Infant Carrier for Large Baby

bjorns are horrible carriers. Try an ergo they are wonderful :) I can wear my 30 lb 3 year old on my back no problem with it and its easy to put on.
As far as a car seat goes they do make infant carriers that go to 32 lbs but its probably not worth the money. I say get a convertible car seat that will allow you to rear face for quite a while like a graco my ride. At that point you can just put the ergo on and put him in the carrier on your front or back.

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Yeah Bjorns aren't much good after 10-12 lbs. We moved to an Ergo around that time & I still use it on my 27 lb toddler.
I am a big lady so it works for me. If you're petite or short you might consider the Beco. Its just as wonderful but caters to a smaller frame a bit better I feel.
I've heard good things about the Lillebaby so you might check that one out too. (If you have a Buy Buy Baby in your town, they will show you how to use the carriers and you can see for yourself which you like).

Good luck!

The Ergo baby carrier is suppose to be great. Everyone I know that has one, loves it. I've also heard good things about the Beco baby carrier.

My son was 22 pounds at 6 months so I feel your back pain. I switched him from the baby bjorn to the ergo carrier and it is much easier on my back. He is 9 months old and I still carry him in the carrier (though I'm not sure for how much longer). Good luck!

We bought my Big-Boy a 'Graco Snugride 35' at about 6 months. The Graco...35 accommodates a kid up to 35" AND 35 lbs. The weight issue was similar to yours, but he was too tall to safely ride in his other carrier. A baby must have at least an inch from the top of his head to the edge of the car seat. I have read that length of legs makes no difference when it comes to appropriate fit for safety (who knew?), and even if the legs are touching you do not turn the baby around till at least a year (up to 2 years now if you can). As far as your other issue, I would just hipsling my son at that point (no, I was never good at the fancy slings) with a Peanut Shell brand sling-no rings, straps, buckles. The elasticity provided enough support to take the stress off my back. Good luck!

Ergo or patapum toddler

There are many, many carriers out there that are far better for you and the baby than the Bjorn (which is bad for your back and bad for the babies hips and spine). You can either go the route of an Ergo or Beco (which would be the most similar to the Bjorn you're used to but much, much, much better for you and baby). Or there are woven wraps (my personal favorite), ring slings or mei tais. A great resource for learning about all the different baby carriers is www.thebabywearer.com . It is an on-line community based around baby wearing. The ladies there will certainly be able to help you figure out what is the best carrier for you and your LO.

I have a Calyx from Mama by Design...it is a buckle type Mei Tai carrier. I love it. I bought it when my daughter got too long from me to comfortably carry her in front in the Moby Wrap (I never could master a back carry). She is 3.5 now and about 35 pounds...she is still within its weight limit and I keep it in the car for emergencies...or when we travel.

We adore our Baby K'tan and have seen it successfully used with toddlers.

Both my kids outgrew our britax infant carrier at about 6 months, and the Bjorn too. The bjorn gave me terrible back pain. I got a lillebaby everywear carrier, which is like a bjorn but can be used side or back as well and LOVE IT. I carried our 10 month-old all over Disney World in it. We also stick with Britax carseats (Boulevard, Frontier,and Regent) and LOVE THEM!

I love my sleepy wrap. My son is also large and is very clingy. It's a wrap so it does have lot of fabric to deal with, but I still love it away. It's adjustable to you and for the baby.

I have a mayawrap and I love it. Have used it for both of my kids. It will hold a little one up to 35lbs. As long as you have it on correctly it is very comfortable. I carried my 17lb 10 month old around sea world all day and my back never hurt once. It's very versatile too as far as ways to carry baby.

Given his current weight you are most likely not going to find a seat that will be easily taken in and out of the car. Most infant seats like that only go up to around 22lbs at the most. Most are 20lbs so you need to get that little pumpkin a new seat pronto.

One thing we did because my daughter's Britax couldn't be taken in and out of the car was to carry the infant seat that was my son's in the back of our suv and I'd pop her in that after taking her out of the car if I wasn't going to be wearing her.

For the car seat-Look at the Britax website. They have a cool feature where you plug in baby's size and it gives you all the seats that work for you. We have 3 Britax seats in our house and I wouldn't trade them for the world!

It is now recommended that infants/toddlers stay rear-facing till age 2 so look for a convertible seat that will take you rear-facing into the 30lb+ range. Our seat will go to 33 or 35 lbs. rear and up to 65lbs foreword facing

I used a metal frame backpack for my big boy ... wraps would have been great, but none ever fit OR distributed his weight correctly

http://www.rei.com/kids/Baby+Carrier+Backpacks?cm_re=toc*...

