I spent the last week researching online communities for outdoor parents, something I haven't been able to find much of in the past. Almost all of the online forums for different sports have no specific section for kids or families, which is very disappointing because I know there are so many of us out there.

But then I discovered all the great groups on Facebook, joined a few, and was inspired by all the posts of parents doing awesome things with their kids. 

Here is the complete list of what I found, also located in the Online Communities page on our site. I hope some of these groups also inspire you to get out there with your kids!

When we had our first kid, we didn't have a good roadmap of when we could start doing outdoor activities with kids. Many times I felt like we were winging it and also that we were pushing to do it faster than society suggests. We've been lucky to meet many people over the years who also took their babies on outdoor adventures as we did. Here is a summary of what I wish we knew when we had our first kid - it's part of our General Advice page in the When to Start section.

Hiking:

• Start hiking as soon as the birth mom’s body feels ready, and if she is nursing make sure she is comfortable nursing on the hike.
• Ease into how much the birth mom carries over time, so consider starting off with the other parent carrying the baby first.
• Look out for making sure the baby is warm enough and is covered from the sun.
• Parents we have interviewed reported starting hiking when their babies were between 1 and 4 months old.

Camping:

• Same as for hiking - wait for the birth mom’s body to feel ready and to be comfortable nursing on the go if she is nursing.
• Go easy on yourself - if you are all having a really rough time sleeping, don’t feel you need to rush into camping. You will get there.
• Parents we interviewed started camping when their babies were anywhere from 2 to 6 months old.

Backpacking:

• We recommend starting backpacking after you have been hiking for a while and tried camping at least once.
• Backpacking is easier the lighter your baby is. If you have a really heavy baby and don’t feel ready to backpack until your baby is 9-12 months old, you might end up not able to go backpacking until your child can walk.
• We started backpacking when our kids were about 9 months old.

Biking:

• The simplest answer is not to bike with your kid until they are one year old, since laws, bike helmet manufacturers, and most bike seat and trailer manufacturers don’t recommend it before then. 
• Many people don’t feel it’s necessary to wait that long and will look for other options, and if this is you we suggest reading this post from RascalRides.
  • We started putting our kids in a trailer when they were 6 months old because we felt it was safe enough for us.
  • Look out for the baby's helmet pushing their head forwards into an unsafe position. We put a pillow or towel behind the kid to prevent that.
  • Some people put a baby car seat in the trailer, but consider that you probably can’t use a bike helmet with that and there may be laws requiring a helmet.
  • One of our interviewees, Corbin, rode with his son in a backpack when he was 6 months old and felt it was safer than a trailer

Skiing/Snowboarding:

• Kids:
  • You can start kids playing with skis by putting them in strap-on cross-country skis to play in as soon as they can walk.
  • Most places don’t have ski lessons until 3 years old, but if you can find skis that fit your kid you can take them on the hill yourself when they are two.
• Parents can’t get back to skiing together until they have childcare, but many parents take turns skiing with one parent staying in the lodge with the baby. You can start this as soon as the birth mom feels comfortable and is able to nurse well if that applies. The birth mom might also want to make sure that her ab muscles get back together before starting.

Cross-Country Skiing:

• Start whenever you feel comfortable hiking with your baby and comfortable keeping your baby warm.
• Consider which options you feel most comfortable doing with a small baby:
  • The Chariot trailer with ski attachments or a ski pulk put the baby farther away from you, which might be a concern if you’re worried about cold, but you don’t have to worry about falling down as much.
  • Baby backpacks or front baby carriers also work well, but you have to feel comfortable about the possibility of falling down.
• Kids can start trying cross-country skiing as soon as they can walk, using the strap-on skis.

Climbing:

• Parents:
  • We recommend starting hiking first and feeling comfortable with that and to be ready to carry more weight on the approach (or enlist friends to help).
  • Parents can climb as soon as the birth mom is feeling good and (especially) has their ab muscles back together.
  • You’ll also need to line up an extra adult unless you’re bouldering so there’s always someone looking after the baby.
• Kids often can’t start climbing on a rope until they are at least 3 years old, since they are so short and don’t weigh much. 
  • Before then, consider letting them appreciate the joy of climbing by playing around on small boulders and jumping onto crash pads. 

