Tandem Babywearing on Trail - Tips and Tricks

The joke among my friends for many years was that a depressing day for me was the same as most people’s emotional state on a good day. Then I turned 38, and I won’t go into details, but I reached a point where I couldn’t even talk to my life coach without crying, so she eventually suggestion medication. For the first time, I was depressed with a capital “D”. Things turned around eventually, and in 2013 I got married, became pregnant with my first child, and moved to Portland… an excellent change of scenery after years in Los Angeles. As my due date neared, I started to feel the old dark cloud edging back in. Everywhere I looked I saw stories on postpartum depression. People talked about it in my mama preparation classes and in prenatal yoga. I talked to my doctor about whether I could breastfeed and medicate once I had a child. I was convinced I was doomed to postpartum depression because the memories of my dark place were in the not-so-distant past. It’s estimated close to a million women a year suffer from postpartum depression. The news loves to latch on to stories about women who really go off the deep end. Publications like the Huffington Post and the New York Times often have stories about “lonely mama syndrome” where women wax on about how isolating it is to be a new parent. Believe me when I say that I read every one of those articles word-for-word. When my son arrived I was high with the euphoria of newborn love. But I was also weepy, overwhelmed, bleary eyed and hormone-whacked. One minute I was laughing at my baby pooping 12 times a day, and the next minute I was sobbing about my sore nipples and how exhausted I was. It didn’t help that my husband would just stand there looking at me like I was a stranger and say thing like, “Seriously what’s your problem? You are just sitting here nursing all day. It can’t be THAT tiring?” This, of course, was my mama-brained interpretation and would make me sob harder. The fear of depression was overwhelming. On about week three after Mason was born, I found myself sitting in a new mama group inside in the middle of summer. I heard myself complaining about my husband and how he just didn’t understand how tired I was and how scared I was of getting depressed. Everything was scary. I was scared of people on the street, cars getting to close to us on the freeway, lead poisoning in our windows, pretty much everything in the world was out to get my beautiful new baby. And as I thought and talked more about all of this, I could feel the symptoms of depression lingering darkly around the edges of my newborn bliss. As I looked out the window at the sunny July day I remember thinking, “What would happen if I got so depressed I couldn’t take care of Mason?” That’s when it dawned on me that the one thing that always made me feel a little better in the past when falling down the dark rabbit hole was sitting outside. Even if I did nothing, just sitting outside breathing fresh air made a difference. Then I thought, “what if we could be having this same experience of talking to each other about nursing and dealing with our new lives and our fears outside, instead of in this cozy, safe little room?” While it was lovely, it was also too sheltered and was not helping all of my depression anxiety. I asked the group if anyone wanted to go on a little hike with me. Nothing hard, just a half-mile trail down the street from my house. There was just one thing, I didn’t really know how to use my carrier, so I was scared to go alone. And it wasn’t really a very good stroller trail. The next week, armed with a ridiculous amount of stuff in my BOB stroller I went to a park near my house that had a mellow trail. For this “major” outing I brought a carrier, a days worth of diapers, diaper cream, water, food and who knows what else. Three women were waiting there at the trailhead and two more texted to say they were on the way. I was a bit shocked that they came. I was still nervous about carrying Mason, so I started out with the stroller on the hiking trail. Eventually we came to a place where it was obvious I needed to ditch the stroller and carry my son. These veteran mamas helped me slide Mason into the carrier, and off we went. I only made it about another 15 minutes before I got tired and turned around, but it was exhilarating to feel the dirt under my feet for that half of a mile. I felt my spirits rising, and I knew I wanted to do it the next week. The next day I woke up feeling overwhelmed about my husband working out of town for 3 weeks. That dark cloud was hovering in the back of my mind. Mark had gone out for the day, so I decided to go for a walk. I started with the neighborhood, pushing the stroller, but then as I neared the park, I decided to try stepping on to the trail. I locked up the stroller and asked a stranger passing by if she could help me buckle the back of my carrier. I tried to act nonchalant like I totally did this all the time. There were so many things going through my mind. What if Mason had a blow out? Did I bring enough stuff? I couldn’t carry anything but a baby in the carrier. What if I needed to nurse. I had only nursed in the privacy