How old is old enough to go to the mountains??

[borriebear]

I am pg with my first baby and am very very excited. My partner and I were on a round the world trip when we found out. We were away for a year and spent 3 months in Japan snowboarding and 3 months in New Zealand, it was amazing but we both feel it is time to settle down (lucky really!)

The thing is, as you can imagaine, mountain sports are a big passion of ours and people keep telling us we will never go again. Now I know that is rubbish as I went as a child and so did all my brothers and sisters and we always booked it DIY (drove to destination all in one appartment etc)so I know it can be done quite cheaply.

What I wanted to know though was how old was your child when you first went? My baby is due in June and we were thinking that by Easter 2010 it might be ok?

ps have a great time all those of you going in the next few weeks, I hear the snow is fab

Just be very carefull, there have been instances of people taking their babies up into the mountains and skiing with them in a backpack and the poor children got hypothermia and some even died! As they get much colder than adults and can't regulate themselves.
Best to stick to apre-ski and lower resorts for a few years.
Yes snow is great but it is also dangerous for small children. Even trips to Lapland say that it's best for the children to be over 5yrs old.

go with family/ friends for built in childcare.

We took ds when he was only 4 months old. A nanny came to the chalet and looked after him. I expressed milk - and often popped back mid-day anyway to see/feed him.

For me it was fine.

We took him with us the following few years and when he was 4 put him in to ski school (2 hours in the mornings) and ski creche in the afternoon (where also did a wee bit of playing on skis).

He's now 8 and last year was in the "proper" ski school (ie 4 hours a day plus 2 full days) and loved it. We did too as we had more freedom to go further afield.

Be warned though that it is not cheap! Even if you can do things on a budget (slef catering etc), you do also need to factor in ski equipment and ski/boarding lessons. Unless you are trained instrucotrs yourselves, I wouldn't advise trying to teach your own child.

Even our ski instructor friends put their twins into ski school on occasion!

We have taken a 2 and a half year old up the mountains, and took a sledge with us and played a lot. And took it in turns to have a more adult skiing time while the other one stayed and played in the snow.

And we went inside a lot with regular hot chocs to keep us all warm.

Mine had just turned one when I went skiing last year. My mum came and looked after him during the day (she's a non-skier). I have to say that he didn't love it - we took him up on the bubble lift one day and I think he found the bright snow a bit much, hated being bundled into his snowsuit etc. But at the hotel he was supremely happy bimbling about. So go with friends/family and stay somewhere where they like children - a chalet would be ideal.

I'm not taking him this year but will next year as he'll be 3 and can start lessons then

I agree with Ripeberry - I would never take ds out in a backpack. In addition to the dangers of the cold, however good you are, there is no counting for the (many) numpties on the ski slope who are not in control.

We did take ds to the top of the mountain with us on the first day before we had any child care (have a great picture of him in the bubble) but he was well wrapped up and one of us stayed in the cafe while the other one skied - and then went back down in the bubble with him.

I took DD when she was 9 months old.

It wasn't ideal as this was her first time in a child minding environment.

Over the years things improved, this will be her 11th season this year and she can do pretty much anything now.

I have to agree with other posters that it can be really really cold for little ones and in this regard I do think it best that they are in ski school or similar where they can play indoors as much as out.

As keen outdoor people your baby will grow up loving the things you do.

In my experience its the first 5 or 6 years that are the hardest. After the age of 6 they want to be out on the slopes for longer than their parents !

Hace a lovely time !

Wow that was a quick response (I am new to Mumsnet!)

We saw some pretty scarey stuff in Japan, with people skiing down with their child in a tabogan in front of them...really really fast! Oh and also a child on their Dad's shoulders!

Also I agree about backpacks especially on a snowboard, as you fall in a different direction totally. Will definietly wait till he/she is a bit older to go on the snow.

Seems we are lucky as my Mum has offered to come and look after the little one (she is a skier but likes children a whole lot more than skiing) and my DP is an instructor

I forgot to say thanks for all the advice

dd was about 3 weeks ! We only went up to 1800m as altitude can be an issue in under 2's as well as pressure on ears in cable cars. This was in autumn but we took her first time in the snow at 3 months then on and off for day trips during that season and the odd long weekend. She was snug in her sheepskin footmuff in her pushchair or towards the end (around 6-7 months old) in a creche while we and ds skied and sledged. I b'fed her in all sorts of mountain places !

Make sure you go to a place where there are other things to do - ie, pool - and maybe one that real people live in - not just a resort as there will then probably be a play park (we went to Plan Peisey last year and the creche staff took the kids down to Peisey Villandry as there was a small play park there - it was also April, so nice and sunny most of the time). Otherwise your mum might get a bit stir crazy/bored as there won't be much for her or the baby to do in a small apartment. By Easter 2010 he'll be crawling and wanting to get around things. You will need to take all your own entertainment (but if you are driving that will probably be okay.) But as the baby is that young anyway, you would be able to put them into local creche as chances are they won't be speaking so the language barrier won't be a problem.

Congratulations by the way!

DS1 first went to the mountains at about 5 months - 7 years later he's a real wizz on skis - off-piste and bumps just add to his fun.

DS2 was a little older at about 8 months, but looks like he's following in big brother's ski tracks: at not-yet-2 he's already skiing from the top of our local artificial slope.

hi borriebear, congratulations!
my husband and i are complete ski/snowboard addicts (i ski, he boards), and your message particularly struck a chord as we lived out in new zealand for a year and made the most of our season passes.
baby ben (our first) is now 1 month old and we're hoping to head to the slopes when he is 1 year. my husband's cousin took their little girl ski-ing when she was 3 months old, although they went with family. they didn't do much ski-ing together but took it in turns to ski with other family members while the other looked after the baby.
do you have friends with babies who you could go with? that way it doesn't matter so much if you don't board together, you'll have friends to board with and can maybe persuade someone to sit and drink a vin chaud with you while you mind the baby.
hope everything goes smoothly for you and congrats again
loluv,
helen xx