Rose and rebellion

[fififrog]

tried one of these for a couple of minutes the other day and found it really comfy. Was thinking of getting something like that because we have a long holiday coming up and baby bjorn getting a bit uncomfy for me now at nearly 6mo.

Can anyone tell me of they're ok for longish carries ie for a walk where one might otherwise use a rucksack type?

Also, can anyone recommend anything similar, And if so what are the reasons you prefer your recommendation? I was particularly keen on the shoulder straps on the r&r, they seemed really nice and padded.

Cheers!

We have one for DS and I love it, but he is 13mo now and its getting too small tbh. It doesn't go knee-to-knee anymore - it is still comfy for us both, but if your baby is over 12m or very big I'd look at getting something bigger.

They are great on long walks though, I've carried DS for miles in ours. Lots better than a framed rucksack IMO as it holds the baby close so keeps your centre of gravity better.

My dd is only 2 months so obviously not as heavy as your Lo but I have had her in our r&r for over 8 hours on 2 separate occasions and been really comfortable the whole time. I love it! Your little one is probably old enough to go on your back too which means you could swap them from front to back if you did start to ache a bit.

I have a patapum which I think is very similar to rose and rebellion but 3 years ago when I bought mine they were considerably cheaper. R&R do come in a much nicer range of designs which would have tempted me if I'd had enough spare cash, patapums are very boring to look at (although I've got an iron-on dragon for mine which makes it slightly more interesting).

DS1 wasn't small and I was comfortable with him in a back carry until he was nearly 2, I probably would have carried on longer if I hadn't been pregnant. Generally they start walking longer stretches themselves as they get heavier so you don't end up carrying them as much when it's really hard work. It's loads easier trying to hold a toddler's hand, when they're walking, if you've only got a carrier on, when you're trying to manoeuvre a buggy with the other hand it all gets very complicated.

"Can anyone tell me of they're ok for longish carries ie for a walk where one might otherwise use a rucksack type?" - Absolutely. I would always pick a soft carrier like the Rose and Rebellion over a framed backpack. Framed backpack carriers are heavier in themselves, and then hold the child further away from your back (and therefore from your centre of gravity) so tend to put a lot more strain on your back.

The downsides with the R&R for me were that the straps were too long in a back carry (I find this a problem with a lot of buckle carriers), and it isn't particularly big, so doesn't last as long as some others.

The ergo is a little bigger, and more suitable for longer, but you can't cross the straps across your back in a front carry like you can with the R&R. Beware the number of fakes floating around on ebay and buy from a reputable supplier though.

Other possibilities are the Manduca, Sleepy Nico, Angelpack, Boba 2g, Beco Butterfly etc. For back carries I like the Ergo best. If you want to do front as well as back I'm less sure which is my preference.