Travel:

• Travel with a baby can be fun to do as soon as the parents are comfortable with it and especially when people are sleeping well enough.
  • We traveled across the US with a 6-week-old baby and to Europe first when our second child was 6 months old, however, our babies both slept very well when they were young.
• Travel with a baby, even international travel, can sometimes be easier than when they’re toddlers:
  • They can be in the bassinet on the plane if you get a bulkhead seat.
  • You can take them wherever you want and don’t have to cater to their preferences as much as for bigger kids.
• To make it easier for them to adjust to the travel, bring a travel crib and stroller or baby carrier that they are used to sleeping in.

I’ll get straight to the point: we don’t believe you need a lot of fancy, expensive, new gear to adventure in the outdoors with kids. If you have been playing in the outdoors yourself for many years, you’ve probably splurged on some good quality clothing or the lightest pack available, but your intention was most likely to use it for the next 10-20 years. For example, I still have the Whisperlite stove I used hiking the Appalachian Trail over 20 years ago, and it still works great. But kids grow quickly and (unless you have a teenager) the gear probably won’t fit them in a few years, so it’s usually not worth it to buy them expensive gear.

Our recommendation is to use hand-me-downs and second-hand gear whenever possible or find deals at end of season sales or discount websites. This is why it is our philosophy on this website to share the types of things to look for in gear for kids rather than the exact brand name because you can’t predict what your friend will give you or what you’ll find at a discount. If you understand what characteristics matter to you, then you can decide which characteristics to compromise on and if the discount gear will work for you.

We believe in saving your money to buy new stuff in cases where you can’t find a used item, where the item is specialized or a safety item, when you know you’ll use it a lot and pass it on to your other kids, or when you know that a certain feature is really important for your family.

Examples of new items we’ve bought:

• Helmets (safety items)
• Good quality mittens that cinched onto kids wrists well, after we got one amazing hand-me-down pair that was better than anything we’d had before, and since we ski so much
• Snow pants one winter when we didn’t have anything used in that size

Here are some tips on where to get used or discount items (and I’ll keep adding to this list as I get more suggestions):

• Skiing:
  • Look for places that do season ski leases, like Any Mountain or Sports Basement
  • If you’re on a team, find out where the team goes (for example Granite Chief in Truckee outfits many of the teams there with season leases)
  • Used gear websites like Sideline Swap
• Clothing:
  • Look for discount websites like Sierra Trading Post
  • Used clothing stores - if you don’t live in a mountain town, consider visiting a shop in a mountain town
• General:
  • Craigslist - great for expensive gear that people often only use for a year or two (like Burley trailers or Piccolos)
  • Look for discounts at the end of the season
  • Remember that certain companies have annual sales (such as REI’s 20% off one item at the anniversary sale in May) and make bigger purchases, like sleeping bags then.
  • If you’re a member of the American Alpine Club there are great gear and clothing discounts, including Patagonia
  • Give the special gear for birthday or holiday presents
  • Pass down your good stuff to friends - share the gear!

Go have fun out there with your kids, and don’t spend a lot of money doing it!

Helmet: used race helmet from a friend so we know the history of it
Goggles: new (we usually wear them until they fall apart)
Jacket: hand-me-down
Pants: hand-me-down
Poles: new (cheap)
Gloves: hand-me-down
​Skis/boots: Any Mountain season rental

Photo credit: R. Murphy

Thanks to RM, TM, and KR for the hand-me-downs!

This week we have an update to our General Advice section: first aid planning. This list is based on my experience and my wilderness medicine training that I take every 2-3 years and I updated it based on the course I just took in January. 

As always, we love hearing feedback from readers so we can make this page as helpful as possible.

​We have taken classes with all 3 of them (although over a 25 year time span). They are all excellent, but have slightly different approaches. Our recommendation is to start by finding the organization that offers the most classes close to home, to make recertifying easier. Otherwise, you can look at the information on their website to see if one of them appeals to you more than others.

Once you’ve completed your class, create your first aid kit and make sure you pack it with you at all times:

• Wound care:
  • Band-aids (with fun characters for kids)
  • Gauze pads / gauze roll
  • Betadine
  • Syringe for irrigation
  • Tweezers
  • Vet wrap or coban
  • Badger balm / triple antibiotic
  • 2nd skin
• Blister kit (Great link to blister care from a WFR instructor)
  • Moleskin
  • Molefoam
  • Tincture of benzoin ampoules
  • KT tape blister
• General:
  • Nitrile gloves
  • KT tape (video on how to use for ankle stabilization)
  • Blank SOAP notes
  • Thermometer
  • Children’s tylenol / Advil / Benadryl
  • Epinephrine (if you have authority to carry it)
  • CPR Mask
  • Scissors
  • WMA Field Guide
  • Pen
  • Triangle bandages
  • Tourniquet (they are recommended again)
  • Biodegradable soap
  • Ziploc bags 

And don’t forget to restock your kit before you go out on a trip and audit it once a year for expired supplies. 

