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mike58jd
  
01/22/2020 10:24AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
My wife and I are going to Tuscarora Lake this next summer. We have each been there several times over the last few years. The difference this time is that we will be bringing our then 1 year old with us. We will be going in on Round Lake from Tuscarora lodge and then portaging to Tuscarora and doing day hikes from there. Just figured that I would post and see if anyone has any tips or tricks for bringing a young child with. We will also have 1-3 other adults with us. Thanks!
 
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Jackfish
Moderator
  
01/22/2020 10:39AM  
There are several people here on the board who have taken children in, or around, that age group who should be checking in soon on this topic. It's a challenge like no other and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't ever be up for taking kids that young. However, there are ways to do it... safely. Good luck with your trip planning.
01/22/2020 11:33AM  
Two problems I encountered. Diapers have to be packed out and kids tripping over every root and rock in the campsite. A one year old is just learning to walk. That will be a tough age lots of tripping going on
scotttimm
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01/22/2020 11:51AM  
I think the youngest we took in was just under three years old. Just 1yo? i'm impressed. I'd keep the trip short and simple, few portages as possible. If something goes horribly wrong you want to be able to duck out ASAP.
Yeah - diapers, enough of them and a dedicated bag to get them out.
Great and well-stocked first aid kit with infant tylenol, teething tabs, gas drops, other things deemed "liquid gold"
Comfy sleeping/nap option. Nemo bug out if bugs are bad. Afterbite and good bug stuff that isn't too toxic for kids.
Large tarp to make an extended rain cover, good rain gear
Good PFD appropriate to child.
Nice stable canoe, make sure to take them out canoeing a couple of times before to judge ability to sit still vs danger.
And i'd say wine, lots of wine, lol.
Good luck! Keep the kids going and you'll be adventuring with them long into the future. I'm doing a trip with just my 16yo son and father in June, and another with the girls in July. It's a tradition and we all love planning when the white stuff is a flyin. Cheers!
felknerj
  
01/24/2020 09:20PM  
Our youngest was 1 when we did our first family trip. Packing diapers in and out was a hassle but nothing that can’t be planned for. The first aid kit definitely has a few more things like diaper rash cream and kids Tylenol. Ours didn’t like the canoe very much so we tried to minimize canoe time and spend more time just putting around camp and exploring. Fruit snacks were a good bribe for when we needed her to sit still for a while in the canoe.

A 1 year old can be very busy and needs constant supervision. Our rule was life jacket was on all the time and only came off when they’re in the tent. Other than that, let them get dirty and have fun.
TuscaroraBorealis
distinguished member(5665)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberpower member
  
01/25/2020 10:36AM  
Here's one of our trips when Aurora was only about a year old.
01/26/2020 07:53AM  
I've taken both my daughters since they were 6 months old.

I made sure that it was going to be comfortable.

Screen tent and some camp chairs: Get away from bugs and comfortable place to hold the little one

Extra blanket/old sleeping bag: Goes in the front of the canoe and make a bed in front of the front person. The person in back might be on their own for paddling at times. Also this extra blanket I used in the screen house so they could crawl around or nap there.

Extra garbage bag: In fact I brought an entire extra pack. Full of diapers/wipes/creams/formula/toys/stuffed animals/etc.

The best part is you have extra people with. We sometimes had someone stay back at camp while others went out.
THEGrandRapids
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01/27/2020 09:05AM  
The "challenge" of packing diapers out is way over played and likely only mentioned by people that haven't done it. If you are really concerned you can scrape the poop into the latrine and just pack the diaper out... we didn't even bother with that- we just carried the entire thing out. Gives a literal meaning to carrying extra $h*t. Do you realize how small a 1 years old diaper is??? Kids that size have gear that can almost be fit in a large fanny pack. Don't over think it. Bug net is nice. I've taken our boy at 6 weeks and again at 13 months. It's this summer when he's 22 months that will be a fun challenge.

What I will say that seems like it may be a "luxury item" but isn't.... a camping, portable high chair. I think the name of ours is Chaio. Folds just like the cheap camping chairs, we use it as extra at the house, car camping, visiting grandma, and even in the BWCA. It does weigh more than your typical lightweight gear, but who cares. From mundane chores to emergencies, being able to strap him in and know he can't get in trouble is priceless.

