tips on hill walking with 5 month old

[mum2oneloudbaby]

due to go on holiday when dd is 5 months and both dh and i are keen hill walkers.

any tips on coping with a baby on such walks as I am quite nervous about our first outing and for me over preparation calms me down (i'm a control freak!)

also, any suggestions on good walks in the Wensleydale area with lo

what sort of tips are you after ? Take layers of clothing - we had an all in one fleece and a waterproof layer for ours carried in a baby backpack plus hat/mittens. Take extra food and nappy/wipes to the amount you think you may need, something for her to lie on when you stop and off you go !

just the sort of suggestions you made lizs

any suggestions on good make of waterproof

Depends on budget . We used a Clippsafe all in one as a basic lightweight showerproof but there are more sophisticated ones by Regatta and Bushbaby et al - see here

thanks lizs never heard of this site

are you bf? my tip would be not to carry baby in back pak if you are bf- let dp do it. Took me everal bouts of blocked ducts/mastitis to realise the shoulder straps of back pack were putting pressure on the breast, which combined with fairly long intervals between feeds, was not a good thing.
Have fun!
Also, make the most of this window of opportunity, while baby is light enough to carry but not wanting to walk SLOWLY!

Remember if the weather is cold then wrap baby up warmer than you as she won't be warm through exercise and will get cold quicker.

We had a backpack carrier and bought a sunshade and also a rain cover for the back pack carrier.

Make sure she has some sort of footware that stays on her feet well. I got to the top of the Gornergrat (sp) in the Alps in the snow to find my 5month dd had bare feet as shoes and socks had come off! I had to beg some spare gloves from someone to put on her feet - we lost those before we got back to the tent as well.

Spare hats as well. Suncream in the summer.

You can buy little stirrup things to put her feet in as well which are quite good as especially when they get a bit bigger they can push themselves up to rearrange themselves/shift their weight if they need to.

I used a bushbaby all in one fleece lined thing for dd3 when she was 4 months on holiday in Scotland last year. It worked well for keeping her out of the wind. If it was a warmish day (this was scotland after all) then she just wore a vest under it.

I think the critical thing is to make sure you have adequate waterproof protection for the baby. They love the walking - but not getting wet and cold! Don't forget yours either - just as important to keep you two dry

This might seem a bit extreme, but we took along a portable shelter (like this sort of thing), which, if it was cold, or windy, I used for bf, eating lunch, etc. We didn't do massive walks, but it was quite reassuring to know that if the weather turned we could sit down in the dry while feeding.
We used a bushbaby all in one suit as well. It was great. Now she's bigger Togz waterproofs have been really reliable.

I don't think that's extreme at all snowgirl - breastfeeding in a cold wind is not exactly fun

I am now a veteran of 'sheltered' spots on the isle of Mull!