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.
