and it is from 6 months. I guess a lot of babies aren't sitting by then so I would imagine it's fine.

I doubt the occasional brief session now would do any harm. However I think you would encounter problems if you tried it for any length of time for serious walking or when she might go to sleep as she would probably end up crumpling a bit as her muscles wouldn't support her very well. dd could sit up pretty well at 5 months but needed more support when asleep than our back carrier could offer but that would probably vary from style to style too.

None of mine have sat unaided before 8 months...
No idea what's truly the right guidelines to follow.
BUT We went for a long walk (> 1 hour) with our 4 month old in a back carrier (Tomy) last weekend. He didn't sleep, but he was very happy. The other babies I held off until 6 months old to put them in. I am sure there was a thread on MN before about this where people were saying they used the backpack carriers from 5 months plus.

But surely they crumple in any other vetical carrier, LiZS? LIke the Baby Bjorn? Is crumpling so bad?

zebra, you are right but Baby Bjorn type carriers are designed for smaller bodies and they tend to mean that the baby rattles around less and is a bit snugger with more head support ime. A framed backcarrier is designed for a bigger baby/toddler and they are harnessed more loosely. Do the soft type of carriers which can go either front or back also have a 6 month guideline for back use or can you switch whenever ? I don't think it is the position that is the issue, more the level of support.

btw we still take a back carrier on longer walks for dd aged 3.2 !!

we carried our twins in a bush baby back pack from about 5 months (but they were very little - a month early). They did look small in it but seemed perfectly happy and secure.

YUP, DD is 3+2 wks & still goes (back carrier) in the MacPac. The 4m-old baby is quite big -- about 2 outgrow clothes his brother was wearing at 11 months; that probably helps. His siblings would have swam in the backpack at this age. . We can still carry 3yo DD in the baby bjorn, actually.

Thanks for all this. DD is quite big... just over 75th centile... so her 5.5 months is easily another baby's 6 months. We got our Macpac on loan, so I don't have the guidelines... the friend who loaned it just said it wasn't supposed to be used before they can sit.

God, it's so great tho'. I love that you still use it for a 3 year old LIZS and zebra. I can see it's going to be the ultimate cure for my Wilkinet fatigue. Have run the gamut (sp?) of baby carriers generally, as DD has an aversion to any form of transport that doesn't crease my coats.

The idea of a 3 year old in a baby bjorn makes my shoulders ache in sympathy!