Get a convertable car seat that can be rear or forward facing. We've had a few different Graco models and all have been good. I have heard good things about Ergo carriers but at 20 lbs I just used a stroller. It is worth having a good one if just to let your back recover occasionally.

Ergobaby Carrier. My 2 boys are 30 pounds plus, still fit in them on long hikes. Very comfortable!! HIGHLY recommend! Weight is evenly distributed to the hips, where it should be.

Here is one more vote for either the Ergo or Beco. I have both but tend to use the Ergo more. My husband prefers the Ergo so that is usually the carrier we keep handy. Both are great though.

I too favor the Ergo. I carry my 25-lb daughter in it all the time. I started with the Björn and found the Ergo MUCH easier on my back; the weight is placed almost completely on the hips, not the back. It is also better for the child's spine. The child can be front or back, but do know he can't be in the front facing out (don't know about the Beco) if that's important to you.
Best of luck!
S.

We stopped using a carrier at a very young age and went to a stroller full time when outside the car. it was so much easier. The babies get very heavy and when you add the weight of the car seat it just made sense to use the stroller. You can use them walking, shopping, going to anywhere.

I hope you got the information you were looking for, you must be VERY strong to be able to carry your child around all the time.

I don't know if this helps or not but I did have a Bjorn and super loved it with all the safety clips and I could easily put her down when she was sleeping. Very comfortable for me and soft back straps.

Although I didn't use it a whole lot so I am not sure if I would have gotten a back problem

But I am now interested in the Ergo if I have another one just to see how it compares

When we went on big walks/trips/zoo etc. We invested in a Kelty Tour BackPack Carrier. It was spendy so depends on how much you want to spend and how much you would use it but my husband carried her around when she got bigger. Very Very comfortable with the extra padded waist strap and when you take it off, it can stand by itself. It came with an easy very safe rain guard. She was so excited to go for a ride on it but hated us strapping her in it but once he pulled her up she would laugh and forget.

We got good long use out of that thing. It is light too.

Best

My son is big like yours - 21 lbs at 8 months.

This website http://www.babywearer.com/ is incredibly valuable for info on this.

I also recommend trying to find a local babywearing group (you can search for one on the above site) and/or go to a store that sells carriers to try on several and see what works for you. I know of a couple of stores but they are a bit of a trip from Danbury. http://www.facebook.com/#!/WaddlenSwaddle and http://www.metrominis.com/

I have an Ergo and like it, but would LOVE a Beco. But these are what is known as soft-structred carriers - there are a whole range of options out there beyond these.

I moved my son into his convertible car seat - rear facing - at 7 months, and he is much more comfortable in the car. Plus it is a killer to carry one of those things with a heavy baby in it! We will be doing extended rear-facing for safety reasons . Here is an article with more info on that http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/StayRearFacing.aspx.

If I were you and I was having back pain, why don't you just put him in a
stroller? As far as car seats, he should be able to stay in his infant
carseat until he can face forward. Infants do most of their growing in the
first several months so chances are he will not continue to grow fast
and will be able to stay in seat. If not, you need a convertible seat. One
that is rear facing and converts to forward when baby is 1 yr.

My son was the same way and out grew his by 6 months. I bouth a Graco MyRide 65 and like if FAR better than my Britax.

I do teach babywearing (and breastfeeding and instinctive parenting) and can honestly say that my BabyHawk saved my sanity. It is easy to get on and off and frees your arms to zip in and out of a store. I would get a TODDLERHAWK size though. They hold up to 40 lbs and you can wear the baby front or back. Love mine!

http://www.mymammasmilk.com/BABY-HAWK.html

I understand totally! We ended up buying the Graco My ride 65. we used the Evenflo Aura Elite until he was about 10 months old (he was born 9lb5oz...he's almost one and weighs about 30lbs)

I suggest the Baby Bjorn Comfort carrier. It's design is for bigger babies.

I love the Ergo baby carrier. You can carry the baby on the hip, on the back, or in the front. It doesn't hurt my back and I still carry my daughter in the front. She weighs 18 lbs. The only difficult thing to do with the Ergo is snap the strap that goes around your shoulders if you carry the baby in the front. I found the infant seats to be too heavy after my daughter weighed about 14 lbs and I don't know if they make any for babies over 20 lb. We we just bought Britax seats and installed them in the rear-facing position.

Get a backpack - that way he can still see, but you can go long distances walking without back pain - and you can set it down to standing mode and let him look around or sleep at the park without having to have him on your back.