Hiking with a 6 m/o who likes to have her arms out

[abbagirl2017]

So my baby has loved being worn in my moby wrap until recently (4 mos) when she started fighting me the second her arms got tucked in. She fights being worn now until she’s got both hands out, and has basically rolled the back support down so she can lean out and look at everything, so I’ve stopped wearing her for the past few weeks. I was looking at getting a linen wrap to do some hiking this spring/summer, but her new desire to have her arms out seems like it might not be the best choice. Also, we live in the southeastern US, so a wrap might be a horribly hot choice anyways. Looking for some good recommendations that she might like, and would be cool enough all summer. I’m thinking she might like to be outward facing for an extended period of time, as she’s very observant and LOVES looking at everything.

I’ve done some Facebook and google searching and can’t find any evidence of an active baby wearing group near me to try something out, so I’m planning on making a purchase based off of reddit reviews and a return policy.

 

[drumchannell]

@abbagirl2017 I love my Happy baby carrier. My LO likes his arms out too. It’s comfortable, light, and easy to pack away. Also the resale value is amazing on the carriers. The Facebook BST group is super active too.

 

[belive007]

@abbagirl2017 For summer hiking, I like something with mesh. Also we tend to like a little more structure for hiking.

A meh dai with a high back carry or a buckle carrier are what I would look at. Kinderpack seems to fit lots of different body types for babies and caregivers. They also have a Koolknit option.

As long as baby can get their arms out but still have support to their shoulders, they should be properly supported in the carrier.

Hike it Baby might be another organization to look into.

 

[abbagirl2017]

@belive007 There’s a hike it baby in my area! Thank you for the suggestion. Based on the Facebook group, it seems to be a pretty small group, and mostly toddlers, but they have a stroller friendly hike near us tomorrow, so I may go to that and see if anyone there has baby wearing advice, too.
And I was kind of thinking about a meh dai option earlier when I was trying to figure out if there was a baby wearing group in my area to try something in person.

 

[versavia]

@abbagirl2017 You can do arms out whenever baby wants as long as the wrap goes up to her shoulder blades for support. There are many carries you can do with a woven wrap that are good for “leaners” if you’re concerned about it. Adding: a linen wrap would be nice and breathable in the heat too.

 

[abbagirl2017]

@versavia A linen wrap might be a good idea. The only kind I have right now is the original moby, and I can’t seem to make that one work well with my little leaner, since it doesn’t have the same type of support as a woven. And it just stretches more and then rolls over onto itself when she leans out, so eventually there’s pretty much nothing supporting her except my hand...which defeats the purpose of wearing her. I was hoping my area had some sort of baby wearing group so I could test out a wrap before I invested money into it, but they don’t seem to exist. I’m the only person in my friend group that has done any amount of baby wearing, so I don’t know anyone “real” I can go to for advice, either.

 

[versavia]

@abbagirl2017 Check out the fb group “Babywearing on a Budget”. You can find very affordable used wraps on there! I definitely agree that a woven will be much better than your moby. Properly adjusted, you will not have those issues with her leaning. She may still lean a bit but the wrap will not stretch like that and it will still hold her.