Also- try to pack for 1.5 portages (or a leap frog) - kid goes once with a parent, other parents goes twice. Or go together to halfway point, parent-less kid goes back, parent with kid keeps going, then doubles back to get drop point. Sort of depends how heavy the kid. I'd also just let the kid play while one parent double portages. I generally advocate for double portages, but when you add a kid- it could become a de facto triple portage if gear isn't divided correctly and you have too many items to carry.
gbgraves
member (17)member
  
01/27/2020 10:27AM  
I took my just-turned-3 year old to Slim early last fall. We traveled with two other couples / boats, but I paddled him and our small yellow lab solo. Required some herculean dad energy at times, but overall he was enthralled with the entire trip. Main takeaways for trips with tiny kids:

1) Camp close to the EP and do day trips from there. When you're packed up, heading out, and toting a content-but-exhausted child, you'll be pumped to be close to the EP.
2) Keep them warm with layers. Mornings and evenings can be chilly any time of year, especially for kids. There were often times when a light fleece was warm enough for me, while he was wearing a winter jacket.
3. Keep them dry and remember that the weather can switch at any time, irrespective of the forecast. I bought a full-body rain suit for my son a few days prior to departure. It looks like a frog and he loves wearing it. It was absolutely indispensable on multiple occasions.
4) If they're old enough to walk and explore, expect them to. Bring multiple footwear backups and include something indestructible and fast-drying, like crocs.

Have fun. It's worth every bit of parental effort.

Greg
wildpreciouslife
  
02/04/2020 09:08AM  
We took our son on our first family trips last summer in July (17mo) and August (18mo).

While every kid and situation is unique, here’s what worked for us:

If traveling Round Lake to Tuscarora, I’d personally bring a hard-framed child carrier for those portages. Your 1yo won’t be able to walk those (at least at any sort of decent clip), and carrying a kid in your arms on that mile-long Tuscarora portage sounds pretty grueling. Our trips last year only had short, flat portages, so our son walked those, but the backpack carrier would be worth it for longer portages.

Keep the kid happy: Our main goal was that our son have fun, as we want him to have a positive experience with canoeing and camping. So when he wanted to sit in my lap 5 minutes into paddling, I set my paddle down, sang songs with him and let my husband paddle us. I figure I have plenty of years left to paddle, but not many years left when he’ll want to sit on my lap.

Divide and conquer. With more adults, this will be easier, but for us, it mainly came down to one person on kid-duty and one person doing every other camp chore. Honestly, I think both are equal work!

Pick a good campsite. Our criteria has definitely changed. An open, relatively flat campsite with lots of trails is ideal for this age, as he could explore without stumbling over rocks and we could switch things up by having snacks or story time in different locations without feeling confined to a small campsite. We've always had our eye on the sand beach campsite on Tuscarora on the north shore of it's own bay as a potential future campsite with kids.

Water safety tip: Communicate who is on “kid duty” at all times. If you need to go to the bathroom, grab something out of the tent, etc, specifically name the other person as being on duty. Make sure they give you eye contact, a verbal response and put down whatever they’re doing. Sounds like overkill, but it’s just not worth the risk of a water accident.

Diapers: While not the most environmentally-friendly option, we packed a bunch of quart-sized plastic bags and used 1/day to cram dirty diapers into so we didn’t have to keep re-opening the same bag, before adding to the main trash bag. Helped with smell. Honestly, packing out diapers isn’t that big of a deal.

Stick to routine where possible: We brought his normal bedtime books and followed the exact same routine we do at home.

Layers! It was still warm when he went to sleep each night, so we put him in Patagonia Capilene baselayers and Smartwool socks to start the night. Then when the sun had set and we went to bed, we very gently added a fleece Colombia bunting to keep him warm, including pulling the hood over his head and tucking his hands in the little mittens. One of the trips was cooler overnight, so we added a standard fleece sleep-sack on top. I checked him in the middle of the night both nights, and his torso was plenty warm.

Quick gear recs:
-Screen tent. Totally worth it to keep kiddo away from the mosquitos. We ate all our meals in there and played in there when it was buggy out.
-Bearz Outdoor Pocket Picnic Blanket. Easy to pack, nice option for a picnic blanket/play spot at the campsite/at a portage, especially if it’s muddy following rain. Easy to clean as well.

Have a great trip!!
02/04/2020 09:40AM  
When taking a kid that age it really just boils down to you knowing your own kid and what challenges they may have.

Sleep may or may not be an issue, it just depends on the kid. One of ours did great in a tent and slept better in the tent than they did at home. The other was terrible in a tent and we had some really miserable nights camping with her.

The other issue we faced was life jackets. One didn't really care but the other HATED the life jacket. We attempted a day trip into the BWCA with her at that age and she screamed the entire time. We tried every trick we could think of but we ended up pulling the plug on the trip after about an hour as she showed no signs of calming down and I was feeling a little guilty of our screaming child disturbing the peace for everyone else we paddled by.

I'm sure every parent knows their kids unique challenges and can formulate a plan accordingly. I wouldn't let the extra gear or the diapers stop you. That just takes a little extra planning, nothing that can't be dealt with easy enough.

Only advice i could offer is to test the kid in the life jacket before the trip to see how they react and to see if you need to figure out a different solution before the trip.
 
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