of my home at that point and was still struggling with it. What if he slipped down in the carrier or I just dropped him? What if a scary homeless dude was on the path? What would I do? As I got on trail, I felt the pressure still there in my chest, but with every step the fears and tears started melting away. It was so silent in the forest. The birds got louder, as did the bubbling water in the stream on the side of the trail. Everything was so green and lush in spite of the sweltering July heat. I felt Mason’s sweaty little nearly naked body snuggled up against me. I leaned down and kissed his head and breathed in the new baby smell. I moved so slowly, but with every step I felt a little lighter, a little calmer. That day I walked all the way up the trail to the stone house, doubling the distance I had done with the group the previous day. Along the way Mason got hungry, and I stopped and asked a random couple to unbuckle the carrier. I took my wailing baby to a quiet place off the trail and sat down to nurse. I was nervous and not as graceful as I would have liked, but I did get enough milk in Mason to appease him and get back home. And when my husband came home and I announced that I went hiking alone, I felt so proud of myself. The next week, ten women showed up to join me. It seemed I wasn’t alone in feeling the need to commune with nature and “hike it out”. As the weeks progressed my circle of friends widened and new faces showed up to hike with us. I also noticed something shifting in me. With every hike, I felt physically stronger and the dark clouds moved further and further away from me. In June, we celebrated our son’s second birthday on a hike with 30 or so friends whom we had met through hiking with our children. It was a sweltering day, much like those first days I ventured into the woods with Mason. As we approached a shady forested stretch and I watched Mason running and laughing and looked around at all of the smiling families around me, all I could think was how happy I was. The simple act of putting one foot in front of the other in an effort to evade depression got me here. It’s may be a cliché, but the first step truly is the hardest. Once you take it, you’ll notice how quickly the path will open up in front of you and the clouds will lift. Tips for Successfully Getting on the Trail Create a regular hike/walk day. Try to plan at least two hikes a week. (If you plan two, you’ll likely make it to at least one.) Pack the night before so you don’t use the next morning’s chaos as an excuse to stay inside and skip it. Choose a mantra for the trail. As heavier thoughts or stressful things enter your mind, go back to that word and look at the trail. Try to leave the cell phone out of reach so you can enjoy the hike. Find a hike buddy who will help keep you accountable and get you out there. Don’t let your gear hold you back. Think used, think simple, think repurpose. I put my old cashmere socks on my baby’s legs over his clothes and booties to keep him warm on cold days! Keep it close to home. No need to go on an epic journey to find adventure. Some of my best days hiking were no more than a few miles from my house. Don’t get hung up with weather. Rainy day? Carry an umbrella on trail. Too hot? Look for shady trails and water features. Find groups like Hike it Baby (or start one in your area) to help get you out on days you just don’t feel like it. Shanti Hodges hikes between 3-10 miles a week on average and tries to get outside with Mason at least 3 days a week year round. In spite of being viewed as a hike addict, she is not afraid to admit that she needs the Hike it Baby 30 Challenge to motivate herself out on the bad days! Her secret to getting out on days she's not feeling it and there isn't a challenge going on is to text a handful of her hike buddies and get them to guilt or motivate her out the door.  This article first appeared in Green Child Magazine. Check them out for awesome stories about healthy parenting. ABOUT OUTGROWN OutGrown is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works to create a world where everyone can enjoy the physical and mental benefits of spending time outside. We are focused on creating opportunities and removing barriers to access so families with babies and young children can take their first steps outside. We believe all families have the right to connect with nature, benefit from spending time outdoors and be inspired to a lifelong love of nature. Since its grassroots inception in 2013, OutGrown is a growing community of 280,000 families and over 300 volunteer Branch Ambassadors. More information on all of our programs can be found at WeAreOutGrown.org    EDITORS NOTE: We hope you enjoyed reading this article from OutGrown. We’re working hard to provide our community with content and resources that inform, inspire, and entertain you. But content is not free. It’s built on the hard work and dedication of writers, editors, and volunteers. We make an investment in developing premium content to make it easier for families with young children to connect with nature and each other. We do not ask this lightly, but if you can, please make a contribution and help us extend our reach.

