Backpacking with small kids

“I'm taking my son on his first trip and his first TT trip this weekend. He'll be 5 in Feb. Any advice for things to take with kids?

I'm mainly taking the usual stuff plus his clothes, a few toys, a few bed time books, and an extra sleeping bag in case it gets too cold. Low is around 40. The trip is a photo contest trip. I'm taking a disposable camera so he can take pictures and feel like a big boy with the rest of us. I'm taking a small pack so that he can carry his toys, "I can do it all by myself," as he likes to say. I considered a nerf football, but decided that would be pointless. I'm taking snacks, a few juice boxes, marshmallows, chocolate pudding, pancakes for the mornings, and grilled cheeses for him at supper. That's really about all I can think of. There will be so many Tt'ers that the entertainment will be right in front of us.”

“Glad to see you taking your son. My daughter turned 1 today. I can only hope that I can make a hiker/outdoors girl out of her.

Maybe you can give me some pointers after your return”

“Both my kids love to camp. Little sis is 3 in about 3 weeks. Summer '03 we camped in the Smokies two different times. She would've been about 18 months maybe. You should be in good shape next summer.”

“When BowlderSon was younger, I always made sure we were prepared for accidental dunkings in creeks, ponds, or whatever - always have dry clothes available, as getting wet can be miserable....

BTW, here are photos of BowlderSon's first backpacking trip (at age 3).
last edited: 11/02/04 5:12:12 PM”

“I'll check it out.

I am taking extra jeans, underwear, and t-shirts. I'll probably stash some more in the vehicle since it's 1 mile away. Thanks for the tip.”

“Dayhiker...makes sure he has his own flashlight......and some glowsticks!!!!..maybe a bug keeper......last time I went with some friends who have young kids, I took a deck of Fish cards and played with them......maybe a shovel...lots of sand and rocks.....maybe ha can gather leaves and you can discuss the names of the trees...”

“and....a good time to start LNT and especially fire safety!!!!”

“Bowlderman.....how cute!!!!!”

“The leaves are a good idea. My last dayhike I brought him back a red one. He liked that.

He has his own headlamp and really feels like a big boy with it.”

“Dang, that was a hike. Looks like he did great BowlderMan.”

“Oh my Gawd BW, those are cute! You are gonna have a blast dayhiker.

3 years ago me and JerBear took my oldest daughter across Gregory Bald in the Smokies, 3 days 2 nights. She was just a few weeks shy of her 3rd birthday, and man was she a real trooper!! Some mistakes that I made in hindsight might be helpful to you. I wish I had more of the way in snacks, as she really didn't care for any of the typical trail food we had. She went through the gorp and granola bars right quick, so after that she pretty solely relied on the breads we had with our meals, and a hotdog roasted over a small fire Bear whipped up. Next trip, we had much more snacks. Hehehe, now that I'm thankin' back, I can recall that she never pooped the whole weekend, peed with no reservations tho, but weren't about to go #2. Also, I never really knew the Smokies had six billion "muprooms", but I do believe in those 3 days, she found every single one! She can remember swinging on the bear-food cables with Bear to this day!

Oh, one piece of gear you might not have thought of that I like to take every time: a retractable dogleash. Man those thangs are fabulous! Especially in the Smokies, altho I've found them way useful for my youngins everywhere. Perfect for hillside trails, embankments, or creekside dropoffs.

Sleeping is no problem, with a lovey, they're wore out, hehe. Bear gave her a whistle, compass, and magnifier set that she cherishes to this day, man she was bigtime hiker with that dangling around her neck!

Remember muproom Bear? Can you believe that was 3 YEARS ago?!”

“Thanks for the tips. I sort of blew off taking many snacks. I was planning on grabbing some Halloween candy and then a couple of handfuls of goldfish crackers. I should probably bring a bit more variety.


That's a haul up Gregory. Very impressive.”

