What Should You Pick for Traveling: A Baby Carrier or a Stroller?

03/22/2016

Written by: EvelynTaylor

Many parents can probably relate to the next statement.

Traveling with children is like being the manager of a rock and roll band. Your kids are the wild and loud band members, your husband is like a hyped up groupie, and your clothes and things are the guitars, drums, and stage equipment. Traveling with your family and kids is often accompanied with hectic and chaotic moments.

Fortunately, there are ways to prevent such moments from occurring. In the many different trips I have taken with my family, the most important step in any successful family trip has always been the planning of the trip. In particular, one of those essential steps that is figuring out what to pack for the trip. Often times, the big dilemma revolves around:

Should I take a stroller or a baby carrier?

Choosing poorly can quickly ruin your family’s experience in the trip.

The two biggest questions you have to answer when making the crucial decision about whether to bring a stroller or a baby carrier are:

Where we going and what are the main things that we will be doing?

To make this article a little bit more interesting, I would like to share 2 great examples of families we know that took big family trips. One of these families made the right choice, while the other made a horribly wrong choice with their method of transporting their children. Let’s go over these shall we?

The first family – let’s also call them Family A – had always wanted to take a trip to a beach resort. Family A are an active family with two kids that wanted to splash in the waves and build sand castles on the beach. They knew that they would have a small cooler, a few beach chairs, beach towels, and an umbrella for shade. Partly because of the sheer amount of things they wanted to bring along with them to the beach, they decided to bring a double umbrella stroller.

(Photo Credits: Flickr)

They thought they could load the stroller with all their stuff and be able to cruise along the beach and find the perfect spot to spend the week.

Unfortunately, if you have ever walked on the beach with a stroller, you’ll know that you won’t be able to push the stroller very well. This, coupled with a stroller that is loaded down with supplies that are a “must have” for spending the day at the beach, made pushing the stroller on the beach impossible. Needless to say, they ended up spending multiple days at the small portion of the beach that was directly in front of their hotel.

The stroller was a great idea…if they were not planning to use it on the beach. It had all the benefits – the family was able to be mobile with their children, carry their food and drinks in a cooler, as well as other essential items. The beach was just not a prime place to be able to move around.

The second family – let’s call them Family B – went to visit their children’s uncle in downtown New York City. They knew that there would be a lot of moving around, sightseeing as well as lots of getting around the city with the use of the subway system. In addition, to do anything in New York City, you have to be able to tackle stairs. Luckily, Family B decided to bring a baby carrier. That along with a backpack, allowed them to easily explore the city and they ended up having a wonderful trip.

(Photo Credits: Flickr)

The downfall of having the baby carrier was that they were unable to have a storage place to load up and carry all the souvenirs that they unfortunately had to pass up.

I’m not saying that a stroller is a surefire to ruin a vacation or that taking a baby carrier will make everyone happy. There are positives and negatives to both options depending on where you are going and what you are doing. The key decision on whether to bring a stroller or a baby carrier really depends on the type of vacation you are taking and the terrain or circumstances you will be most likely to encounter. For example, if you’ll always be on the go, then a lightweight stroller or a baby carrier would work best. On the other hand, if you’re planning to go trail hiking with your twins, then a double jogging stroller would work best. Rest assured, there’s always a stroller that can meet your family’s needs.

Who’s The Writer?

Evelyn is the main person behind Mommy Stroller, which focuses on helping parents figure out which stroller they should get. Evelyn and her husband, Paul, decided to blog about strollers after the overwhelming feeling they experienced when trying to pick out their first stroller. Both of them enjoy spending time with family and friend, live music, and going on jogs with their kids (in a stroller).