Best Gear & Practices for Camping With Baby

Question:

My wife and I are going to take our baby (born in December last year) hiking and camping with us and our dog this summer. Do you have gear recommendations for the main gear: baby carrier, baby sleeping gear, dirty diaper containment, etc?

Submitted by – Laran

Answer:

It’s been a while since I tested baby gear (my kids are now 10 and 7), but what I learned back then still holds true: Kelty and Deuter make killer kid carriers. There are several models to choose from, depending on how much other gear you want to carry and how many fancy features you want to add on, but both of these companies meld comfortable suspension systems for you and safe seats for your baby.

As for sleeping gear, when my boys were tiny, I just snuggled them right into my bag with me. As they grew, I started using this cool device: the Sweetie Pie Expander which is basically an insulted wedge that zips into your existing bag to increase the girth. It adds 28 inches of extra space, so you can cuddle up with your toddler until he’s ready for his own bag.

And now onto the smelly stuff. I never took my babies backpacking for more than a couple nights (if you go out for longer, more power to you!), so I didn’t have a massive amount of diapers to contend with. I simply used plastic grocery bags and ziplocks, then packed them all into a waterproof stuffsacks like this one to contain the smell: Granite Gear eVent Sil Drysacks.