Camping With Your Baby

Jen and Ian Stoddart are two of the owners of www.BabyTravelPlanet.com . They are passionate about hiking, canoeing and camping. They want to continue with their outdoor activities as their young family grows.

For Jen and Ian, who are experienced and enthusiastic campers, they want their baby to experience and enjoy their journeys as well.

They love camping but there are extra considerations when baby travels with you. Here is Jen and Ian’s list of things to consider when camping with your baby…

1. Double up on diapers. Cloth diapers are easiest for canoe campers because they can be boiled with a little soap over the fire, hung to dry and reused.
2. Bring a few disposable diapers along in case it's too wet to dry diapers.
3. Bringing cans of ready-to-use formula and bottles with disposable plastic liners. You can boil the bottle nipples each day in a pot over the campfire. For breastfeeding mothers, feeding time is even simpler.
4. Realize that having a baby along slows you down. When you plan your trip adjust the pace which will mean that you cannot plan to spend hours and hours on the water, and you will need more time at the campsite. You may just find that the trip with baby is more relaxing because of the slower pace.
5. Find a safe place for the baby. “We like to canoe so our challenge was where to place our son Holden in the canoe?” stated Ian. Their solution was to place Holden in the bow, just in front of Jen. He rocks a bit from side to side in the canoe, but basically he was very secure in that position. Blankets on the bottom of the canoe give Holden a place to rest and sleep."
6. Plan your first trip so that there are no portages.
7. Limit the time spent on the water, and plan to spend more time at the campsite.
8. Reduce the challenges on your first trips with baby. Look for journeys that are easy and will be relaxing. "We thought that a few days would be easier for all of us but we found that the longer ones can actually be easier” explains Jen. A longer trip allows you to get into the routine of the journey, and our baby gets used to the routine as well."
9. Have an infant personal flotation device (PFD). Until recently, PFDs were not available for young babies. PDF that are too large may not stay on an infant, or keep the baby’s head out of the water in an emergency. Our favourite is a Bijoux Baby Vest. This PFD has all its flotation material in the front and behind the head, so a baby who falls in the water face first is quickly flipped onto their back.
10. Travel with other people. This allows for sharing responsibilities such as preparing meals, setting up camp, hauling water, etc.
11. Don't fret about baby getting a little dirty. Let your baby experience nature. Let baby crawl through the dirt. Keep an eye on baby so that they remain safe. If you want to limit baby’s mobility bring a travel bed.
12. Prepare for all kinds of weather. Bring toys and things to do for those times when it's just too wet to leave the tent. If planning on spending a lot of time in the sun or on the beach consider a baby travel bed.
13. Remember that even in summer, it can get cold at night, so the baby will need warm clothes, a hat and blankets. We have a compact travel bed that we use for Holden. Its made by a company in England called LittleLife an Arc 4 Lite. It comes in its own compact carrying bag. View our baby travel beds.
14. Save your energy and increase everyone’s enjoyment by wearing your baby. Baby backpacks are highly recommended by Jen and Ian and all their camping friends. Use a front-pack carrier for a small baby who doesn't have the head control to ride safely in a backpack. Carriers are great not only for hiking with a baby, but as a way to keep him safe while you go about your campsite chores. Take a look at our Heart2Heart baby carriers for those times when you want to carry baby close to you, and take a look at our BabyTrekker carriers when you are engaged in an active pursuit. See our baby carriers.
15. Choose your campsite carefully. Look for a gently sloping, sandy beach for water’s edge campsite.
16. Insects can be a problem to any camper. Avoid the months that have the most bugs such as mosquitoes and blackflys. Insect repellents are not safe for infants. Protect your baby from flying insects (and the sun) by dressing them in clothes that cover as much skin as possible. Protect baby from the sun. Whenever possible avoid taking you child outside between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. This is the time that the sun's rays are the strongest. Also, young babies under the age of six months should be kept out of direct sunlight. When outside with young babies, dress the baby in clothing that covers all of the body. That means long sleeves, long pants and a hat. Tightly woven clothes offer better protection, than clothes with a wider weave. Take a look at our sun protective clothing.
17. Hats should be worn outdoors. Look for a hat with a bill, like a baseball cap, in order to protect the face. See our sun hats.
18. This may seem odd but one of our favourite pieces of travel gear is a headlamp. It is a flashlight that you wear with a strap around your head. It makes it a lot easier to change or feed baby than trying to do it in the dark. They are available at any camping store or sporting goods store.

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JoPa from www.BabyTravelPlanet.com