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klopik
Apr 14, 2010, 6:33 AM
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So, all of you experienced mommies!
I had my baby 3 weeks ago. It is wonderful, and he is really the best thing that ever happened to me!
We are adjusting pretty well, and we have a very calm happy baby, so much so that we decided to go to Yosemite for 3 days in a couple of weeks. My hubby wants to climb a bit, and I want to be around and show my little one waterfalls :)
Anyone has gone camping with such a little one? Any advice on what I can expect, what should I prepare for? We are considering renting a hotel but I would much prefer camping if we can pull it off,
He is breastfed exclusively, and I have plenty for him, so that is not a problem. We have him in cloth diapers but I don't imagine that would be realistic on that sort of a trip, I was thinking gDiapers as an alternative. We got a sling that I can wear that I find supercomfy and little one likes. We got all the right clothes, and I am thinking we will have him in one of our sleeping bags to keep him warm. We have travel wipe warmer :)
What am I not thinking of?
Any advice you can give me is very welcome!!!
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karmiclimber
Apr 14, 2010, 1:36 PM
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Congratulations! I breastfed my daughter too...I think it'll make camping easier if you are breastfeeding. I didn't take my daughter until she was three...no real reason, it just didn't happen until then. I hope you have a great time! Sounds like fun.
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rightarmbad
Apr 14, 2010, 4:12 PM
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Just one thought, I know I and several of my friends find that they gradually get a little bit dehydrated as the camping days go on.
May be something to watch out for.
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klopik
Apr 14, 2010, 5:30 PM
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Thank you! Something I didn't know!
Do you think breastfeeding more often would solve the dehydration problem?
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klopik
Apr 14, 2010, 5:31 PM
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Thank you! We are super excited. And we are super lucky, too - just 4 hours away from Yosemite (and we have a flexible schedule, so we can go during the week!)
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karmiclimber
Apr 14, 2010, 6:42 PM
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No, no...YOU are the one who is at risk for dehydration. Your body sucks out all of the excess fluids to produce milk. Take powdered gatorade or some sort of electrolyte drink. And plenty of cliff bars. I used to love shot bloks for that sort of thing too.
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haleymay
Apr 14, 2010, 7:03 PM
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You've got some great advice already and I think you have everything pretty well planned. Do it while their young! So much easier :)
Watch for you getting dehydrated like another poster said, but BFing will make it so much easier for you. And you said you have a sling but if your going to be out hiking alot you may want to check into other carriers. The sling may put too much strain on one shoulder and you'll be hurting at the end of the day. I have an Ergo carrier that spreads the weight out equally over both shoulders and your hips. Love it. It even has a pocket so you can stick your phone, camera, diapers and wipes in it so you have one less thing to carry.
Good luck!
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lena_chita
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Apr 14, 2010, 8:59 PM
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Congratulations!!!!
If you are feeling up to it yourself, this is really a dreamy time to take your baby camping, because a 5-6 weeks old baby is very ambulatory, not too heavy to carry around for an extended period of time, and sleeps a lot.
You are going at the time of the year when the weather is fairly mild, so you don't need much of anything.
You can bring a folding bassinet/playpen for the baby to sleep in, if you are staying in a motel, or bring a small camping pad and a couple of blankies for the baby, if you are camping. For a wee one, I would have a hat that he could wear at night if it gets chilly, b/c babies lose heat through their heads at relatively high rate. But if you are snuggling next to him, you really don't need anything extra. A baby this small can even fit in your sleeping bag with you ,as long as you keep it open so he gets plenty of air.
There is really no one way to do it. When the kids were little, we would actually use an inflatable mattress, put a flat rectanguar sleeping bag on top of it for an insulation, a fitted sheet to keep it all in place, and then just use regular blankets and pillows on top, instead of the sleeping bags to sleep in a tent in summer. It was more comfortable for them than a sleeping bag... but that is toddler- and preschool-age, not a newborn. Still, there is nothing that says that you can't do it that way wit ha little baby...you are geting woken up enough at night, if having an inflatable mattress means that you woud get a slightly better sleep than on a camp pad-- go for it.
Breastfeeding makes it much easier, for sure, and sling is awesome. And yes, cloth diapers are not the best for long trips. We used cloth with out second baby, but you can be sure I used disposables to go to Australia with her. :) Make sure you have plenty of nursing pads, a few changes of clothing (more than you would normally take for a trip like that) for the times when you soak through, and the times the baby blows through the diaper... 
