Baby Safety On and Off the Campsite

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Camping with a baby is tough. When they’re little lumps who sit happily on a picnic blanket it’s easy. Now that Baby L has opinions on where she sits, what she eats, what she plays with, who picks her up, and everything else it’s hard.

She’s at an awkward stage. At 15 months old, but not quite walking, she is literally in the dirt on every camping trip. What’s more, she’s a great climber and crawler which means I have to constantly make sure she hasn’t gotten into the fire pit. Babies in the outdoors take work and some extra gear. That gear can make a huge difference.

Portable Highchair
The coolest new baby gear item we’ve tried is the Kidco DinePod. This highchair folds up like a regular camping chair so it’s easy to travel with. When set up, the legs are as sturdy as any restaurant highchair with a buckle for baby. Baby L can eat at any campsite we visit without sitting on my lap and sharing her food with my clothes. 

Holding a wiggly almost-toddler while they grab at your plate requires patiently wrestling, readjusting and moving things out of reach. I hate it. It’s so much better to have a KidCo DinePod so both Baby L and I can enjoy meal time. My one complaint is that the push button to fold up the seat gets stuck easily. I’ve had to wrestle the chair closed a few times. It wasn’t pretty.

Hiking Carrier
If you want to get out of camp and on the trail you’ll need a quality baby carrier. Different carriers work better depending on the age of your baby. Tales of a Mountain Mama has extensively tested almost every baby carrier on the market including soft sided options like LILLEbaby and Onya as well as framed carriers from Deuter, Osprey and Kelty.

We use an older version of Kelty’s Pathfinder framed pack mostly, but on quick trips or when we are packing light I’ll wrap Baby L in a Moby Wrap and call it good. We reviewed these more extensively here.

Baby Tent
One item we’re excited to try out on our National Park to Park Highway tour is the Kidco PeaPod Plus. The infant travel bed works like a pop up tent. It collapses into a convenient case and comes with a built in sleeping pad. We’ll be attaching the KidCo PeaPod Plus to the tailgate on our trip so Baby L can sleep close to us in the back of the truck, but not on top of us while we’re trying to sleep.

I have a friend who used a KidCo PeaPod nightly to keep her climbing toddler boys from escaping their crib. They zipped them up at night and didn’t have to worry about broken arms or legs from their adventurous boys climbing out. Nice.

Stair Gates
The number one baby safety item that has changed my life recently is not one we’ll be taking on our National Park to Park Highway Tour. It’s attached to my house.

One of super climber Baby L’s favorite activities is to climb up and down our stairs at home. With a spiral staircase to our basement and openings between the steps to the upstairs, I am constantly worried she will slip through and fall.

When we asked Kidco to be a sponsor for our National Park to Park Highway Tour, I mentioned that our stair gates at the time consisted of a guitar case and a plastic gate bungeed to the banister. It wasn’t pretty and only 50% effective at keeping Baby L from sneaking up the stairs. Luckily Kidco sent me two Angle Mount Safeway Gates to protect my littlest tot from danger.

The KidCo Angle Mount Safeway Gate is great for non parallel attachment points. The gate hardware allows you to choose the direction the gate will swing and it’s easy to control once installed. The dark wood looks great with our balustrades and the gate itself can handle openings ranging from 27 to 42 inches.

The installation was tricky however, and I’m pretty handy with a drill. The toughest part was making sure I positioned the hinges at the same height on both sides of the stair opening. Kidco sent templates to help with that, but their directions weren’t very clear. Also the top latch comes off easily, especially when older siblings are opening and closing the gates.

With that said, having these KidCo Angle Mount Safeway Gates has changed my life. I’m no longer dropping what I’m doing every second to follow Baby L up the stairs for the twelfth time that day. Now I can control if and when we go up and down stairs. The worry that Baby L will tumble down has been erased from my mind. Plus the gates look great.

Baby safety indoors and out is something all parents have to worry about. Thankfully the right gear can take some of that worry away. Do you go camping with a baby or toddler? What gear has helped in your outdoor adventures? Let me know by leaving a comment!

This post includes affiliate links. I receive a very small commission if you purchase something by clicking through these links. Thank you to our 2016 National Park to Park Highway Tour Sponsors.

