Visiting national parks: backpack carrier for 5 month old baby?

We're going on vacation for 2 weeks to national parks including
Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, etc. and I'd really like to get a
backpack carrier for our baby who will be 5 1/2 months when we go.

Luna...

We took a similar trip when my little one was 8 months old. How I wish we
had found the Ergo baby carrier before I used that awful, expensive, bulky
baby backpack for two weeks of hiking! I "discovered" the ergo a few months
after the trip, and 1.5 years later still use it daily, for hours at a time.
It's sooo comfortable, and much more versatile than the baby backpack.
You can find them for less on ebay etc. I love my ergo!
Have fun on the trip - it's a beautiful part of the country.
Hannah

BTW, ditch the Bjorn. It's not healthy for the baby's hips/spine, and
notoriously uncomfortable for mom/dad.

Irene...

I'll second the rec for an Ergo (or Patapum or Sutemi) as good for
hiking. Ok, not from personal experience, but have heard lots of raves
about them. They take up very little space when you aren't using them,
and you can even get little backpack attachments for the Ergo so you
can carry stuff as well as the baby. (I recently gave one to friends
for a baby shower gift.) They are better for hiking than a mei tai
largely because you don't have the dangling straps issue, and since
they aren't pretty fabric, you don't feel like you have to worry about
it getting dirty as much. (I have a Kozy and love it, but if I was
doing a 2 week hiking trip with a 5 1/2 month old, I'd be shelling out
for one of the ones I listed above.)

Btw, while it is recommended to have someone help you for your first
back carries, it *is* possible to get a baby on your back by yourself
with practice (over a soft surface!). For more advice on carries, etc,
as lots of reviews and links to different places to buy carriers.
(They aren't affiliated with any particular company - it's completely
non-preferential.)

I've been looking around online and in stores here (We live in France
so we don't have access to the same brands as in the US). Two of the
more popular brands here, Deuter & Millet, claim that their backpacks
are only for babies who can sit up by themselves. So I've been working
with our baby to teach her how to sit up by herself, not really to
teach her, but to practice and strengthen her abdominal and back
muscles. She's making a lot of progress but I'm not sure she's going
to be able to do it in the month before we leave on out trip.

So I'm curious if there are backpacks in the US that don't require the
baby to be able to sit up by themselves? We arrive in San Francisco
and will be stopping at a bay area Babies R Us to buy some supplies
before heading to the parks. So if there is a particular brand that is
sold by BRU then that would be perfect. Any and all experiences are
welcomed!

I forgot to mention that we have a Baby Bjorn active carrier but both
my wife & I are skinny and we find that it really hurts our shoulders.
I can't tolorate it for more than 30 minutes.

cjrohr31...

I am reasonably certain that all the backpack carriers require the baby
be old enough to sit up. Check out rei.com and campmor.com for some
samples.

It is possible to strap baby to the back using a sling (or sarong) -
I've certainly seen plenty of women do it in Africa and Asia, but that
may take some practice.

Ericka Kammerer...

There are other carriers designed to do this
as well, like the Kozy Carrier and Mei Tai and such.
They provide more support than a backpack carrier and
can be used earlier. Better yet, they're much more
compact to pack than a backpack and are more versatile.
They do take a little practice, but aren't terribly
complicated to use.

Best wishes,
Ericka