The main thing is to make sure that YOU are not doing too much too soon. Trust me, you don't want the bleeding to re-start when you are in the middle of nowhere and faint from blood loss (ask me how I know...  ). As others have said, make sure you are not dehydrated-- nursing combined with physical exertion is a double-whammy. And pack more snacks than you normally would, too, b/c I was ravenous when I was nursing, esp. when the baby went through the growth spurt...
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klopik
Apr 15, 2010, 12:55 AM
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oh, yeah, the margarita flavored shots :)
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kiwiprincess
Apr 16, 2010, 3:06 AM
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We were taken camping as babies.
My mum used a cardboard box as a tent sized crib.
She had a lidded bucket for nappies to soak but, I'd use disposables and take something airtight for storage.
Have fun!
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mom2boys
Apr 30, 2010, 4:12 AM
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Congratulations!! Camping with an infant is a wonderful memorable experience. Well worth the effort.
I found the sling did not work well for vigorous long hikes, I used a Lascal and am impressed with the Ergo as well. I carried one of my husband's rainjackets that could cover us both when the weather turned. Extra clothes, water, sun hat and beanie for baby. Kept the baby warm with hat and fleece sleepers. We actually used a little basket when camping with our first son, lined it with a blanket. The cloth diapers always stay home when we travel, then we use disposables.
Staying well rested, fed, and hydrated is key for you, like others have said. I remember being shocked at how exhausting it all was initially. Be sure to add in time for breastfeeding and diaper changes when planning your days.
Have a great time!
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erica
Aug 12, 2010, 12:34 PM
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Congratulations! My little guy is almost 5 months old and he has been on 4 weekend camping/climbing trips! I didn't want him t o"remember" his first time at the crag and camping - I want it to be just "This is what we do on the weekend in my family" kind of thing.
I agree with PP about breastfeeding and staying hydrated. Our first few times out I ran into those issues as well. I used a Moby wrap the first time for the approach, but since then I have been happier with the Baby Bjorn, b/c it provided better head control. Now he is holding his head up so well it probably doesn't matter - but I am counting down the weeks until we can put him in the Kelty backpack!
We also found it was much easier on our little guy to choose crags with several routes we wanted to do in the same area, rather than packing up all our stuff and moving constantly from route to route. This made it easier on us (since there is so much more gear with a baby!) and also easier on him b/c he could settle down better for naps.
As he's gotten older, my son is way too interested in whats going on around him than in going to sleep at night, so our last trip we did our nighttime routein, fed him one last time, and then put him in the car for a drive, and he was out within 10 minutes, and then we just put him in the tent. Hopefully that will continue to work for us?!?
Also - we use cloth diapers, both at home and at the crag! If you think about it, you have to pack out everything anyway, so its really not that different than disposables - just throw them in the wash instead of the trash! If we were camping long enough to need to do laundry though, I can see where it would be a problem - hte most we have gone has been 3 nights, and we were DEFINITELY ready to wash some diapers when we got home!
Congratulations on your little one - hopefully you guys will be able to get out climbing and camping soon!
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smallclimber
Aug 13, 2010, 1:04 AM
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Just out of interest, did you ever climb post baby with just you, your partner and baby? (I'm making the assumption that climbing partner is dad), or did you always have at least one spare person.
If there is an easy access crag, with a nice flat area right by the climb for a stroller, hubby sets up top rope by walking round, would you feel comfortable belyaing each other, without a third person or not? I'm not making any plans I just wondered whether people manage this?
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erica
Aug 13, 2010, 1:25 AM
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Yes, climbing partner is dad, and no we never climbed outdoors without a third person. I'd imagine that if there was a roadside crag where we could bring the stroller in I might would feel comfortable with that, but we don't really have that option available to us, so I had never really considered it. We do go to the gym without a third partner, and just keep him in the stroller, but that obviously has a different feel b/c there are always other people around.
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kiwiprincess
Aug 13, 2010, 4:20 AM
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My friend used a cardboard box as a camp Cot, since it can pack flat and is small enough to fit in the tent.
It seems that sun shelter for the baby during the day is something most people seem to Bring out to the crag, like a tent fly for naps.
