What I believe is that all men will be punished for their own sins - so needing to get ride of Adam's transgression in the garden isn't needed. I also believe that one of the main points of baptism is that it is an outward acceptance and acknowledgment that you are going to follow Christ as your Lord and Savior. A more wide spread comparison can be why do people have marriage ceremonies when really they could just say "Yup, we know it our heart and everything so why do we need to go through a ceremony?" Logically we can think of lots of reasons not to, but something inside us says that it is important to go through the ceremony.
With that in mind, I do believe that a child needs to be old enough to know what they are getting into. I was told the other day that 8 years old (when LDS children get baptized) is actually a minimum date, not a set in hard fast rule, to help with the administration of the church ordinances. It is up to each individual Bishop to seek revelation as to if an individual is ready to be baptized.
When I was 8 years old, I knew a lot about the gospel (or so I thought) and I remember that a member of the Ward Presidency came to my house and asked to speak with me alone. He asked me questions about Jesus and God and John the Baptist and dug around to make sure that I knew what I was doing. Looking back, I've never doubted that I entered the waters of baptism fully aware of the choice I was making. In contrast, I have an older sister who passed away as a baby. I've never doubted that she is innocent and with Jesus waiting for the rest of us.
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