Hiking with a baby

[VTskier]

Well, I was x/c skiing with my daughter at the age of 6 weeks. I used a snuggly type carrier that holds the baby against your chest. I they would put my gore-tex shell over her. She sleep most of the time. Around 8 -12 months, we moved up to a Kelty carrier, and used that for many years. Never any problems. Just remember, lots of clothes for the baby, thick socks make great hand mittens. They're not moving, so need extra clothes.

We followed the same thing for my son, though he was much more a mover, so watch your balance. Also, for him, I built a pulk for winter skiing/snowshoeing and that works much better then carrying the child on your back.


We also bike a lot, and used a child seat for my daughter. Worked OK, but for my son, we bought a used Burley trailer and that is great. They can move around, provide then with a bottle and food, and a few toys and they'll be happy biking all day. When they're tired, they fall asleep comfortably. Doesn't throw the bike off balance when they lend to one side or the other. We just moved him up to a trail-a-bike, single wheel trailer bike (he's 5). Looks like more great biking this summer.

And yes, all this carrying and pulling is a great work out. And the biggest job is watching the kids grow up to enjoy the outdoors. My daughter is now on her highschool x/c running team, nordic team, and runs track. I can't keep up with her x/c anymore!

 

[newcomb family]

We have been bringing our son out in this handme down pack from relatives.
Don't know the brand. It fits ok, but I wouldn't want to go farther than a few miles in it.
He has been going out since about 3-4 months. We have been bringing him on walks with the dogs up a nearby ski slope nearly everyday. He loves getting out and really enjoys seeing the dogs run and play.

 

[percious]

I hike with my son A LOT. He is 8 months old, and has summited Soapstone mountain in Somers, CT over 6 times. (I know its small, but it is the closest thing around) I have taken him out since he was 6 weeks old, using the kelty kangaroo thingy.

Make sure you bundle your kid up well. They arent moving, so they get cold pretty quickly if the temp is below 50. I use a balaclava from Walmart ($1.96) on my son, and bought a down jacket off ebay ($25) as well as some snow pants ($5 ebay). I put fleece mits on his hands, and down booties on his feet (restoration hardware $6 on sale) and then cover both hands and feet with some of my own really thick wool socks. This seems sufficient down to about 20 degrees, which is the coldest I will take him out (and only if its not windy).

Bring a partner! I prefer going with my wife, but getting her to go is like pulling teeth. When my wife wont go, and my friend Will is available, he comes along. Its nice to have another person to haul bottles and such.

I have some advise if you are getting the kelty backpack. If it has the adjustable arm straps, then you will have to modify it. You have to put webbing internally to the pack to get the arm straps to stay put. Otherwise, they just slide up to the highest position the minute you put the pack on. It is a poor design. It works ok if you modify it though. I am also in the process of designing a pouch to carry stuff below the pack, because I am unimpressed with kelty's solution. Let me know if you are interested in plans when I am finished.

Above all HAVE FUN. Sing to your kids, they will love it, and it helps to keep them from being whiny. If nothing is going right, cut it short, and just remember that your kids have to enjoy the time for you to enjoy it!.

-percious

PS Sorry for the novel.

 

[Rick]

Snowshoe -
We havea 3.5 year old and while he is now a bit too big for our Kelty Kids Carrier (I beleive it equates to the Summit model now). I carried him everywhere for about 2 years, until last summer.

I especially enjoyed our evening strolls - I would put socks over his hands and shoes to protect him form the cold as the sun set. He was always leaning to my left to look past me to see where we were going. As he got older, he learned to play with my head as we hiked and I would reach back with my hands and play with his feet as we walked along.

As mentioned, you must be extremely careful with branches and that you don't trip ( I did slip and fall once coming down a mountain in Vermont and tried to crumple on my knees to save my little one He was unscathed and I had some bruises.)

But the joy I found wasn't even so much as the woods, but just walking down country roads in the evening, just him and I while Mom had a break. I'd point stuff out to him and Listen to him coo and gurgle and say words or as he got older, talk.- He would almost always fall asleep when we walked 3-4 miles in the evening.
Good Luck
Rick

 

[AlpineZone]

There was a really good thread on this topic on alpinezone.com over the summer. Greg B. and a few others had quite an interesting conversation about hiking with their young 'uns. Wish I could say I'd joined the crowd but I think I'm still a little too overprotective to take our now 18-month old hiking. Good luck.

Here's a link to the thread:

http://forums.alpinezone.com/viewtopic.php?t=520

Lots of good parenting information there, as well as a pic of us! I ended up with a Kelty Backcountry as I got a really good deal on it. I started hiking with my daughter in October (she was almost nine months), but only got out a few times last fall. I didn't take here out much in the winter except for a hike around the base while on a ski vacation at Loon and while cutting down the Christmas tree. She really enjoys riding in it. I tend to use it other places besides the trails - parks, around the neighborhood, cutting down the christmas tree, etc.

My advice would be to try it around the yard or neighborhood a few times (or even the mall ) to get used to strapping the little one in and getting the pack on. I would also recommend taking it easy while out with baby. If it's just me and my daughter we stick to flat mellow trails. Not that something can't happen there too, but you don't want to be in a tretcherous area with baby unless your wife or a friend is with you. If you get injured, you'll want someone around to get baby out.

Good advice here about sunscreen and bug repellent. Just start off slow, and congratulations!

 

[nietzschescat]

I registered just to reply to this post! We took my oldest daughter(now 20)hiking for the first time when she was 1 month old. I had a corduroy pouch type carrier that had a zipper of some sort so I could breast feed her while I was walking with a great deal of privacy. She was warm against my body and I could tuck her under my coat. We got an inexpensive backpack when she got too big for the pouch and used it for both of our daughters.
They do tend to bounce around a lot and pull your hair and one of them threw their Daddy's hat off a mountain, but it was all worth it to be in the woods.
We mostly hiked easier trails when they were small like the access trails to the AT in Massachusetts.
It gets a little more challenging when you can't carry them, but my oldest daugher hiked Giant Ledge in the Catskills when she was 6 and we carried the little one.
They've been camping all over: Adirondacks, Catskills,Vermont(where it always rains),Maine,New Hampshire,Canada. My oldest daugher went on a 20 mile backpacking trip in the Adirondacks in October and the little one is a cross country runner.
I remind them now when we're hiking how I used to carry them up mountains.