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smallclimber
Aug 13, 2010, 12:06 PM
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Thanks, I also think we should be able to manage the gym this way, but continuing outside as a couple will take some extra thought and compromises But it will be fun to work things out!
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klopik
Aug 31, 2010, 4:47 AM
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Hi there - I started the thread a while ago :) We have gone camping repeatedly with our son by now, and planning a nice backpacking trip for 3 days this weekend. So far everything has been great!
We have climbed just the three of us, outdoors. Little Kai is a very happy mellow baby, so it was in this remote crag, where we put him on the ground in his little "baby gym" and the two of us would climb (of course, everything is a single pitch climb), with an expectation of stopping at any time and lowering the person right away.
We also climb in the gym all the time, with the baby sitting in his little chair watching us for a while until he gets bored and wants to go to sleep at which time we just take off.
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happiegrrrl
Aug 31, 2010, 7:10 PM
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Yay for Crag Baby!
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carabiner96
Aug 31, 2010, 7:32 PM
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Sounds awesome!
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smallclimber
Sep 6, 2010, 10:40 PM
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Hi There,
Do you have one of those "sun tent" sort of things for baby to lie in at the crag, and if so what make etc? I saw a couple at Rumney with a mini-tent with a 6 month old in, which looked good but I was too shy to ask them what make it was. We climb in the Gunks and some of the single pitch climbs are stroller accessible, but would be nice to have other options for next year. I also worry about dogs - they are meant to be leashed but many aren't and are often not well behaved.
I had a C-section two weeks ago, so will be some time before any climbing can take place, and to be honest at present I'd probably trade all future climbing days for one good nights sleep!
But we are determined to find ways to keep going and hope to manage some short days, perhaps just some toproping before the end of the season. Temperature should be baby friendly in October, unfortunately that's also the busiest time in the east.
Congrats on getting back to climbing and rest of your life so well. I hope I'll be there soon (or if not soon at least eventually)
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klopik
Sep 7, 2010, 2:31 PM
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Hello there -
No, we don't have the tent, we make one up :)
Basically, we take his little excercise gym - you know, one of these mats with rods crossed over with toys hanging on it? - and we put him in it, so the toys entertain him, and then if there is sun, we put a muslin swaddle blanket over it so it would protect him from the sun :) Oh, we use a tarp to protect the gym from too much dirt.
If you would like, send me your email via PM and I will forward you a picture :) (can't add it to the message)
About the dogs - we only ran into one unleashed dog in all of our climbing, and we asked the owners if they can leash it since we were really worried, and they did without a problem, said they totally understood. I am not sure what we would have done if they wouldn't...
Congratulations on yoru little one!!! Isn't it a wonderful thing to have one of these? They are so much fun. And you will absolutely get back to climbing and the rest of your life, its only been 2 weeks, so you still have to get used to him(or her?) and he to you! :) We just came back from our first 3 day backpacking trip in the Sierras - and it went great, without a single hitch, even with the fact that he cut his first 2 teeth while backpacking!
Good luck and I hope you recover quickly and will go have fun - if parents enjoy themselves, babies are much happier too !
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rockie
Sep 14, 2010, 10:30 AM
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"Congratulations"
My little man turned a year old recently and I can't believe how fast the time has gone already.
Just one piece of advice as everyone's already pretty much fed back on everything else.
Don't bother wasting your time or money on the G diapers, they are rubbish. I had them and sold them, they leak. Check out this site for valid trustworthy cloth diapers, including the bad reviews on the G diapers:
http://www.diaperpin.com/diapers/ItemDetail.asp?ID=1764
Lately I use both disposables and cloth. Disposables when my LO is with the stay at home Mum while I work as easier I find, and they don't leak!
And I cloth diaper him when he is with me and over night.
Hope that helps 
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klopik
Sep 15, 2010, 2:06 AM
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On gDiapers -
I think people either hate them or love them! It works really nicely for us - we do cloth only at home, and only use gDiapers when we are camping/backpacking and they work wonderfully for me.
I, on the other hand, had a horrible experience with disposables - we had to go to them for 2 weeks while we went to Seattle on a business trip and I swear, we had a blowout every single time he pooped! Never had a blow out ever with either cloth or gDiapers! And I tried pampers, then huggies, then 7th generation - all the same thing. And he absolutely hated disposables when he would pee in them, I guess too heavy or something?
Every baby is unique ;)
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