My 5 month old controls his head just fine. It all depends on the individual kid.
(EDIT: See the picture's sideways and he's still Holding his head up just fine.)
Last edited by Sarcasm the elf; 04-16-2015 at 20:23.
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
Thanks for the input everyone! Once I get everything figured out and give it a go I will let y'all know how it went down.
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I lugged my kids on my back fairly frequently, but limited it to day trips. Even on the longer ones, it was still much easier to deal with the logistics of feedings and diapers once or twice, rather than many more times over a few days. One had an uncanny habit of always hitting his diaper when we were stopped at a particularly prominent rock formation, lol. I do think their love of hiking was certainly influenced by some of those early "rides."
I too recommend car camping for your first time out with the baby. You can use it as a base camp and do day hikes. We took a 3 year old and a 5 month old camping/hiking in the alps. We used a sack for strollers as the sleeping bag and then wrapped it in a down vest. She stayed toasty. We had a great time with her and until today she loves the outdoors.
I used a back carrier pack with my daughter when she was 6 months old. There's nothing like having a little hiking buddy right next to your face, someone to talk to & touch.
She doesn't remember the hikes, but BOY did she have fun during them. And I do think they influenced her love of nature now.
Go for it. Young or old..... it does not matter. I wish more parents would attempt what your going to do.
Have a great time!
naturalred.wordpress.com
I've been on the trail carrying a baby, sterilizing breast pump parts in a cookpot over a fire (sometimes the kid doesn't drink as much as you think), sleeping in winter storms aka checking on the baby every 10 minutes throughout the night. It's hard, but times I won't forget. You will realize the vulnerability of our early ancestors and the complete lack of control we had over our environment and how attitude can be an asset or a liability.
P.s. You can vac seal diapers down into a reasonable size and use them in the back support area of the pack. Be sure to plan to stop for breast feeding breaks for baby and mom. Bring a sitpad, actually bring a closed cell foam that you can roll out easily for mom/baby naps. You can learn to sit quietly or do pushups and support the group without a gripe or pressure about getting somewhere. Carrying the baby up front in a wrap is nice and provides a blanket play/area in downtimes, but it gets hot and the thing gets dirty (oh well) the backpack is good but then they fall asleep and their head flops, so you carry them in your arms or walk like a waiter to smooth the ride, don't trip! a basket might be nicea basket on a pack animal. yes! I've zipped two bags together for a giant quilt, and used individual bags for all of us. I also have used a down vest/jacket as a light sleeping bag for the baby. I put one sleeping bag, rainjacket, diapers, umbrella and kid in the kidbackpack. We put all the other gear, food/majority of water in the other backpack. I've also had them ride on my shoulders and made a lil seatback with a closed cell roll on the top of the pack. This is comfortable and works well for the adult, but i think the kid gets a lil uncomfortable and you gotta watch out on downhills and the brush in general. It's an experience. Have fun! Check out Pine Mountain, GA it's not epic territory, but an easy place to go and check out family camping. GL
See ya when I get there.
Awesome info - and yes, I'm the more I start totaling up the gear a pack animal is looking better all the time
Originally Posted by soulrebel
I've been on the trail carrying a baby, sterilizing breast pump parts in a cookpot over a fire (sometimes the kid doesn't drink as much as you think), sleeping in winter storms aka checking on the baby every 10 minutes throughout the night. It's hard, but times I won't forget. You will realize the vulnerability of our early ancestors and the complete lack of control we had over our environment and how attitude can be an asset or a liability.
P.s. You can vac seal diapers down into a reasonable size and use them in the back support area of the pack. Be sure to plan to stop for breast feeding breaks for baby and mom. Bring a sitpad, actually bring a closed cell foam that you can roll out easily for mom/baby naps. You can learn to sit quietly or do pushups and support the group without a gripe or pressure about getting somewhere. Carrying the baby up front in a wrap is nice and provides a blanket play/area in downtimes, but it gets hot and the thing gets dirty (oh well) the backpack is good but then they fall asleep and their head flops, so you carry them in your arms or walk like a waiter to smooth the ride, don't trip! a basket might be nice
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My brother had a backpack that was made to carry the baby too. Not for sure what it is called. They bought it on amazon three years ago and it was just a bit over $100. Plenty of room for some supplies in it too.
it is great you want to make this a family thing. I am planning a hike with my 4 year old grandson through the smokies and have been getting a lot of grief from people over it. Good luck on your hike and have fun!
We have 3 kids and have hiked with them since birth. We took our firstborn out at 6 weeks for an overnight. At 10 weeks she went out for 3 nights in snow and temps in the teens. We have been hiking with all 3 ever since. I generally carry all gear. My pack usually weighs about 50-60 pounds for a 2 night weekend trip. My Edie carries an external frame kid carrier with 1 sleeping bag strapped on. Kids do not carry anything. We move at their pace and rarely hike more than 5 miles. Our oldest is only 7 right now. They love it!
Wife not Edie
Your son will be too big for a front carrier. About 6 months is the time to transition out of those. You'll need a back loading one. Get one with a large capacity for gear if possible and good suspension. Think ultralight as much as possible and ultra small volume in your gear choices. This will be true throughout family backpacking trips until they get big enough to carry all their gear. That will be many years away. One person will carry a disproportionate share of gear as one person will be handling the baby.
