Hiking with 14 month old

[Sabina]

Hi All-It's been a while since I've been on this site and I see a lot of new faces. Used to date a guy in Boston and we'd go hiking a lot in the Whites, and this group was a great resource. If there was one like down here in Virginia, we'd be lucky. But since there isn't, hope you don't mind helping out! : )

My husband and I are thinking of taking a trip to Seattle with our 14 month old son. We'd like to do some hiking, esp. in Mt. Ranier Natl Park, as well as some other places. The problem is that our son hated the backpack style carriers when we tried them on at REI so we got an Ergo (kind of like a bjorn but worn on your back) instead. Even in that, he's happy for about an hour max, and we'd like to be able to go on at least a 3-4 hour hike with him.

Has anyone else had this experience? How did you get your child to stay content for a longer time?

Thanks!
Sabina

 

[Greg]

Hi Sabina

I took my then 9 month old out for a hike last Fall (he's 15 months now) and he was good for about an hour and 15 minutes. Then he started squirming, but we were 15 minutes to the car so we finished up the trip. But, I think if you let him/her out every once in a while to roam around and eat sticks and stuff, that you may be able to go for a bit longer. I wouldn't push it to hard, though, you want to keep it fun. He was in an REI backpack and loves it. I tried to pick hour long hikes last year, but may try to increase them to two hours with a rest break at the half-way point this year. He's still at the fall down all the time stage right now, so much walking on his own is prolly out. Good luck to you both!