Things we have discussed regarding our baby:
With our first child due in four months, we have had a few things on our minds...
Introducing Our Kiddo to the Great Outdoors
With our first child due in four months, we have had a few things on our minds...
Introducing Our Kiddo to the Great Outdoors
Thanks to Outside Magazine's June issue with a focus on raising active kids, we got some answers to questions we had been discussing {read Outside Magazine's questions/answers in green}.
How soon can we take our baby hiking/backpacking?
Photo of Daniel and I on the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire (2011)
You can pretty much march out of the delivery room and onto the trail if you are so inclined. Just realize that the logistics are greater the younger the child.
*Update: First hiking trip. Jack was 5 months old.
*Update: First camping trip. Jack was 18 months old.
How soon until we can go on bike rides?
Photo of Daniel after we biked the Virginia Creeper Trail in Damascus, Virginia (2007)
*Update: First hiking trip. Jack was 5 months old.
*Update: First camping trip. Jack was 18 months old.
*Update: First hiking trip with two kids. Isaac was 3 months old. Jack was 4.5 years old.
*Update: First camping trip with two kids. Isaac was 13 months. Jack was 4.5 years old.
How soon until we can go on bike rides?
Photo of Daniel after we biked the Virginia Creeper Trail in Damascus, Virginia (2007)
With tots under 35 pounds, Outside Magazine recommends iBert's Safe-T-Seat. While the Burley's D'Lite trailer is great for hauling bigger toddlers {and dogs} behind you.
Mountain Biking: Eight is a good age to start; nine-year-olds can really crank. By ten, experienced kids will be wanting to tackle technical singletrack and launch off rocks.
Road Biking: At eight most kids will have long enough legs to ride a bigger bike with a bigger pedal crank to enable them to keep up with the big kids {you}.
*Update: First bike ride (10 miles on a combination of paved greenway and wooded, dirt trails). Jack was 18.5 months old.
*Update: First bike ride with two kids (neighborhood ride, about 1.5 miles, one kid riding in trailer, one on bike with training wheels). Isaac was 5 months old. Jack was 4.5 years old.
*Update: Jack learns to ride a bike without training wheels, age 4.5; rides 11 miles on a trail-a-bike.
*Update: Jack rides at the Pump Track and first short mountain bike ride at Stringers Ridge, age 5.5.
*Update: Jack's first real mountain bike ride was 9 miles to Edwards Point, age 5.5.
When will our baby be big enough to take on a paddling trip?
Photo of Daniel and I paddling the Nantahala River (2007)
Photo of me rappelling Aussie style at Bee Rock outside of Cookeville, Tennessee (2003)
Photo of Daniel and I paddling the Nantahala River (2007)
If they are old enough to ride in a car, they are old enough to canoe.
Sea Kayaking: You won't get any real paddling help until age 13. Younger kids can be ferried in a cockpit hole or a double.
Sea Kayaking: You won't get any real paddling help until age 13. Younger kids can be ferried in a cockpit hole or a double.
White Water Rafting: Five is the minimum for most guides; for Class III, seven is best; for Class IV, 12. Class V and up is too dangerous for kids.
*Update: First time canoeing. Jack was 11.5 months old.
*Update: First real canoe trip. Jack was 2.5 years old.
*Update: First paddling trip with two kids. Jack was 4.5 and Isaac was 1.
*Update: Jack tests out his own kayak, age 5.5.
What about climbing/rappelling? *Update: First time canoeing. Jack was 11.5 months old.
*Update: First real canoe trip. Jack was 2.5 years old.
*Update: First paddling trip with two kids. Jack was 4.5 and Isaac was 1.
*Update: Jack tests out his own kayak, age 5.5.
Photo of me rappelling Aussie style at Bee Rock outside of Cookeville, Tennessee (2003)
Some four-year-olds can climb like geckos but panic at the top. By eight most kids are ready to tackle easier routes.
*Update: First time climbing (bouldering in our front yard). Jack was 2.5 years old.
*Update: Jack regularly finds and climbs new vertical routes on the rock face in our front yard, age 5.5
*Update: First time climbing (bouldering in our front yard). Jack was 2.5 years old.
*Update: Jack regularly finds and climbs new vertical routes on the rock face in our front yard, age 5.5
As a church nursery coordinator, I say go cloth all the way. We've got a cloth baby at our church and they have all-in-one diapers that are quite easy to change. Just have a diaper sack that the dirties go in and let the nursery people know where it is, and you're good to go. I would do cloth all the way if I had to do it again!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the incite Wanda! We will play it by ear as we drive 1 hour each way for church.
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