Kayak Basics

Kayak Camping

Paddle Camping With Kids

This is about putting into the water with packs and packs of stuff, paddling all day, setting up camp, sleeping in tents, and getting up the next day and doing it all again. Repeating for as much vacation as you have, and feeling sad when you get back to the cars.

How Young Can You Take Them?

Some parents take their kids paddling for the first time at six weeks, and on their first wilderness trip at fifteen months. It depends on where you are going and the adult to child ratio – especially with younger children – under 8 years of age.

Isn't It Dangerous?

The things most people worry about are wolves, bears, and drowning's. These are actually much less of a worry than sprained ankles on portages, cutting themselves playing, burning themselves in the campfire, slipping on a slimy rock and bashing their head, and so on. Make sure everyone is warm, well-fed, and well-rested all the time. This is not survival camp, eating cold baked beans and Power Bars and sleeping in the cold rain in the clothes you wore all day -- you have your *kids* with you! Relax, have fun, don't push yourselves too far. Know first aid and how to prevent accidents.

Cook on a stove rather than a fire: it's ready faster and it's easier to keep the children away from it.

Don't let them near firepit or stove when it's cool: it will be years before they can handle "sometimes yes, sometimes no". Make sure that all children who cannot swim wear a lifejacket all the time at campsites. A lot of the stuff you bring camping (medication, stove fuel, shampoo, etc) should be kept out of the reach of children. But there are no high cupboards in a tent, and no locking bathroom cabinets either. Train your children not to get stuff out of packs alone, and try to bring things in childproof containers wherever possible. For example, buy a small container of medication that comes with a childproof lid rather than transferring some of the medication to a random household container.

What Do You Eat?

If you are planning to take your child as an infant or young toddler, the most important piece of advice is: breastfeed your baby. This will save you the hassles of cleaning bottles, preparing formula, carrying city water, warming bottles etc, with the bonus that nursing gives children more comfort than bottles. It is such a hassle to make up a bottle when there is no fridge to put it in if the child doesn't want it. If you offer to nurse and they don't want it, you just put your shirt back down. And mornings are so much easier if you can stay in the tent and nurse rather than get out into the cold, get the stove set up, etc. If you take a nursing toddler be prepared for a dramatic increase in the number of nursing’s per day. It will only be temporary.

For older children (and adults too) take fresh fruit, English muffins, cheese (choose fat reduced where possible as it is less likely to separate being dragged around without refrigeration: take one quarter pound stick per day plus a few extra), peanut butter, jam, and a long keeping summer sausage for lunch. They make a good breakfast too, though you're as likely to have oatmeal. For dinner make some sort of "pieces of meat in sauce" (spaghetti, chili, stew, ...) on noodles or rice, using home-dehydrated meat and vegetables.

Take powder along for "milk" with meals for the youngest until they are over two years old. Drinking boxes of juice are more nutritious than powdered drink, and have always been greeted as a major treat. Crackers and cookies will likely shred to crumbs, but Cheerios and rice cakes stay intact. Marshmallows just have to find a place in the pack, and don't forget popcorn, which can be made in a pan over a stove just fine. When packing snacks, remember peanuts are a choking hazard for those without back teeth. Jerky and dried fruit are fine even for the littlest, though you may have to shred them off a tiny piece.

Of course all these drinking boxes and fresh fruit and pounds and pounds of cheese will fill your food pack to overflowing. Package your meals into several food packs, which shrink down to one as the journey progresses.

Remember there will be no highchair (sit a baby/toddler on your knee; sitting on logs without falling backwards is tough), and that the can-and-bottle bans in most parks specifically exempt baby food.

Where Do You Get Drinking Water?

Once upon a time, you took our chances and drank the lake. Then you boiled the water. These days take along a water filter. It's quick (no waiting for it to cool after boiling,) safe, weighs less than the fuel for the boiling, and best of all the kids fight for the right to do it! Get the kind that screws right onto a standard Nalgene bottle or dromedary bag, and make sure you clean it properly and dry it out when you get it home. If you're going somewhere really silty, take a spare filter or a backup method like tablets, just in case. Take a liter or so of bottled water for the toddlers. They get more drinking boxes of real juice than the older kids, too, since they are more nutritionally sensitive as well as more sensitive to strange water.

What About Bathrooms? And Diapers?

Most paddlers use disposable diapers which you have to pack out with you and dispose of at the end of your trip. Be prepared to carry around a week's worth. Buy a spare small frameless pack for day hikes or whatever and it became the garbage pack, kept tied up whenever possible and added to by brave people only. Once they get out of diapers, you have to teach them how to "go in the woods" if there are no outhouses supplied at your campsite. And try not to giggle too much during the "lessons"! Many parks have latrines or pit toilets at campsites. These are smelly and not very pleasant, but if one exists you should use it. Try to prepare your child for using this sort of toilet in advance.

How Do You Make Them Wear Lifejackets?

Lifejackets (PFDs) are an absolute MUST. The smallest you can buy is for 20 to 30 pounds, but even if your child weighs less, get that size and get them into it somehow. Try it on with and without a coat, too -- on cold days you will still need to get the lifejacket on.

