Should we use the car seat or “baby wear” our daughter?

We were thinking of taking a family trip to the zoo. Our 6 YO daughter is 1‘5“ tall and 18 pounds due to dwarfism. typically when we are out with her, we carry her around in her car seat when she isn’t walking with us. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for when we are at the zoo with her?

Typically when you’re at the zoo you are looking all around, so I wanted to ask what others thought would be better given this. We could bring her car seat, which does have a stroller attachment. We also have a traditional stroller that she can sit in, and we also do have a baby carrier that we can wear. We don’t typically use the baby carrier just because of her age, but this would bring her up a lot higher so she will be able to see over the fences. She would be in sort of swaddled so to speak, in the baby carrier facing us, while I’m supporting. right around our chest level.

I just worry if she is in the stroller or in her car seat that she won’t be able to see above any of the fences. Even in the baby carrier I’m not sure if that would be very easy for her to be moving around in looking left and right etc.

Again typically we carry her in the car seat, with her walking around a little bit when she has the energy and isn’t very crowded. But given that we are at the zoo and she needs to be up a lot higher and also able to move around to look in all different directions what would y’all recommend?

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

Sidewinder · 36-40, M

🤔I think a car seat would be best for her.

(just my opinion)

Getsomehere

@Sidewinder in our car seat though she is pretty restrained even when she isn’t buckled in. It is just your typical infant bucket seat, so she is laid back and is pretty confined. I just worry she wouldn’t be able to sit up and look around at all the animals. When we are in the car typically she isn’t able to see out of the window because she’s stuck facing straight. And same thing with the stroller, she would be really low to the ground, she would have a little bit more movement but I’m thinking it would be pretty hard to see the animals from down there in the stroller.

I’m just curious why are you saying car seat over baby wearing?

Sidewinder · 36-40, M

@Getsomehere You want her to be safe, do you?

Getsomehere

@Sidewinder yes, I want her to be safe but also I want her to be able to see the animals. And when I talk about the car seat I mean carrying. Walking around with her either in the stroller, and the car seat, or I can baby wear.

I guess I’m confused why you’re talking about safety when we are just walking around. She would still be pretty safe in the stroller, just as much as she would be if I were to baby wear. We are just going to be walking around

Sidewinder · 36-40, M

@Getsomehere I meant in terms of automotive safety when it comes to the use of a car seat.

Getsomehere

@Sidewinder oh yes I agree with you there. For the car we have her in the infant bucket seat, and she is at the newborn recline with the infant insert. Due to her development we were told to keep her with this set up, plus she still has a lot of room to grow into the car seat. We made sure to get her a pretty comfy one also.