For parents with young kids, hiking doesn’t stop; it just changes. There’s nothing like seeing your preschooler exploring the outdoors with unfiltered excitement at the discovery of it all: turning over rocks, stomping through puddles, spotting an amazing bug. It never gets old.

Well, one thing gets old: carrying your tramping toddler, whose activity and size are outgrowing the traditional framed carrier, and their stamina is, um, highly variable. They can run ahead with seemingly boundless energy, then bonk miles from the trailhead (no matter how many candy bribes you’ve brought). More and more parents are discovering that Step Caddy fills that gap: Designed for kids ages 2 to 5, it’s a unique, minimalist, piggyback-style carrier built for the pick-me-up-put-me-down rhythm of hiking with little explorers.

Featherweight at less than two and a half pounds and packing down to a compact bundle, the Step Caddy vanishes into almost any daypack until you need it. Whip it out, have your kid step in, clip the magnetic fasteners, and you’re back hiking in seconds. Compared with the bulky frames of traditional kid carriers, the packability alone makes it ideal for trail-bound families who don’t want to haul a heavy and rigid child-carrying rig.

The standing “piggyback-style” carrying position is also a radical and welcome departure from conventional child carriers. Kids stand upright on the Step Caddy platform and face forward, which keeps curious peepers engaged with the trail and communicating with you rather than slumped behind with a view of your sweaty back. Mounting and dismounting is simple: all your kiddo has to do is step into the stirrups. They can also hop on and off without help—a huge advantage when “hiking” means alternating between your kid sprinting ahead and demanding a lift. The Step Caddy practically encourages your child to walk and explore as much as they can.

Unlike backpack-style carriers that place strain on your back and shoulders and can feel wobbly and unstable, the Step Caddy’s biomechanics-focused design uses a patented load-bearing waistbelt with integrated stirrups to transfer the majority of the child’s weight directly to your hips (bypassing your spine). By keeping the child’s center of mass close to yours, the system avoids a top-heavy ride and makes scrambling over uneven rocks or navigating steep, narrow switchbacks feel stable and natural. Neat feature: When you lean, the waistbelt naturally sways the child in the other direction, helping you maintain a centrally balanced posture in any terrain. Even with heavier or active kids, it feels more like carrying a small pack than a wriggling human passenger.

The Step Caddy is designed for the rigors of the trail and of young kids. The tough, 1,680-denier ballistic nylon construction is built for hand-me-down durability through years of hiking and going to concerts, zoos, national parks, theme parks, trips to the grandparents, or wherever your active family outings lead.

If you’re a parent of young kids who wants to carry less, move more, and keep the adventure going, the Step Caddy is a game-changer.

Plumfish LLC, headquartered in California, is the creator of Step Caddy®, an innovative standing piggyback child carrier for active families. Engineered with patented, hip-loading technology to reduce strain and boost comfort, Step Caddy helps parents go farther with kids ages 2-5. For more information, visit stepcaddy.com.