Osprey  Poco Child Carrier

We purchased this pack in store after trying it on with our 1 year old. We tried hiking with front carriers for our other two children. Those caused back pain after a few miles due to the added weight on your chest. This pack is very comfortable with the weight mostly around your waist, held secure with the shoulder straps, just like a traditional hiking pack. There are plenty of loops to hook water bottles, cameras, and zip-bags filled with snacks or other supplies. There are zippered pockets that we store diapers in when we are using the pack around town or at tourist destinations. We love how we can kick the stand out and let our son continue his nap, even when we've reached our resting spots.

I was so psyched to receive this as a gift, but very disappointed after our first hike with it. Two major problems. First, the adjustable seat that the child sits in does not stay in position. There's a quick and easy adjustment buckle for the seat height, but with the extra bouncing of walking down hill, it slips ever so slightly with each step. On every hike I went on, while walking down hill, the seat would ever so slowly lower itself, burying the baby in the back of the pack. My 6 month old only weighs 16 lbs, so it's not her weight. Second, the waist belt sucks. Come on Osprey, this is a waist belt for a day pack, not something that can distribute the weight of a pack carrying a child and gear. Very uncomfortable.

We have always loved Osprey products and have scored their items at least 4 and sometimes 5 stars. I was disappointed in this child carrier however. Received it today and everything was great in regard to construction and kid-safety. I am 5'10" and not overweight. I wear a size 10 or 12 pants. The padded portion of the waist belt was just barely 3/4 of an inch past the tip of my hip bones. Any person even a bit larger would have had zero padding on the belt. The two more expensive packs--well! they have "extended" belt padding. I ended up ordering the next price up, but felt very cheated. I paid for oversize shipping here, shipping back to return, oversize shipping for my next pack….Blah, Osprey! If the belt is sized to fit only women of normal weight who stand 5'7" or below, Osprey should put that IN THE SPECS!

We bought this two weeks ago and tried it out on a short 2 mile hike. It seems very comfortable for our 10 month old; he loves to gnaw on the load lifter straps and grabbing the hold strap. He even fell asleep after a while. The waist belt is ok. The Plus and Premium waist belts are a lot nicer but at a $60-$100 penalty. I'd like to have wider or thicker shoulder straps to help spread the load better. The pack loads up with weight fast. Our 10 month old weighs about 20 lbs., adding 3L of water, diapers, wipes, some snacks, you'll be looking at close to 40lbs including the weight of the pack. I like that the bottom storage compartment don't compress like the Plus and Premium but would like to have the waist belt from them. You can add a sunshade to round out the package. I'd avoid adding on a Daylite pack because you can really overload the pack with it if you plan on stuffing it all. Save the Daylite for when your child can walk along or carry it when they're not in the pack. Otherwise this is a great pack that will see years of use and has the ability to expand.

I first ordered the Poco Plus. Everything you've read about how comfortable that pack is correct. For me, I also like how its still relatively compact when when compared to other options like deuter, kelty, phil/ted, etc. But the one design flaw for me on the Plus and Premium is the kickstand; specifically that all of the bottom storage is dependent on the kickstand being deployed. The kickstand has been built into the pack itself, so when you fold it in - which it is designed to do - you lose almost all of the storage space in the bottom compartment. This was a deal breaker for me. So I went down a version to the Osprey Poco (not plus, not premium). The Poco is super lightweight and slimmed down. It does not have the storage pockets on the waist belt or the shoulder straps (which is OK with me). It still has the stirrups for the child's feet, which I wanted. The hood isn't included, but the price of the Poco and the sun/rain hood is still less expensive than the Poco Plus. But most importantly the kickstand is independent of the pack itself, meaning you can deploy or collapse the kickstand without sacrificing the storage space at the base of the pack. To me it was a no-brainer. I know everybody has an opinion, but to me the loss of storage on the Plus/Premium was a big deal. I went with the regular Poco and added the sun/rain hood separately and have been happy.

Just bought the Osprey child carrier, but already my little one loves riding inside. Very easy to use, and comfortable for both of us. The buckles which secure the child are located behind them, making it more secure for those clever children. Pack is lightweight and rides well on the shoulders. Can't wait to get it out on some longer hikes this summer.

I bought this just prior to our 18 mile hike with our two girls and purchased it due to the large storage capacity and built in sunshade. The sunshade was great and storage capacity was great! My 22 lb 1 year old never complained and my 37 lb 3 year old enjoyed the ride also but she thought the sunshade was a little small for her. The reason I rated this pack a 2 was that the hip belt KILLED my hips (right above that spare tire spot :) )! Granted, on our hike my pack with my 1 year old in it was ~45 lbs. I was fine for the first two miles and after those two miles is when the pack started to be uncomfortable and my hips would start to be sore and go numb. After looking at the design it was sore right about where the soft hip cushion goes into the airy back panel. I am 5'8" and 145 lbs and in pretty good physical condition. My husband 6'4" and 210 lbs traded me packs for a while and it was not very comfortable for him either and hurt his hips. I know everyone has a different style and fit, but this did not work for us and we actually took it back after our trip. Just wanted to put my two bits in for future buyers because before purchasing this pack I read a lot of reviews on all kinds of kid carrier backpacks!