Isn’t city life tenuous at times? Raising kids in cities may be suffocating for them too. I must confess that I am into adventure throughout my life. Even raising three wilds, nothing could restrict my inner explorer-self to sprout its wings. I went on hiking whenever I got the chance, and I never hesitated to take my babies to trails and countryside hiking. If you wonder what are the benefits of hiking with baby, well, then this post may be an eye-opener for you.
Indeed, hiking with the baby is fun, however, hiking with the baby is not without challenges and so along with the benefits of hiking with baby, I am adding hacks and tips on hiking with a baby, to make your life easy on the way. So, without any delay let’s dive in!
Benefits of Hiking with Baby
Hiking can be a great way to get fresh air and an escapade from hustle and bustle of everyday life for both parents and babies. Apart from physical benefits, hiking can pour a lot of spirit into you.
Hiking into the bosom of mother nature can change the aura around your baby. Being closer to mother nature is not only a learning curve for an adult, but it can also be a stepstone to learning for even a newborn. If your baby is bonded with nature once, it’s not only relaxing and thrilling for them, they may be raised as nature-lover just like you!
Not only for babies, hiking with a baby, helps me a great deal to cope with postpartum anxiety and an intensive hiking session may give your wild a chance to make a great bond that you will cherish forever.
When can the baby hike with you?
After birth body, a mom goes through a lot. It needs time to heal before even planning any adventure for the baby. With a normal birth, a couple of weeks is best to recover back the strength. And with a c-section, you can wait 6-8 weeks before going on hiking with the family.
And even then, do long walks around our neighborhood followed by easy hikes, which you would be familiar with.
Tips for Hiking With baby
Test-run before taking the baby
Make sure that the trails are familiar to you, and find out which kind of terrain you really like. Taking a test run before hiking with the baby will help you find out the terrains you like. Some may like terrains along with water bodies while others will like hiking around the trails based on the availability of restrooms and restaurants.
Choose a kid-friendly trail
For the very first hikes with your baby go for places you are familiar with. And when you get experienced hiking with your babies you can find new hiking trails. You can easily find baby-friendly hiking trails in All Trails.
While hiking with the baby keep in mind you hike in a good place where you can feed the baby. And depending on the time of year you are hiking try hiking in shades. Especially when you cannot put sunscreen on babies below 6 months old.
Go early
Babies are more energetic in the morning so it’s best to start hiking in the morning. In this way after hiking all day by noon you can be back home and have lunch and a nap. With older babies, you may be able to hike longer trails. If you start early, you can return back from hiking before sunset.
Plan rest stops
Babies become tired easily. So, choose a spot to rest after sometimes of hiking. Rest around beautiful waterfalls, lakes, and so on. Planning a destination to rest in will also keep your baby energized. Make sure to feed the babies with snacks and water and have them take enough rest.
Dress your baby appropriate
While taking the baby outdoors make sure you keep them comfortable and happy. Depending on the weather make your babies wear an extra layer of clothes. And don’t forget the extra set of clothes (for emergencies), a wide-brim sun hat, sunglasses, and warm babu hiking boots (if it’s winter).
Make sure the baby is fed properly
Babies need to feed properly, even if you are hiking. While it’s easy to breastfeed, moms feed the baby just by finding a comfortable place. For babies who have started taking solid food, make sure to prepare some great hiking snacks for the baby. Like an easy-to-grasp fruit cut up of blueberries and bananas, cooked and cut up potato, or small pieces of bread.
Determine your baby carrier while hiking
The age of the baby most of the time determines which baby carrier to choose while hiking with babies. Most parents feel comfortable with baby carriers while hiking as the baby is close to their parents, and parents feel safe. However, with baby carriers, if parents get sweaty babies also do get sweaty so choose baby carriers that are breathable and have mesh panels.
If you are comfortable with hiking with the baby in the stroller then you need to first search stroller-friendly hiking trails. Even though at first options might be limited but with the best hiking strollers and little research you will find suitable hiking trails to hike with a stroller.
Hiking With Baby Checklist
Babies do not need a lot of hiking gear. As long as the babies are warm and fed properly and their diapers could be changed babies are. However, to make things easy for you here is my essential checklist for hiking with babies.
- Snacks
- Spill-proof snack container
- Sunscreen
- Bug spray
- Rain cover
- Baby carrier or hiking backpack carrier
- Anything necessary for feeding (formula, water & bottles plus a travel bottle warmer)
- Extra outfit or two
- Diaper change mat
- Diapers & wipes
- Wide-brimmed sun hat
- Sunglasses
- Warm hat and mitts for cooler days
- Extra dry bag
Benefits Of Hiking With Baby: Final Thoughts
Hiking has a lot of benefits for both moms and newborns. Prepare well and be flexible about expectations. Don’t worry if your first hike doesn’t go as you planned even stepping out of the home means a lot. Most importantly hiking with the baby allows parents to feel that with little adjustments they can enjoy their life just like before.
FAQ: Benefits Of Hiking With Baby
Can you take a newborn hiking?
Yes! You can obviously take your newborn baby hiking. The hiking might be shorter and you might need to take a longer time for preparation but it’s a great way for you to go out with your baby.
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