Hiking with Baby

When my husband and I were first married, we enjoyed hiking and camping together. At the time we lived in central Florida and hiked and camped in several state parks. On one of my favorite trips we ate cheap hot dogs like the newlyweds we were and saw a live armadillo at our campsite. Moving back home to PA we continued to hike together as a young couple. I remember one June in Lackawanna State Park, the mountain laurels were in bloom, and we were completely surrounded by them on the trail. It was surreal. Through buying a house, job changes, starting our family, and grad school, we fell out of the habit though we never lost interest in it completely.

We have put down our roots in a small trail town in Northeast Pennsylvania. The local rail trail council has made a concerted effort to develop the local rail trails and bring tourism to the area. Our hometown business alliance has gotten onboard working hand in hand with the trails. We are fortunate to be part of this effort with our involvement in town and with our blog. We are definitely small town folk and we like it that way.

When we started Trail Family, our children were eight, seven, and two-years-old. Our older two were able to take some short walks and hikes. However, our little buddy had to be carried most of the time. There is an entire market for products to help you wear/carry your babies. I can recommend the two that we have used in the past.

I definitely wish that I had invested in the Moby baby wrap when my girls were little. Unfortunately, I had disregarded baby wearing at the time. When our youngest was born, I found out what a fantastic advantage it is to baby wear. The Moby Wrap was so easy to use and freed up my hands. It was also a lot easier on my back than I had anticipated. While I mostly used the wrap around the house and when I did work for the family business, we had a baby backpack for the trail. Although, if you wanted to take your baby wrap on a hike, it would certainly work well. I practiced putting it on several times before I tried putting my baby in the wrap. Once you get used to it becomes second nature.

Our backpack is Kelty Kids. It fits on just like a normal backpack except the cargo is your little cutie sitting in a sling-like seat with his legs dangling out the sides. Cal never complained of discomfort and even fell asleep on several occasions. Kelly makes great products and I’d always recommend them. 

Even if you have very small kiddos I hope you are encouraged to get out there and hike. Your baby will love the sun on her cheeks and being cuddles close to you for the whole experience.

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