General Advice​​
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Under development: Your source for information on Outdoor Kid parenting that applies to all activities.

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​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.
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Original version: 12/17/2019

First Aid Planning

First aid planning is more than just building a good first aid kit. Our recommendation is for at least one and preferably both parents to take first aid and wilderness medical training to match what you would be expected to do if you were a trip leader on a professional course. This gives you peace of mind that you know what to do in an emergency and also gives your family the best chance of a good outcome. As a bonus, you are also able to help other people that you meet on your trip. All the classes recommended below include adult and infant CPR training/certification that is good as long as the overall certification lasts for, so you don’t need to spend time taking that as an extra class. 

If you just go on day trips or car camping, the recommended class is a 2 day Wilderness First Aid (WFA) class, making sure you get adult/infant/child CPR training.

If you take your family on multi-day backpacking trips, the recommended class is the Wilderness First Responder (WFR). This class also trains you on the use of epinephrine which can get you special certification depending on your state which may allow you to purchase epi-pens to carry on your trips (not necessarily needed if your kids are already prescribed epinephrine by their doctor).

We recommend recertifying on the schedule the provider requires. Hopefully you don’t have opportunities to use what you learn (because you plan well and have good luck) so the hands-on part of the classes give you good opportunities to practice what you learn.

The most well known training organizations are:
Organization
WFA
WFR
Certification
Wilderness Medical Associates
​2 day
5 day and 7 day and 8 day options (5 day options requires 3 days of preparation work) ​​
3 years no grace period

WFR - 3 day recert
SOLO
2 day (doesn’t include CPR)
8 or 9 days
WFA: 2 years
WFR: 3 years/2 day recert
No grace period
NOLS Wilderness Medicine
(formerly WMI)
2 day (doesn’t always include CPR)
9 or 10 days
2 years with a 1 year grace period
​
WFR - 2 day recert

​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. ​
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Original version: 5/18/2020

Gear Buying Guide

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:
  • 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!
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Original version: 8/10/2020