How To Backpack With A 1-Year-Old

Backpacking With A 1-year-old

Camping in the backcountry is our favorite way of camping. The remote locations, beautiful scenery and the adventure to get there are just a few of the reasons why we love backpacking. Because we love the experience, we wanted to figure out how to backpack with our 1-year-old.

Backpacking with a one year old, baby, or toddler takes a few things. Preparation, practice, and gear will go a long way to ensuring you have an enjoyable experience hiking with you little child.

Plan out the trip, be familiar with the area

Take some practice hikes

There is nothing wrong with short distances

Keep meals simple

Prepare for messes, wet wipes work wonders

Know how to accommodate your child’s sleeping needs. More space, less light.

Enjoy the journey

Be responsible. You pack it up, you pack it out. No child left behind.

Preparing To Backpack with a Baby

Since this was our first time backpacking with a one-year-old we decided to keep the hike short. On previous hikes on our local mountain, we found this spot we thought would be perfect to camp that was only a mile away.

The hike itself had just about everything you want out of a hike. We had a stream we were hiking next to for the first two thirds. There were switchbacks that let you see where you have been. Steep inclines to add challenges and a sense of accomplishment. And if everything went horribly wrong we weren’t too far to bail.

Before we went on our backpacking trip with Milo we knew we had to prepare. We already had our destination all that we needed to figure out was the how. How are we going to eat, and sleep? How are we going to get all of our gear up there? What are we going to entertain our son while we are up there?

Food to Bring When Backpacking with a 1-year-old

Preparing food for our trip was the easiest part. Since we were only staying one night we weren’t too stressed about this. However, since we were planning to do more backpacking trips throughout the summer we decided to take more food so that we can find what we like.

For dinner, we took a couple of dehydrated-dried meals. One would have been plenty, but again, we wanted to try out different options. To add to the excitement of our dehydrated meals we took a few snacks like potato chips and crackers. The crispiness of our side dishes really complimented the chicken rice curry and black beans with rice meals.

For our son, we were really hoping he would mostly eat what we were eating and then supplementing with formula. Looking back, it probably would have been smarter to try some of the dehydrated meals before we went on the trip. That would help reduce some unknowns on the actual trip.

Since we were using formula we made sure that we packed enough water for our meals and for Milo’s drink. The stream would only be about .3 miles away, but we didn’t want to have to make the trip if we could avoid it.

One of our favorite parts of backpacking is eating. There is just something satisfying about eating after a hike and even more so when you hauled the food with you. If we are getting more into the nitty-gritty details, we really love our snacks and dessert. Backpacking amplifies this. So along with our chips and crackers, we also brought snickers (one of our favorite hiking treats), cookies, trail mix, and my wife surprised me by adding sodas to the menu. When you are on trail the little things go a long way.

With dinner and dessert covered all that was left was breakfast. We kept this one really simple. Instant oatmeal is our go-to backpacking breakfast. It’s quick, simple, tasty, and offers plenty of variety. What I really like about oatmeal packets is that adding hot water directly to the packet works perfectly. Though this is advised against, for us the reward of not having to pack up bowls and wash the bowls afterward is worth the risk.

To boil the water we need for dinner and breakfast we used a backpacking stove and kettle. MSR has a nice affordable stove The Pocket Rocket that we take with us on all our backpacking trips. Using this stove requires fuel. Small fuel canisters can be found at Walmart and other sporting good stores.

Sleeping Comfortably with a 1 Year Old While Backpacking Preparations

Going into the trip we knew this was going to be a struggle. Our little boy is not the best of sleepers. He likes his own space. Moves around a lot. Is prone to partying during the late hours. He needs to be warm, but not too hot. And he seems to be in a constant state of teething so any prior consistency can be tossed out the window any given night. Teething is the worst!

Our plan to give Milo his own sleeping space was to put him in a small pop up tent inside our tent. Shonnee did a lot of research and was able to find this nice small tent that we could put our one-year-old in. We had Milo try sleeping in the tent a couple of times before our trip and he seemed to do ok. With him having his own small tent we were also hoping to solve the issue of his moving, and partying.

The Tent we were all going to sleep in was a Kelty 2 man tent that Shonnee purchased while she was in college. The tent is quality, easy to set up, and not too heavy. The only problem with the tent was the space. For just two people it is great. For two people, and a small tent the space gets really tight. We knew this was going to be a problem, but we’re hoping it would work itself out. It didn’t.

To keep our one-year-old warm we packed extra onesies and a couple of blankets. The temperature wasn’t going to drop lower than 50 degrees. With the blankets, onesies, and our body heat, we didn’t think Milo getting cold would be a problem.

Shonnee and my sleeping arrangements were pretty basic. We both have decent sleeping bags and pads. We’d both slept multiple nights with our setup and were confident we wouldn’t have issues this trip as well.