Diapers are heavy packing out. You could scrape the diaper waste into a cathole and possibly sun dry the diaper before packing it out.
You can go farther carrying the baby vs a walking toddler but still keep the miles low anyway. It will not be your regular backpacking style. It'll be camping with a some waliking in between. Remember that and you will enjoy your trip.
Special safety concerns: A squirmy baby or toddler may roll outside of a floorless tent. A child that age you would want to be careful with positioning too close to your own bedding (SIDS concern). For the baby, fleece sleepers would work (looks a bit like a Snuggy). I recommend filtering your water (not iodine though) or even boil it if you use formula. Iodine is likely a no-no if you were thinking of using it.
This is totally doable, just take it slower as needed and be mindful of the weather. It will be one of the most beautiful memories of your child that you ever have.
"Sleepy alligator in the noonday sun
Sleepin by the river just like he usually done
Call for his whisky
He can call for his tea
Call all he wanta but he can't call me..."
Robert Hunter & Ron McKernan
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Do it, but it's hard if they aren't a great sleeper. We took our first out at 5 months, then 10 months, then 1.6 years, then 2.6 years. No one slept, and we stopped until he was 5 when I took him alone, we walked, and it was great. At 7 (son) and 5 (daughter) we just had our first family backpacking trip this fall that was amazing. We did do a ton of day hiking and car camping.
Every baby is different, and if we had our daughter first, we could have had much better backpacking experience with the baby. You won't know unless you try. But if it feels too hard, find something that isn't.
You meant 'don't need the Premium', right? There's the regular Poco, the Poco Plus, and the Poco Premium on the high end. Hope so - I just ordered the Plus based on my interpretation of what you said...
Check out www.justtrails.com the site has a section devoted to hiking and kids (albeit just day hiking). But, it still has good information. I have gone up to some local mountains to do some snowshoeing and seen Al and Rebecca (owners of the site) coming out with their very young children. And I believe that Rebecca hiked 100 consecutive days with the 2 kids.
Lonehiker (MRT '22)
I've hiked enough that I've had plenty of falls. Never been seriously injured but doubt that a baby would have fared as well. Hiking with a baby sounds insane to me. Definitely not what anyone should do. Just saying.
Hi, my husband and I are currently section hiking in Virginia with our 8 months old. We are almost 1 week into our 6 weeks hike. So far this is what we have learned and we had planned to make this possible:
1) baby in backpack carrier must be able to sit upright and have no problem supporting his head. We use a Deutet Kid Comfort Air cause it is lightweight compared to other models, but does not have much capacity for gear, I can only fit a 1.5 day worth of cloth diapers, baby pyjama and small pharmacy with thermometer, oragel, tempra, baby electrolyte (pedialyte brand), baby sunscreen and low deet insect repellent that I try to avoid using unless bugs really are an issue.
2) We take 30-60 minutes breaks every 1.5 hours for feeding/nursing the baby and give her a rest from sitting in the same position. We find that 5-6 hours of moving time is the maximum to keep everyone happy.
3) Weather. We check twice a day the weather mountain forecast and adjust our plan for the next couple days accordingly. If its supposed to rain but warm, we plan a short day, if wet and cold we wait it out somewhere where we can stay dry and keep baby warm. If sunny, we leave early and try to stop the hike early in the afternoom to avoid overheating. Make sure you have a sunroof on your carrier.
4) baby loves her experience so far, wih the exception of the occasional snob thru hikers who uses the trail for the purpose of feeding his ego, most people are very kind and friendly in regards to sharing the trail, shelters and lunch tables with an infant. By the way we do sleep in a tent keeping a distance from the shelters at night to respect the other hiker's sleep in case she wakes up to cry at night (eventhou she almost never does).
5) make sure to know some basic technique on how to deal with a choking baby... leaves and worms and more are easy to catch by fast tiny fingers. We took a wilnerness advanced first aid before embarking on this journey, it is not necessary but if you plan to hike a lot with baby in the future we found it to be very useful. But prevention is your best friend. Avoid cold night or be prepared for them, and make sure everybody is well hydrated!
Have fun planning your hike!
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I would think that the greatest concern for a summer hike would be overheating. A baby strapped in a carrier on a 90+ deg day can easily get really hot and since they dont handle heat well at all this could lead to problems fast. So don't overwrap with clothes/blankets and make absolutely sure the baby is not sweating. Hydrate like crazy.
I'd be a lot more concerned if the baby -wasn't- sweating. Still, valid point.
For what it's worth, our Poco Plus came in last Friday and I'm very impressed. Only been able to take a couple of walks in town with it so far, but our almost 8 month old loves it. Went about 1.5 miles each way to dinner last night and he seemed to really enjoy himself.
Id be honest, I agree with the earlier comment of leaving the baby with grandma. As a baby, the kid wouldnt really get much out of it, or even remember it later in life. Also, it is another thing you would have to worry about when hiking, especially with temperature regulation.
That said, if you want to, go for it.
But, (I might be making myself unpopular with this suggestion) if your baby is likely to wind up crying and making a racket (particularly in the night/morning) I'd consider camping away from other people. I was recently in a large, fully booked hut and while I could deal with all the snoring no problem, there was a crying baby there that was beginning to drive me insane before it shut up. On a moderately unrelated note, Also the small children that had no control of their torches (and have been given hundred plus lumen light.....) that insisted on looking at me, pointing their torches/headtorches at my face and blinding me.
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