Stage 2: National Park to Park Highway

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We completed Stage 1 of our National Park to Park Highway Tour and learned some valuable lessons. As the BIG trip looms, we are frantically preparing. I thought you’d like to know where we’ll go on our seven week, 5,600 mile road trip tour of the National Park to Park Highway

Photo of the 1920s National Park to Park Highway Tour.

Our journey begins June 27, 2016 with our first stop: Grand Teton National Park. I’m glad we’re starting here. After the difficulties of camping on our practice tour, I’m looking forward to staying at Togwotee Mountain Lodge. Their cabins are the perfect size for our family and I need to ease back into full time camping with a shower, flush toilet and laundry services. Apparently camping luxury to me means running water. 

1920s map of National Park to Park Highway

From there we’ll be visiting the following parks. It’s not in the same order as the 1920s group, but we will be visiting all of the original 12 parks on the National Park to Park Highway, plus a few more.

June
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming/Idaho

July
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado
Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Colorado
Hovenweep National Monument, Colorado
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
Family Reunion, Silverstrand, CaliforniaKings Canyon/Sequoia National Park, California
Yosemite National Park, California
Devils Postpile National Monument, California
Lassen Volcanic National Park, California
Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
Mount Rainier National Park, Washington 

August
Olympic National Park, Washington 

Glacier National Park, Montana
Yellowstone National Park, Montana



We’re excited to take off on this journey and want you to come along for the ride. Sign up for our newsletter below or follow us on instagramtwitter or facebook. 

What’s more, we want your input on what adventures we should experience. Share your favorite hike or bike ride in one of the National Parks on our route. What do you recommend? Leave a comment, we’d love to hear from you!

1920s National Park to Park Highway Tour

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Introducing the Mountain Mom and Tots Book Club

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One of the greatest loves in my life is reading. I’m a fan of well told stories, especially if those stories have something to do with the other great love in my life – the outdoors.

Recently while reading How to Raise a Wild Child: The Art and Science of Falling in Love with Nature (affiliate link) I had the thought, “Hey, I bet some of my blog readers would like this book too.” That led to, “Why not start a conversation about good nature themed books.” And you know how trains of thought go, they just keep chugging till they get to their station. “Why not start an online outdoors book club?”

It’s a simple enough idea. And one I hope you’ll love.

Here’s my plan. I’ll chose an outdoor themed book and review it here on Mountain Mom and Tots. You’ll be able to find all the Mountain Mom and Tots Book Club choices under the soon-to-be-introduced Book Club tab on the site.

For every book I will ask one or two questions. Just post a comment and the discussion can grow from there. The questions will be applicable to all, whether you read the book or not.

On this first edition of the Mountain Mom and Tots Book Club I wanted to highlight this great book about getting outdoors with kids. Just in time for summer reading!


How to Raise a Wild Child: The Art and Science of Falling in Love with Nature
Parents of preschoolers are probably already familiar with Dr. Scott the Paleontologist from the PBS Kids show Dinosaur Train. For those of you who haven’t seen Tiny the Pterodactyl and her adopted T Rex brother Buddy, allow me to introduce you to Scott D. Sampson, Ph.D.

He’s an expert in his field of (surprise) paleontology, but more than that he’s an advocate for connecting children with nature. His most recent book How to Raise a Wild Child presents the latest research on kids in the outdoors. It also gives great ideas on how to become a Nature Mentor.

My first reaction while reading this book was “Yeah, I’m doing pretty good.” When Sampson encourages engaging children in wild spaces I look out my window and think we’ve got that pretty well covered living at Sundance Resort. Just the other day Little G pointed at a fuzzy antlered deer walking past our kitchen window.

Then my son complains that “I only got an hour and a half of electronics time today! This is the worst day of my life!” and I realize I might still have some work to do.

At times while reading How to Raise a Wild Child the Mommy guilt of “I’m not doing enough” set in. While the book is mostly aimed at giving suggestions on improving your Nature Mentor skills, the voice in the back of my head kept saying “Ok, here’s another thing I should be doing.” There’s never the time or energy to implement all of the ideas in my actual life.

That’s my take. Now it’s time to discuss. My comment question for you is the same one Sampson asks in Chapter One:

What is Nature, and Do We Really Need It?

Leave your comments below, I’m really curious to know your thoughts.


101 Things For Kids To Do Outside
The other book I’m reviewing in this inaugural Mountain Mom and Tots Book Club post is 101 Things For Kids To Do Outside by Dawn Isaacs. It’s full of fun outdoor activities, many of which kids can do completely on their own.

