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jay84uk

By jay84uk

14 May 2009 22:40

My partner and I have just had a baby. How can we continue to go walking? Any suggestions for carriers and baby friendly places in the lakes? Ambleside and Grasmere seem to have no baby changing facilities nor does Keswick.

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Country Walking magazine

By Country Walking magazine

First off – congrats! Secondly, there’s stacks of gear out there to keep you striding the hills with your baby. BabyBjörn make a range of carriers where your baby is held in front of, and facing, you. The Active (£79.99) is particularly good for walkers, with comfy lumbar support and wide padded straps. It takes babies from eight pounds to 26, with the option to let them face forwards and look around when they get bigger. 

Alternatively, you might prefer a backpack style carrier. The Macpac Vamoose  is a popular choice for kids from six months upwards, but at £200  you’ve got to be sure you’ll use it. A lot. You might also find walking poles useful, as they’ll help keep you stable under the extra load. 

As for baby changing facilities, advice from staffers with kids is to take a fold up change mat with you and find a quiet spot - the back of the car or a clean spot by the sinks in a toilet.

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researchtermpapers

researchtermpapers says

RE: My partner and I have just had a baby. How can we continue to go walking? Any suggestions for carriers and baby friendly places in the lakes? Ambleside and Grasmere seem to have no baby changing facilities nor does Keswick.

I would think that walking with such a young infant will be easier than walking with an older baby. 3 month-old babies don't weigh much, they need between 16 and 20 hours leep a day - spread out over the 24 hour period and they don't need to be entertained!
You can have extreme weather in April and should be prepared for snow, heavy rain and muddy paths.
I'm sure that you are not planning on staying in the pilgrim refuges? They are often cramped, noisy and full of exhausted pilgrims who would not take kindly to a baby's feeding routine!
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26 April 2010 08:41

stevelloyd

stevelloyd says

RE: My partner and I have just had a baby. How can we continue to go walking? Any suggestions for carriers and baby friendly places in the lakes? Ambleside and Grasmere seem to have no baby changing facilities nor does Keswick.

Hi there,

 

I have just purchased a Vaude Butterfly Comfort and recently took our just 6 month old son to Pembrokeshire, the Vaude Butterfly performed really well to the pont that other than the weight of the child you dont notice much more than having a pack on you back.  Additionally it comes with a changing matt and rain cover that covers the childs head included in the price... a good all rounder!  We did also consider the Vaude Jolly Comfort IV as well but the head support for a younger child didnt seem enough.

Here are a couple of links to the 2 we looked at...

www.altimusonline.co.uk/product_info.php Vaude Butterfly

www.altimusonline.co.uk/product_info.php Vaude Jolly Comfort

We did also look at the littlelife products but they looked somewhat engineered for my liking

Hope this helps

Steve

25 May 2009 10:12

Ruthiemari

Ruthiemari says

RE: My partner and I have just had a baby. How can we continue to go walking? Any suggestions for carriers and baby friendly places in the lakes? Ambleside and Grasmere seem to have no baby changing facilities nor does Keswick.

Hurrah for your new arrival!

My partner and I have been tackling the coast to coast in sections since our baby was 3 months. The bits of advice I'd suggest are:

1. You need a really good carrier. For me, that absolutely didn't mean one of those baby bjorns, or a rucksack style carrier. Because both of those carry the baby with their legs dangling, they were really hard work after the first few miles. I wanted one that carried the baby with their legs wrapped round my waist. There are loads on the market, and they are much cheaper than rucksack or bjorns too. I found a Mei Tai most comfy, but my partner preferred a Soft Structured Carrier (these are types, not brand names) as it had buckles and looked more 'proper'. They can carry everything from newborns to 4 year olds, in the same carrier. I got mine from www.mama-licious.co.uk And it's really imortant to try the carrier on before you buy it - different carriers suit different people.

2. Make sure you can feed your baby on the go. If your baby is small, they'll need feeding lots. Whether you are breast or formula feeding, you need to make sure you can feed whilst walking, or you'll do a lot of sitting perched on a rock with a numb bum, and then a little walking. So make sure you can feed in your carrier. If your little one is older, a toddler, make sure you carry lots of snacks to keep them entertained. I found rice cakes and mini-packets of raisins were lightweight, interesting, nutritious, and survived being dropped in puddles ;-)

3. Forget cots. Some places offer them, most don't. We considered buying really expensive pop-up travel cots, but in the end just found having the baby in bed with us was a much easier option all round, and meant he settled in strange places much better.

4. Suncream and hats. If you are carrying your baby, they'll generally stay pretty warm, so I'd worry more about sun than other weather. If you take just one sun hat you will lose it. Probably within 5 minutes of setting off. If you take 3 it'll be cold all through your walk and you'll never need even one (life is just like that), but at least your little one won't get sunburn

5. Folding changing mats are a great idea. There's few places to change a baby en route, and even where they exist they're rarely open at the times your little one has poo-ed. Changing on the ground is normally fine, but not when it's just rained...

6. Consider ways to make they journey easier. Walking with a baby can be great fun, but it can be tiring too - you have to go at someone else's pace to some extent, and you are carrying a few extra pounds in baby, clothes and nappies. Plus you will probably still have to get up for night feeds too if you baby is little. So work out ways to make the things surrounding the walk easier. This is one time when I think using a sherpa can really be fully justified, or not doing self-catering if you normally would, or (for us), doing the walk in shorter stages, taking maybe a weekend or long weekend to do just one stage of the journey, and coming back to it again and again.

Enjoy it - there's noting like the joy of sharing a walking passion with your whole family, and having a child really doesn't mean you can't continue to enjoy some serious walks 

24 May 2009 23:08

BikerFool

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BikerFool says

Re: Any advice on walking with a baby?

Congratulations on the birth of your baby

The best carrier is the one in which you (if you carry!) are most comfortable...bearing in mind that unlike your rucksack the load will get ever heavier!

My children had nappies changed wherever, I didn't worry about facilities.

Make sure teh little one is well dressed for teh conditions, you may well get dripping hot but they are just sitting there, possibly asleep!  Suncream is essential the higher you go on the brighter days (rumour suggests we might have some this year)

As they get older you will fnd your distraction skills come in, so REALLY enjoy this early stage

15 May 2009 18:48

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