Understanding Baby's Development - 5 months to 18 months
At 5 months, most babies would have achieve neck control. Weight wise the baby would be weighing between 6 to 9kgs. Through the next few months, your baby would be developing balance and strength to row over, sit by themselves, crawl and about 11 to 14 months old start cruising and walking. Their weight will increase steadily from 5 months old till they turn one year when they start walking, grow taller and the weight gain becomes more gradual from then on. At one year old, your child should weigh between 8 to 12kgs. At 18 months, most toddlers would weight between 10 to 14kgs.
This is the phase of your baby's life that carrying your baby is something very essential yet it gets progressively tougher to carry them comfortably with their increasing weight. Babies and toddlers of this age continues to need a lot of sleep and napping throughout the day is common and required for healthy growth. When they are awake, kids of this age loves to see the world. Upright carry is the preferred position now compared to the curled up position when they were younger. A good baby carrier can make carrying your baby a painless affair and allow your child to learn from observing you and the world around them.
The key need that a good baby carrier must cater to for babies of this age group is essentially help parents carry their child's increasing weight comfortably. As parents would likely be more mobile and adventurous with babies of this age, the flexibility and ease of use of the baby carrier for different carrying positions and for different occasions such as hiking, traveling becomes determining factors for selection of a suitable carrier as well.
Selecting the Most Suitable Baby Carrier for Babies 5
months to 18 months
The recommended baby carrier for babies from 5 months to 18 months is the ergonomic soft structured baby carriers which includes Mei Tais, Backpack Carriers and Hip Carriers. These carriers ergonomically allow carrying babies 10 to 15kgs. The relatively ease of use also make them the preferred choice for carrying toddlers that needs to get in and out of the carriers often.
Baby ring slings and pouch slings are excellent for younger babies, however as your child grows, they will breach the comfort weight limit for extended periods of carrying (about 30mins). The baby slings can continue to be use for shorter periods of carrying or for baby nursing purposes but they are not recommended for extended periods of carrying.
Baby wraps have better ergonomics than the baby slings and can still be use comfortably with the increased weight of the child. However, it gets relatively more challenging to use when the child grows taller and needs to get in and out the carrier often.
