Pros & cons of various baby-transport options

Advantages of a carrier

• You can go anywhere you can walk--no worries about stairs, awkward doors, narrow store aisles, etc.
• Baby stays warmer
• It's easier to protect a little one from animals, rain
• Interaction with baby is easier
• Babies are often calmer when held against the body in a carrier, compared to sitting on their own in a stroller
• Our carrier can be chucked in the washing machine to clean it
• Carriers take up much less space in your home when not in use or when travelling
• Carriers can be inexpensive (from $10 to make a simple fabric wrap to $130 for a more structured carrier like our Beco) compared to strollers

Advantages of a stroller

• You can carry heavier items in cargo basket
• No back strain issues
• You can see your feet & are less likely to stumble
• It's much easier to use the washroom alone
• Our baby seems to sleep longer in the stroller
• It's easier to protect baby from the wind with the stroller weather cover
• You can attach toys for baby to play with

We make extensive use of both stroller & carrier, as our main modes of transportation are walking & transit. We've started using the carrier more for bus trips recently because if the bus is busy, it's too difficult to get on & off with the stroller. However, for grocery shopping (the few things we don't get delivered from SPUD) it's very handy to use the stroller as a shopping cart. Recently we bought an 8kg bucket of laundry detergent & just stuffed it into the basket, no problem. I would never have even bothered to buy in that quantity if I'd had to carry it in my hands on the ten-minute walk home.

I realize most of this list is only applicable to parents of one baby. If we had another child, or twins, it would be a different story. Can you add anything to my lists above? Do you use a stroller or a carrier more? Why?