When Firefly Books offered me a copy to review I didn’t think much of it, other than it seemed like a cool book. When I actually looked through the book I was surprised at how sucked in I got. The photos and illustrations are adorable and I love how Isaacs writes directly to kids.

Each project is just a page or two and there’s a wide variety of activities to choose from. Only have an hour or less? Make flower fairies or rustle up a bird feast like little G and I did (note: birds can tell the difference between lard and bacon grease). Blow giant bubbles, balance stones or take the matchbox challenge. Want a summer long project to engage kids with the outdoors? Plant a mobile herb garden, brew your own plant food or construct a stumpery.

101 Things For Kids To Do Outside is full of ideas on how to have fun outdoors. I like that I can pick and choose which projects would work for our family based on age, season, time and interest. Our current family favorite from 101 Things For Kids To Do Outside is to Go on a bear hunt – basically playing hide and seek with stuffed animals.

Now when Big E complains that he’s bored and there’s nothing to do but play on electronics I can hand him this book and kick him out the door.

Comment Question for 101 Things For Kids To Do Outside:
What is your KIDS favorite activity to do outside? 

Let’s discuss! Leave a comment with your thoughts about either of these great books and be sure to answer the questions. I want to hear what you think!


This post includes affiliate links. I receive a small commission if you purchase something by clicking through these links.

Lessons Learned from a Campout Gone Wrong

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Last week we completed Stage 1 of our National Park to Park Highway Tour. On our week long camping adventure to Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park and Cedar Breaks National Monument we wanted to see just how hard living out of our truck full time would be.

Spoiler Alert: Camping with kids is hard.

Here are the lessons we learned from Stage 1 of the National Park to Park Highway Tour that will hopefully make our big trip (leaving June 27, 2016) a little easier.

Psst…Want to see exclusive photos of the completed National Park-to-Park Highway tour? Check out this FREE Photo Ebook! Sign up right here in the box after this sentence.

1 – Don’t Leave Essential Gear at Home.

In our frantic packing at the start of the trip we forgot our tent poles and our Lightspeed Outdoors Tripod Quick Canopy. I’m embarrassed just writing that. We forgot our tent poles and shade shelter! As a seasoned camping family we know better than that.

Lucky for us Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks are in the high desert region of southern Utah and we didn’t get rained out. Unlucky for us, Zion and Bryce Canyon are in the high desert and we didn’t have any shade.

 

We survived the first half of the trip by spending the hot afternoons swimming in rivers and the nights sleeping under the stars. Big E and Little G slept on the bench seats inside the truck while Mountain Dad and I slept on the Lightspeed Outdoors Air Bed (with Foam Topper) out under the stars. And when she wasn’t crying, Baby L slept on her Klymit Static V Junior Camp Pad next to us.

Did I worry about creepy crawlies snuggling up with my baby? A little, which is why she ended up on the mattress with me and Mountain Dad every night at some point.

Then on day 5 of the trip my sister came to the rescue, bringing our missing poles and Lightspeed Tripod Quick Canopy to us in Bryce Canyon National Park. Her family came to hike and camp along with us and I was so grateful.

On our big trip this will be less of a problem thanks to the truck top we ordered from Sam T Evans Trailers in Salt Lake City. The plan is to sleep in the back of the truck, leave our bed unmade and not have to roll up sleeping bags every single day.

Making due is a lesson that any camping family learns. Luckily we remembered enough gear to make the trip manageable.

 

2 – Be Flexible

A few days before we left for Zion National Park, Mountain Dad got a message from ReserveAmerica.com.

“We’re sorry, your reservation for Point Supreme Campground in Cedar Breaks National Monument has been cancelled. They are unable to open the Campground at this time due to unexpected snow levels.”

What? The only firm camping reservation we had on this trip just got nixed? It was a bad omen. We were looking forward to attending Cedar Breaks’ Saturday Night Star Party, but without a place to sleep that just wouldn’t be possible.

This is the second lesson any camping family learns. Sometimes our plans just don’t work out.

 

It’s a lesson I’ve learned before, but apparently have to keep learning. We do everything we can beforehand, but as John Steinbeck says in his books Travels with Charley In Search of America, “…A trip…has personality, temperament, individuality, uniqueness…And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless.”

We decided to cut our trip short by one day since camping in snow didn’t sound that fun anyway, especially without tent poles.