How am I ever going to keep climbing / backpacking / skiing / camping / biking after I have kids? I can’t push myself as hard as I used to or go as far as I used to now that I’m pregnant! It will never be fun again! My friends / coworkers were right, I’ll never do anything outdoors again! Life is over!

Obviously most of that is not true, exploring the outdoors with kids is amazing. It is just a lot different - sometimes much harder and sometimes way better. Here are some tips on adjusting to being an outdoor parent:

Preparation while pregnant or waiting for adoption:

• For pregnant moms: lower expectations - work on just being happy to do things even if you can’t do them to the level you used to.
  • This is much easier said than done, but remember you’ll get stronger again after the baby comes
• Prioritize spending time with any outdoor parent friends you have and start watching how they do things with kids
  • If you don't have any outdoor parent friends, look into joining a group like Hike it Baby
• Get any gear needed for outdoors for the first year 
  • Specifically: baby backpack carrier, baby bike seat/trailer, snowsuit
  • Look for deals on used items - we have found a lot of good deals if you are patient
• Make plans for an outdoor adventure to do after the baby comes and put it on the calendar - this forces you to get out there, even when you’re sleep deprived

How to adjust to doing things with babies:

• In general, lower expectations (just like for pregnant moms)
• Prioritize spending time with any outdoor parent friends you have, or look into joining a group like Hike it Baby
• Hiking:
  • Hiking is a good transition activity because it's fairly easy to do with babies, just be ready to stop often to feed/change diapers
  • If you’re nursing, bring extra water because you’ll be thirsty, and be prepared to stop often or practice nursing the baby in the carrier
• Camping: 
  • Put the kid in the car seat or in a travel crib at the campsite while you set up camp or cook dinner
  • Many babies love hammocks
  • Bring a table seat for feeding
  • Something warm for the baby to sleep in, such as a fleece sleep sack (instead of a sleeping bag for small babies)
    • Sleeping bags only worked with our kids at about 3 years because our kids moved too much and came out of them, but might work for others sooner
    • Other options: have the baby sleep in the parent's sleeping bag, or bring a crib size quilt
  • Some babies sleep better in a travel crib in the tent
• Climbing:
  • Outdoors:
    • Bring at least one extra person so someone can take care of the baby
    • Try bouldering (even if you didn't do it as much before) because you can sometimes do without a third adult and don't need much set up time
  • Indoors: 
    • Put your baby in an infant car seat while you climb at the gym
    • Time belays to when the baby is happy or sleeping
• Biking:
  • Trailer or baby seat - but you generally need to wait until they're about 6 months old for a helmet and to use the bike carriers
  • Carry them in baby backpack or front carrier if you feel comfortable 
• Skiing: 
  • Cross-country:
    • Take baby with you in a baby backpack 
  • Downhill:
    • Parents can take turns, use radios to tell the mom when nursing is needed
    • Have the baby sleep in the car seat or in a wagon in the lodge

How to adjust if you waited until the kids are bigger before getting back out:

• Keep doing it - they will eventually start whine less
• If you like several activities and the kids like one activity better, encourage the one the kid likes and maybe do the others less for a while
• Remember everything changes with kids every few years - if they don't like your favorite activity now they might like it later
• Tailor the activity to the kid - look for places to stop on your hike/bike ride that the kids like or bring things for them to do while they’re waiting
• Bribe them with snacks - you can taper the snacks off over time as they enjoy the activity more
• Bring other kids for them to play with
• Take lots of breaks
• Develop routines and have gear always packed so you can get out the door faster

How to find time to do things without the kids:

• Put them in classes while you do the sport
  • Great plan for skiing, but usually after they're 3 years old
  • Some resorts offer infant daycare but it's expensive
• Date nights:
  • Get a babysitter and spend a night at the gym or going out for a ride
• Date lunches:
  • Workout together while kids are in daycare
  • While on maternity/paternity leave, meet the working parent for lunch and have one parent workout while the other gets quality time with baby
• Take turns:
  • Go solo or go with friends
  • Go on a trip with another adult and have the parents take turns

But whatever you do, don't listen to the naysayers who think that the outdoor life is over once you have kids. It may take time to adjust, but that is just part of becoming parents. Keep getting out there and it will keep getting easier.​