When my son, Mason, was born, I didn’t have very many friends with kids, so like many new moms, I joined a wonderful new mama group that I loved, but most of our time was spent indoors. No sooner had I joined when I began spending most of my time there daydreaming about being outside. One day, my wanderlust got the best of me, and I asked a few women if they wanted to go walk with me in Forest Park, an urban park in Portland where there are easy trails I could negotiate in my early postpartum state. That first week, five women showed up. The next week, ten women showed up, then fifteen and so on. Within a few weeks, it became clear that this was a way for new moms with kids to gather, get on trails, and spend time together. From there, the hikes started to quickly grow in popularity. Friends of friends would share pictures of hikes and soon, requests came flooding in from enthusiastic moms interested in how to start something similar. It wasn’t long before Hike it Baby was born. The idea for Hike it Baby was simple. Everyone needs nature, and my goal was to make it easier for families to get outdoors with their newborns, regardless of ability, fitness or hiking experience. Basically, Hike it Baby was a need that I saw in the outdoor world that wasn’t being filled for me—and so I built it. Hike it Baby grew just as quickly as my son Mason, who is now 5 years old. And as the organization grew, we began connecting with like-minded companies committed to getting thousands of families out on a trail with children.  About a year ago, we started talking to Sunday Afternoons, a 25+ year, family-run, technical headwear company based in Southern Oregon. Why hats? Well, one of the main reasons was practicality. As our family hikes became more and more frequent, we needed the right gear, and hiking without a hat was out of the question. But my son, like many infants, didn’t like hats, so I needed something that could clip onto his head and stay put. As Mason got older, he continued resisting hats because he was very particular about his style, so it was also important that he liked how they looked. When we sealed our partnership with Sunday Afternoons, I was excited, not only because I loved their kid-friendly designs, but also because I immediately saw how their kids’ hats would help everyone enjoy the outdoors longer. Sunday Afternoons Kids’ Hats feature innovations for little ones that just make practical sense, like SmartstrapⓇ chin straps that keep hats on and sun-protective neck coverage. They are packable and washable and have super cool designs like the Artist Series Trucker Hats that get us a million comments whenever wear them. It’s easy to see why our community loves Sunday Afternoons! Beyond Sunday Afternoons’ products, one of the things that felt right from the start was an alignment of values around our love of the outdoors and family heritage. Sunday Afternoons was founded by Angeline and Robbin Lacy, parents who loved taking their family hiking, picnicking, windsurfing, and adventuring around the Northwest. Angeline started making blankets for her family so they could comfortably enjoy adventures together outdoors. Before long, the Adventure Blanket was a hit, and Robbin and Angeline began selling them to families attending festivals on the weekends. Sales soared and the scraps from the blankets started to pile up. As true inventors, they decided to use the scraps to make sun-protective hats for adults and kids. The hats evolved and customers were thrilled. An entire business was built to shade the whole family. I founded Hike it Baby in much the same way. As a new mom looking for a way to stay active and get outdoors with my baby, it became clear that a big part of the Hike it Baby community was a chance to make connections and seek out advice from other parents (especially moms) on what products improved the experience of getting outside with kids. One of the things I have grown to really appreciate about the Hike it Baby community is its authenticity. When a parent asks what outdoor gear works best, everyone chimes in with their opinion. Sunday Afternoons has always been a “go-to” piece of gear in the Hike it Baby community because they make a product that we really believe in and have tested thoroughly. Connecting with the Sunday Afternoons team has been a natural fit. Why do we love these hats? Because they are tried and true. We can personally tell you stories of how they have been beaten up by faithful wearers, handed down from older to younger kiddos, shoved into packs filled with cheddar bunnies and squeezie packs, dropped in mud puddles, stomped on in sand, covered in baby burps and who knows what else. It also means these hats are kid-approved, and they will happily wear them, rain or shine. 8 Reasons Why Hats are a Must-Have Gear You don’t need to use as much sunscreen on your kiddo when you have a hat. They look cool when you have crappy matted-down hiking hair. They can keep the rain, snow, sleet and sun at bay and let you be outside longer. They make it easy to play peek-a-boo when your baby is having a meltdown and you need something to distract him/her. They give you something for your toddler to hold when you need to keep their hands busy. Place your hat on baby’s head and there’s no need for a nursing cover if you are shy. You can form a total “mom squad” and all rock the same hat if you want to look like a hike army! You might have noticed our 10k Trailblazers all wearing Sunday Afternoon hats. They support Hike it Baby (we have a hat coming out with Sunday Afternoons later this year, so stay tuned for that!). This originally appeared on Sunday Afternoons on July 13, 2018. Photo credits: Tais Kulish, Molly Porzel and Deanna Curry Read More: Sun protection: don't forget your hat Hot weather hiking