 

3 – Pack and Strap It

A big headache on this trip was packing, strapping and attaching our gear. I’ve realized that the right gear for packing is just as important as the right gear for hiking and biking.

 

Inside our truck bed we installed a Decked system, which is great for keeping our camping gear organized. Our camp chairs, stove, emergency supplies and even food stay neatly in their places and easy to find. But the space between the top of the Decked and the tonneau cover is only about eight inches. That means every sleeping bag, backpack, and baby carrier has to either squish to fit or be strapped on another way.

We’re fixing this in three ways. First, we’re getting a truck top from Sam T Evans Trailers in Salt Lake City. That will give us space to sleep and hang our backpacks so they’re out of the way, helping with the packing and keeping setup and take down work to a minimum.

 

The other two fixes are thanks to our sponsor Yakima. First, the SwingDaddy 4 Bike Hitch Rack has been awesome. Because of it’s unique design, we’re able to move the bikes out of the way of our tailgate without taking them off every time. It’s genius! Fitting our tots’ tiny Woom bikes on the rack built for full sized, adult bikes was tough, but we figured it out eventually. Only after I got home I found out that I’m not supposed to mount bikes vertically on the SwingDaddy. Looks like we’ll have more figuring out to do.

Second, we need a place to pack our bike trailer. While the Burley D’Lite Bike Trailer packs pretty flat, we already had limited space in our truck bed due to our Decked system. Mountain Dad came up with a brilliant solution of strapping the Burley D’Lite on top of our tonneau cover. For our big trip we’ll be installing a Yakima LoadWarrior Rooftop Cargo Basket to the top of our truck cab. This will allow us to pack the oversized items without having them bounce around on our unmade bed.

 

4 – Camping Requires Some Work

Mountain Dad’s biggest complaint on the Stage 1 trip was how often we had to wash dishes. After every meal!

I’m committed to producing as little waste as possible on our National Park to Park Highway tour. That means no paper plates, utensils and paper towels (who wants to use paper plates for 7 weeks anyway?). Mountain Dad, on the other hand, is focused on making our lives as easy as possible, which I also support.

We love the Sea to Summit X series dish sets, I just wish there were a way to make them self cleaning. Washing dishes after every meal adds a lot of time to the work part of camping and less to the play part.

Since our kids are still young (ages 7, 4 and 1) they can’t wash all of the dishes on their own. Big E and Little G have helped with the work, but as most ‘teaching kids to work’ projects go there’s a lot of direction from Mom. It’d be faster and easier (and less whiny) if I just did it myself.

We don’t have an easy solution to this, other than to suck it up and do the dishes. With a family of five this may just be part of the work of camping that we can’t make much easier.

5 – Joy Amidst Work

So if camping with kids is so tough, why do we do it? What is the point of loading up life, driving for hours, and sleeping in your car/tent/on the ground for a few days?

I think that’s best answered by my kids. When my sister came to camp with us she asked Little G the following questions.

Q – What do you like about camping?

A – We do fun stuff all the time.

Q – Like what?

A – Like play.

It’s true we do fun stuff while camping. Swimming in the Virgin River in Zion, riding bikes along the canyon rim in Bryce, even playing with pine cones at our campsite are out of the ordinary, unique experiences. And my kids aren’t the only ones playing. Mountain Dad and I are in the water with them, riding along side, even adding to their pine cone pile at camp.

This is the reason I camp with my kids. There are moments amidst the work that are relaxing, fun and beautiful. I’m present for my family without TV and smart phones distracting me. Nature helps me feel happy.

Twice on this trip Big E and little g said “This is the best day of my life.” Even with the sleeping, packing and cleaning of the trip. They got to do fun things outside. When I think about it, that’s why I like camping too.

Before we leave for our big National Park to Park Highway Tour June 27th, we’ll be working on solutions to our packing dilemmas. I’ve already started on a packing list to prevent leaving essentials at home. The biggest lesson I learned from Stage 1 of our tour is to make the work more manageable, then focus on the joy of being outdoors with my family. That’s what I want to be doing anyway.

What about you? What are your biggest headaches when camping? Why go (or not go)?

This post includes affiliate links. I receive a small commission if you purchase something by clicking through these links. Thank you to our 2016 National Park to Park Highway Tour sponsors, several of whom are listed here. Check out our Sponsors page for more info about them.