Is Pikkolo the carrier for us?

[emily]

DD is nearly 13 months old. She almost 30" long, weighs about 23lbs. We're expecting baby #2 in December. I'm not sold on getting a double stroller yet since we dont use the stroller much anyway. (We have a Zippy, which I love for the fold, but it's just soooo heavy). Since we used the Bjorn more in the beginning than the stroller, I'm thinking we may be able to get away without a double stroller and just a better carrier and our single stroller. BTW, we havent used the Bjorn in months... the back pain!!!!

I'm on the petite side while DH is more stocky. He has nearly 90lbs on me. Pikkolo seems to have the most options and adjustability for size difference.

Also, realistically speaking, Pikkolo says weight limit is 45 lbs. Does anyone out there actually carry around their 45 lbs child? How long do you actually use it?

And where can I get a good deal?
Thanks!

[vahnessuh]

I think the Pikkolo is your best bet since there is a huge size difference between your husband and yourself.

I have the Pikkolo and I love it a lot. Even if my husband and I take turns carrying our daughter in it, we could customize the fit in no time. While our size difference is not that huge compared to your husband and yours... but our torso lengths are way way different. My husband has a long torso while I have a short one. Go figure, we have the exact same length from the hips down! But he's 5'8 and I'm only 5'2.

Even my mom and dad take turns with the Pikkolo... my dad is the same size as my husband while my mom is very petite - less than 100 lbs and under 5 ft.

I haven't seen anyone carry a 3 year old kid before... so I don't know whether anyone actually use a baby carrier to its maximum weight capacity.

As for deals... if you don't mind not having the new Pikkolo, theportablebaby.com has the old styles for $109. http://www.theportablebaby.com/pikkolo.html

[jenny]

I think the soft-structured carriers that put the weight on your hip and waist and not on your back or shoulders like the bjorn, are the way to go.

You won't regret investing in one b/c it feel so much better on your body.

I have a beco butterfly 2 and find it to be very comy for putting DD on my front and on my back. She is 30 inches and 22 pounds at 9.5 months. We don't use the stroller much b/c she doesn't really like being in the stroller. We could never carry her around if we were still using our baby bjorn. Even with the lumbar support, it was just too painful.

If your your child still wants to be carried around on the back at 45 pounds, there are larger toddler carries out there like the kanga XT, which you can upgrade to at a later time.