“I have taken my 9 and 4 year old sons backpacking often. I don't ever pack any toys as they stay very occupied with what's around them. With my own boys, that seems to inspire them to get creative with playing with their environment. And though we read books every night before bed when we are at home, when on the trail, they are so tired, they don't miss it. They just know that we have a different routine out there. My 4 year old has a small mini-backpack. I stuff his sleeping bag into it, and he carries it until he gets too tired, then I strap it to my sternum strap.

Plan on a much slower pace than usual. Bring lots of snacks. Birch and Sass have a great idea where they pack a multitude of snacks, a day's worth, in a quart-sized Ziploc. Fruit snacks, fruit roll-ups, granola bars, raisins, etc. I don't usually bring juice boxes, but each of my boys has their own small Nalgene for water and lemonade and night time hot chocolate.

Card games are good, maybe child-sized binoculars and/or compass or other outdoorsy-type toys. Good idea on the camera. Don't forget extra dry socks and camp shoes. Kids always seem to get their shoes and socks wet when no one else on the trip does.

That's what I can think of off the top of my head at the moment. Have a grand time!!!”

“Bowlder great pics! My 1 year old daughter has already been out in the yard playing with leaves. The other day she saw a leaf picture in a book and she was trying to pick the leaf up off the page. It was so cute.”

“Duck Sauce.

Kids are great as long as they're properly prepared.”

“I've taken my kids on several trips. They keep themselves very occupied with stuff they find in the woods, but its not a bad idea to have some diversions handy in case it rains and for tent time before sleep. Having his own headlamp is a great idea. I would recommend enough snacks and halloween candy to keep his tank topped off - my kids love granola bars and such. The biggest issue i ever had was sleep comfort, but once they got "comfortable" in a tent in the dark they were fine.

Yall are gonna have a blast - i predict that he'll be talking about it for days. My daughter was very proud to go back to school and tell her teacher that she hiked the Appalachian Trail (even if it was only a couple of miles of it).”

“I hadn't thought about camp shoes or hot chocolate. The low is around 40, so it's finally cooling off here. 4th hottest Oct on record. Avg temp around 69, so we haven't had lows under 65 hardly at all. Finally hot chocolate weather!”

“Make sure he has a whistle on an elastic cord around his neck. Abby wears hers all the time when we're out, just in case. She knows she doesn't blow it unless she can't see us or needs help, is in trouble. I also have a pinchy led light on her cord for night time.
Take a glow stick for each night.
Take a deck of cards in case you get stuck in the tent. An egg of silly putty, a small set of markers and a note pad are Abby's favorite camping toys.
Be patient and enjoy every second out there with your kid! It's fun. =)”

“Whistle is a great idea. I'll put mine on a chord.

There are bluffs in the area. We're actually camping with the Sipsey group on top of a waterfall. We'll be about 100 yards back. I'm going to get there early enough Fri to scout the whole area. I'm thinking I'll put the tent on the opposite side of the fire ring from the falls and I'll sit facing the tent after he goes to sleep. He can't get past me to get in danger. If I get up there and don't have a big enough safety zone then we'll just camp under the bluff and away from the group. If anyone recalls, I'm the one who had the dog fall at the same general area and am hyper sensitive to the bluffs.”

“What a great opportunity! Makes me wish my kids were still, well, kids (they're likely older than some of you posting).

During the May Boundary Waters trip with Simer190 I asked him how old he was when he first started backpacking. He replied that he wasn't certain, but did remember that he carried his diapers in his backpack.

Have a great time.”

“I would be too! Nothing wrong with that at all.
Hey, I forgot one other thing....lots of extra clothes. Even the "big kids" have a hard time going poo in the great outdoors. So, if he hasn't proven himself at another time throw some extra pants and a bunch of plastic bags in the pack. I've seen a few over 5ers pee all over themselves and poop their pants on kid trips. Wet wipes are good too.”

“We had a father son campout last year that I hosted on some land my boss owns. I was busy trying to get everyone situated with food and evidently Reece was telling me he had to go. I didn't hear him. Next thing I know, his pants are at his ankles and he's sitting directly on the ground trying to go. Talk about catching things in the nick of time!!!!

The potty issues is one thing I really do need to be cautious about. There will be so much to see and do, plus all the people. I can easily see him getting so preoccupied that he forgets. Advice noted, lots of extra clothes.”