Teething is a struggle at home so we were fully aware of the possible struggle we would face on the mountain as well. While our son is teething he is prone to fever, aches, rashes, diarrhea, upset stomach, and loss of appetite. Teething is the worst. Having a bottle ready and Tylenol at hand is how we handle this problem at home and that was our plan for the trip. Mostly we were hoping that if he was teething, he would only have minor symptoms. We did not want to have to fight diarrhea in a cramped tent in the middle of the night.

Packing Gear When Backpacking with a 1-year-old

Packing gear for backpacking trips is one of my favorite parts. Making the most of the given space and reducing weight is almost like handling a budget. You have your fixed weights and your variable weights. Figuring out the logistics of how we were going to pack all of our gear when backpacking with a one-year-old turned out to be just as fun.

Since my wife was carrying our 1-year old I was left to pack up most of our gear. For this, I needed to use a bigger backpack. My Gregory 75 liter pack worked great for the situation. This allowed me to pack our tent, sleeping bags, and sleeping pads all in one bag. The extra space also allowed me to carry our extra clothes, food, and the other gear that we needed.

In total, my carrying weight came to about 45 pounds. My wife was carrying our one-year-old and a little bit of the gear. Her weight total came to about 40 pounds. This was a lot more weight than we wanted to carry but we knew that this was just part of the deal. If we were going to take our son with us we were going to have to pack up more gear. It was encouraging to know that we weren’t going a long distance.

Having lightweight gear goes a long way here. This is especially the case with necessary items such as sleeping arrangements. Having a lighter sleeping bag and pad helps not only reduce the amount of space it takes up but also the weight. Our combined sleeping arrangement was probably under 10 pounds. This definitely enabled us to pack up all the things that we needed.

I will say though that we probably packed a lot more than we actually needed. For example, I packed a hatchet. I knew I wasn’t really going to be chopping wood but I kept thinking “what if”. And if I’m being completely honest having that hatchet was a great false sense of security. We probably also took a lot more clothes than what was actually needed.

How to entertain a one-year-old while backpacking

Our next challenge was entertaining our son while backpacking and camping. Entertaining our son while backpacking was probably the easiest part. It helps that our son really enjoys being in the backpack. I think it is a combination of the scenery and the ride that hey enjoys. So we knew hiking for just a mile wasn’t going to be a problem.

Camping on the other hand was going to be a little bit of a challenge. There are only a few toys that we could bring with us for his entertainment and even then a lot of those toys were more indoor toys. So reluctantly we just had to embrace that Milo was going to be playing in the dirt. Since we were already preparing to clean dirty diapers we planned to bring a few extra wet wipes with us. Also to help mitigate the amount of dirt that was being played in we brought small packing tarp. This gave us a small clean area for him to use his toys on and a spot to sit on.

Another form of entertainment that we planned was to bring a small camping stove. This thing is tiny. Using sticks and twigs we’re able to build a small fire for cooking and roasting marshmallows. The small stove was an excellent form of entertainment that lasted at least 10 minutes. It was a great 10 minutes.

Our journey hiking with 1-year-old

The hike itself was great. Even though our pack weights were pretty heavy we made what I thought to be a decent time. With the number of breaks we had to take, it took us about an hour to make it to our campsite. Unexpectedly Milo fell asleep during the last stretch. This was great because while he was sleeping we were able to get a good portion of our camp set up.

Setting up our tent went smoothly as well. We’d had plenty of practice with our tent so we knew what we were doing. Once the tent was set up Shonnee arranged our sleeping situation. It was at this moment that we realized again how little room we had in our tent.

After cooking our food and eating dessert we started to settle down for the night. We enjoyed a small little fire and watched the sunset. Standing on the mountain we had a good view of our Valley and the sunset was particularly beautiful. This was a great family moment!

That night, unfortunately, very little sleeping got done. Even though we brought Milo his own little space, he was not content to sleep in it. Part of the problem was that it was too bright inside his tent. He could see us and wanted to be next to us. With Milo out of his tent, he was free to roam.

The whole night he kept jumping from Shonnee to me and trying to find his most comfortable spot to sleep. He slept on our bellies, on the ground. He would crawl to our feet and try to settle down there. The cuddles we got from our one-year-old were great the sleeping was horrible.

Eventually, the morning did come and save us from a restless night. We cooked our oatmeal and enjoyed a pleasant breakfast. Then we packed up our tent and made our trip back home. Even though not everything turned out perfectly, this was a very good introduction to our new hobby we could enjoy as a family.

The successful trip was a great experience full of memories and photos we will cherish. After it was all said and done, we knew we were going to backpack as a family again, and we knew we were going to do it more often. Next time, however, we were going to be more prepared and better equipped.