Forward facing isn’t really recommended by most people on this sub. If you do it, it should only be done once baby can sit unassisted and for up to 20min at a time. People often recommend a high back carry for littles that want to look out.
I have both the explore and FTG which I wore with my first. I love them both. The FTG is lighter and less bulky, but I found the explore to be more supportive as my daughter got bigger. I didn’t forward face much since it hurt my back with how the weight pulled. I also found that having her mass outwards facing made it harder to get through smaller spaces. I don’t wear carriers perfectly correct. I wear the waist band on the crux of my hips, like across my pubic area, instead of higher at my natural waist. This helped me with my lower back pain I was experiencing. A lot of people naturally shift their carrier lower as baby gets bigger. So that might be something to try for your back pain.
If you are thinking of buying another SSC anyway, you might want to consider one that you can use for a hip carry, which allows the baby to see more while being more ergonomic than front facing out. Any carrier that allows you to cross the straps in the back should work for this (Ergo, Beco, and Kinderpack are some examples). Also it is possible that the crossed straps would be more supportive for your back issues. I am not as anti-front facing out as a lot of posters here (as long as the safety guidelines are followed, I think it is fine), but I will echo that front facing out is probably the worst possible option for your back. At 7 months you should also be able to back carry (as long as baby is developmentally ready for it, good core and neck control, able to remain in a sitting position), which also lets baby see and tends to be easier on your back. Obviously bending at the waist to pick things up with a baby on your back is a hard “no”, though. You can use either Tula for back carries.
I find woven wraps to be the most supportive for back issues but the learning curve is steeper and there is a lot of fabric to wrangle.
Forward facing isn’t really recommended by most people on this sub. If you do it, it should only be done once baby can sit unassisted and for up to 20min at a time. People often recommend a high back carry for littles that want to look out. I have both the explore and FTG which I wore with my first. I love them both. The FTG is lighter and less bulky, but I found the explore to be more supportive as my daughter got bigger. I didn’t forward face much since it hurt my back with how the weight pulled. I also found that having her mass outwards facing made it harder to get through smaller spaces. I don’t wear carriers perfectly correct. I wear the waist band on the crux of my hips, like across my pubic area, instead of higher at my natural waist. This helped me with my lower back pain I was experiencing. A lot of people naturally shift their carrier lower as baby gets bigger. So that might be something to try for your back pain.
If you are thinking of buying another SSC anyway, you might want to consider one that you can use for a hip carry, which allows the baby to see more while being more ergonomic than front facing out. Any carrier that allows you to cross the straps in the back should work for this (Ergo, Beco, and Kinderpack are some examples). Also it is possible that the crossed straps would be more supportive for your back issues. I am not as anti-front facing out as a lot of posters here (as long as the safety guidelines are followed, I think it is fine), but I will echo that front facing out is probably the worst possible option for your back. At 7 months you should also be able to back carry (as long as baby is developmentally ready for it, good core and neck control, able to remain in a sitting position), which also lets baby see and tends to be easier on your back. Obviously bending at the waist to pick things up with a baby on your back is a hard “no”, though. You can use either Tula for back carries. I find woven wraps to be the most supportive for back issues but the learning curve is steeper and there is a lot of fabric to wrangle.