Thoughts on camping with a newborn, 9 years later.

Bodie is turning 9 next week, and like all parents everywhere I have no idea where those 9 years went. This is therefore a perfect opportunity to reminisce about our early camping experiences with baby Bodie.

The first time we took him camping… I can’t even remember. He was 7 weeks old. We have pictures that prove it, but both Karen and I had forgotten all about it. Apparently it wasn’t too bad, because we went again only two weeks later…

That second trip was quite memorable. We were ambitious new parents, determined to still get out camping as we loved to do, but this time with our newborn. We wanted to camp amongst the autumnal Aspens. We wanted it to be chilly so we could sleep well. As always, we wanted to be far away from other people.

These factors led us to a spot way up in the national forest behind the Purgatory ski resort, maybe 9,000 ft elevation or so, in October. We should have known that we were in for a chilly weekend when the road turned snowy.

It was incredibly beautiful though, and we had camped in the snow plenty of times before (neglecting the fact that life changes after a baby—as new parents will do).

It turned out to be a true winter wonderland, with snow covering the trees all weekend. We didn’t see anyone else. Admittedly, it was quite cold. We found out afterwards that it never got above 20˚ F while we were up there, even during the day.

We made a big cozy fire and generally enjoyed ourselves as much as possible during the day, given the constraints of never being able to put Bodie down for more than 5 minutes without crying. We took a lot of pictures (as new parents will do)

The night was a nightmare. We slept in the car because it was comfy and warmer than the tent, and we could still get away with it with only one small child. But Bodie didn’t sleep. (Granted, he never slept anywhere.) He didn’t sleep at home. But, at 10 weeks old. we took him out into the cold woods, and he definitely didn’t sleep out there.

I vividly remember the experience. He would stop fussing only if I suspended him by his armpits (vertically, holding him up). So, that’s what I did. All night long. While lying prone in the back of the car, while failing to sleep. As soon as I would nod off, I would slowly lower him down until his feet were resting on my lap, and as soon as enough weight was taken off—like some sort of demon torture pressure-plate—he would start crying again. So I spent the night trying to suspend him outstretched in front of me, repeating this insane cycle of slowly lowering him and then jerking awake to crying reminding me of my duty. You can imagine how well that worked. Keep in mind it’s probably sub-zero outside the car, so we’ve got him bundled up in his ridiculously cute bear suit when he’s not under the blankets with us, because he refuses – utterly refuses – to be happy in any place where it would be easy to keep him warm (like under the covers with us for example). It was torture.

Our tolerance for parental torture was far higher with our first child. This is typical, of course. One simply does not realize the extent of the challenges and difficulties of having a newborn – especially your first time around and especially when the baby does not sleep. One cannot appreciate how hard the formerly simplest tasks can become.

So, what can other parents take away from this post? On the face of it, the message seems to be “wait until your kid is older than 7 weeks old before camping.” Perhaps. 7 weeks is a bit early. But most parents fall on the other extreme—waiting until their kids are 9 years old or later before trying camping.

Honestly, I advise being adventurous, and taking your kids when they’re young. As young as you can stand. Yes, even as young as 7 weeks. Personally, camping with my kids continuously as they grow up has been extremely rewarding for me as a father. Dealing with all the aspects of parenting while camping can be a challenge worthy of an outdoorsy adventurous person. For the kids the benefits have been obvious. They’re closer as brothers because of the car camping we’ve done. They are completely comfortable in a tent in the dark in the woods by themselves. They sleep soundly (wish I always did…).

We all have to make our own mistakes, find our own threshold for parenting struggles. Looking back on it, if I was a first-time parent again, I would try the same thing again, taking the bad for the good. Not because I enjoy suffering, but because parents need to test the boundaries of their own capabilities and their own priorities. If you want to be able to go camping with your kids, you’ve got to try it. And for us, sooner seemed better than waiting until later.