Hiking with a baby

You can find hundreds of websites with tips for hiking with a baby/toddler.  Here is our take on it so far with all that we have experienced.

Biggest hurdle: Getting out the door and on the trail...overcoming those fears and worries and just doing it! After all, worst case scenario, the hike is cut short or the baby screams the entire time (which usually doesn't happen because the baby falls asleep from wearing his/herself out, so I don't count that as horrible).

Again, this is just what we've found with Madison, so it may not be fully applicable to you, but hopefully you realize that it's not that hard and you can do it, too!

Tips:

• leave early so she takes her morning nap on the way there
• research the hike and how long it will take to get there first so you can be prepared
• be patient
• take breaks to get the baby out of the carrier
• don't expect for it to be the same as when you didn't have a baby :-)
• bring more than enough clothes in case it's colder than you expect (elevation has a lot to do with this!)
• if it's cold, we like to bring a couple pairs of our smartwool socks to put on her arms/legs (they stay on better than her socks or baby mittens, plus they cover more area) and a warm hat for baby

Must haves:

• baby carrier (we used the ergo when she was a little baby, now we use this amazing pack that we'll probably use for a long time...thankfully we had a gift card and a discount!)
• milk 
• lots of snacks
• water cup for baby
• footprint (this is actually something you buy similar to a waterproof tarp that you put under your tent although it's extremely small and lightweight, we like to bring this so when we take breaks, we can lay it out on the ground and have somewhere clean to sit, eat snacks, and for Madison to crawl around on)
• baby blanket
• burp cloth
• plastic grocery bag for possible dirty diapers
• small box of wipes and 3-4 diapers
• sunscreen (if necessary)
• for smaller babies, bring an extra change of clothes in case of a blowout
• for cooler weather, adult socks, baby hat, jacket, even fleece sleeper pjs can be warmer for the baby 
• *(optional) we like to bring our hiking poles in case of rocky or difficult trails since they offer extra support

Bryce loves the outdoors.  It is his passion to be hiking, backpacking, camping, or fishing whenever he gets the chance.  I considered myself outdoors-y, but reached another level when we got married.  I realized that my "outdoors-y" was different than his "outdoors-y."  The first year or two of marriage, my birthday and Christmas gifts were very exciting things like a backpack, a Thermarest sleeping pad, hiking poles, and smartwool socks.  Just what every girls dreams of, right?!  Well, if you're anything like me, I didn't dream of that, but I am thankful looking back and we laugh about it now.

When Madison entered the stage, we kept saying, "We don't want our life and hobbies to completely change just because we have a baby!  We'll still hike, go out in the evenings, go camping,..."  Um, HELLO!  Guess what, life will change.  Not that you have to give everything up, but really, life changes in ways you can't imagine until you are there.  Then you find yourself protecting your baby's naps like a knight with a sword because you know that a missed nap could mean a bad 24 hours for the whole family.

At the same time, we want Madison to grow up experiencing the outdoors (whether she likes it or not) and joining us on hikes and camping.  So we set out to do our best.  We aren't die hard hikers or anything.  I think we've gone hiking on average, about 1-2 times each month since Madison was 3 months old.  We have not ventured to camping yet, but I think with a baby, our camping experience will not include backpacking but only car camping for convenience and easy escape if absolutely necessary.  We really wanted to go camping this past summer.  We never got around to it (see "biggest hurdle" at top of post).

Watching the joy that Bryce gets from being outdoors gives me joy, so my hope is that Madison will get joy from just being out there with us, her (super cool) parents.  Re-reading that is funny because in about 12 years, that will probably not be the case!  Better soak it up while we can and while we are still her most favorite people in the entire world.