“This is GREAT Dayhiker. I done the same thing with my son. He made Eagle Scout a few years ago, and still talks about our hiking trips. Like Sassafras said " Be Patient" See Ya Friday”

“His big thing is that he keeps asking why mommy and Emma aren't going. He knows that when we camp that the whole family camps. This hiking and camping will be a new experience. When I was talking about it with him Monday he actually got a little mad. He wanted mommy and Emma and daddy to camp.”

“Lots of good ideas and advice!

Backpacking we bring a Fish deck, a couple of outdoor related books (we have one about moose, another about bears, etc) and one other small thing to occupy them in case of rain. They look forward to the glow sticks. They each have their own headlamp, whistle, I bring extra clothes, their blankys...I concentrate mostly on them being dry and warm and fed so they remember the fun stuff.
KID FIRST AID.

When the grandgirl was still in a child carrier, she had to touch each blue mark on the trail...now they get a kick out of finding and following the blazes. LNT is good, they know to pack out everything, even orange peels.

They love their own sleeping bags, though Ana sleeps on top of hers while Austin snuggles right up in his.

The really "cool" thing we started doing this year is bringing the small version field guides. We've spent hours on the trail trying to identify mushrooms. The kids carry the book and look stuff up themselves.

We just bought little plastic bug viewers, and they let the bugs go at night.

Oh yeah, camp chores are fun at that age - helping to hang the bear bag, washing dishes the outdoor way...”

“The only advice I would add: When my son was little and I took him with me I made sure the "pajamas" (usually sweat pants and sweatshirt) he brought with him were a highly visible color like yellow, or orange. It just made it easier to keep an eye on him in camp, especially in the evenings and early mornings.”

“good point...my grandboy's first trip, all he wanted to do was wander in the woods with his bottle in his mouth...we made sure he had on a bright shirt so we could see him, and let him wander (he never went far)

I learned the hard way that blanket sleepers, though very warm for sleeping and such...are not good for chilly bathroom visits...”

“Yall are getting me even more excited about this trip.”

“http://forums.backpacker.com/forum.jspa?forumID=45

http://www.backpacking.net/forums/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=kids”

“KID FIRST AID
Amen!

Sounds like a blast.”

“If he's using his own sleepign bag I would suggest you bring some hand warmers to throw in his bag because he may not generate enough body heat to keep it properly warm if it gets chilly.”

“Where can you buy the chemical warmers. Wal-Mart hunting section?”

“Yes, that's where I used to get them.”

“oh yeah, the kids love those chemical heaters though I've never put one in their bags...if you do, you need to wrap them in something, because the heaters can burn them. WalMart hunting and camping section.

hats and mittens, we have a bunch of microfleece pants and jackets as well (they call it their "warm stuff"). If it's chilly, they wear their "warm stuff" to bed.”

“Can't add much more to what has been said already other than keep mileage low and realize kids don't care about scenery.

My wife and I took our first-born daughter on her first trip when she was about 2. Now we have two girls (6 & 3) and have taken them both out...unfortunately only once so far.

Here's our last family outing: The Backcountry: Siera View
last edited: 11/03/04 9:29:58 AM”

“Stick the Chem heaters in an extra sock... throw a couple int he foot of the bag... or in the pocket of their jacket, etc. Direct skin contact should be avoided like Twig said... because those buggers get hot. Wal Mart carries them, or just about any place that carries hunting supplies.”

“I disagree about the scenery thing...
=D”

“Maybe I should have clarified that young children don't care. The last time I took my daughters backpacking they were 4 and 15 months. Neither cared about spactacular vistas.”

“I have learned some new things reading this. Thanks everyone!

My kids like their fleece pants for sleeping in. They call them "wiggly pants."”

“We have yet to begin backpacking with my 3yo and 5 month old. However, we have several times taken them camping in state park campgrounds, the earliest when the youngest was at 3 weeks. The 5mo loves just simply being outside and the 3yo plays herself silly from sunrise and totally crashes at sunset.”