Whatever you buy/rent, get plenty of dry land practice, with cuddles and/or treats, until it is accepted. With an older child (say 5) you may have to wear yours all the time to get them to wear theirs. As a bonus, you'll find that modern lifejackets have pockets -- every parent needs one if only for Kleenexes, snacks, and treasures you've promised to look after, not to mention toddler shoes that get taken off in the canoe and must not go overboard

Where Does Everybody Fit In The Canoe or Kayak?

Let's assume you are being traditional:

In a canoe - Daddy in the back, Mummy in the front.

One child with you: sit them right behind or right in front of Mommy. In front of makes paddling much harder, but some little ones insist on it. Certainly if you are planning to comfort the child during the trip by nursing then they had better be near the one with the milk (Just wait until you have tried nursing a baby when you are wearing life jackets. Also passing a baby back to another person, over packs, when all involved are lifejacketed, is an experience to avoid if you can.

Two children with you (of different ages): older one in front of Daddy, younger one in front of or behind Mummy. Three? Probably by now you can work this stuff out yourself.

If you are taking an under-two, take for granted that your front paddler won't paddle a lot unless the baby falls asleep. Make sure a favorite blanket or teddy is easily available so you can put the baby on the floor of the canoe and let the swaying rock them to sleep. After about eighteen months they will need less cuddling but are more of a nuisance: climbing onto your seat from behind, crawling under your seat, throwing toys overboard, putting their hands in the water. If yours uses soothers, get a "soother bib" or other device that makes it un-droppable.

In a tandem kayak -Daddy in the back, Mummy in the front. One child with you: sit them right behind or right in front of Mommy or if they are old enough to paddle in the front paddling with the parent in back.

What About Bugs? Sunburn?

Your first line of defense should be physical: long sleeved shirts, long pants, hats. Then make sure you bring a bug repellent that contains about 30% DEET. Spray it on their clothes rather than their skin. Babies' sunscreen shouldn't contain PABA - we use a SPF of 30 or more. You can also bring along an umbrella designed to clip onto a stroller handle and clipped it onto the gunwales to act as a sunshade. Works beautifully, with only a slight tendency to catch the wind.

How Do You All Sleep?

Assume that naps on travel days will be taken in the canoe or kayak. Naps interrupted by portages may just be over, so try to schedule your day. Don't push off just as the child should be going down for a nap. Check the map to see when there will be an hour or two of uninterrupted paddling and leave at a time that will connect you with that stretch at nap time. On days you stay put, you may find naps in a brightly lit tent, with the sound of adults just outside, simply do not happen. Make sure you have things as familiar as possible (blanket, teddy, etc).

Figuring out how to get a whole family of people into a tent small enough to carry over a portage is a bit of an art. Try to visit outdoor retailers who either have tents set up or are willing to setup tents for you to check out the interior space. So you don't have packs or shoes inside the tent: an add-on vestibule that attaches to the front door is a nice feature.

Practice at least one night in the backyard in your tent (or basement, if you have a freestanding tent) before you go. At night you will want to be sure no little ones can get out of the tent, and if they are blanket kickers you may want to put two sleepers on to keep them warm. Some babies get very upset sleeping between Mom and Dad and scream for the spacious crib back home. This is another case where breastfed babies are less trouble as they will often nurse off to sleep anywhere. Typically once they are about four they will accept almost any sleeping arrangement with equanimity. Bring some bedtime books and reproduce the bedtime ritual you have at home, including brushing teeth and going to the bathroom. As the kids keep growing you are going to have to graduate to a "kid tent. The adults are all looking forward to getting some space back!

What About Portages?

Don't count on your child walking across the portage. It's hard to get a child out and put them down when you have a pack on, and "up!" "down!" "up!" seems to be the order of the day. Assume you will take at least one more trip than you normally would, and if you have been carrying the canoe between you, learn how to do it solo. It's actually easier for one person to carry it anyway. Besides, you'll be carrying so much more stuff than you used to!

The more kids you have the less of an issue portages become. One two year old may insist on being carried, but a two year old who sees three older children walking is going to demand something to carry. As the number of kids rises, it becomes harder and harder to achieve a streamlined pack system with no loose coats, paddles, toy bags, and whatnot, but at least you can usually get the kids to carry some of this loose small stuff.

Just how do you head-em-up-move-em-out? It depends how long the portage is. Everyone heads out with a load. At the far end, one adult and older children can head back right away for a second load, while the other adult moves stuff out of the way so that other trippers can come through, give the kids snacks and drinks, and catch their breath. When the first adults come back, the duties switch. Sometimes one or two people have to go back for a third trip; especially on a short portage, When planning your trip avoid long ones (500m+). On really short (50-100m) portages the kids want to scamper back and forth from end to end.

Do You Have To Bring A Lot Of Toys?

Segregate your toys: the non waterproof ones are packed with the tent and do not leave it; the waterproof ones can be kept in a fanny pack and should each have about five feet of string on them. Tie them to the thwarts and gunwales of the canoe or bungee on a kayak : toddlers love to throw them overboard and watch them bob along next to you. Leave them tied on as you portage. The recommendation is for one toy per child, but what if you are stuck in the tent for a while due to rain (or black flies?) Don't bring crayons or anything else that will make a mess if it melts. And keep track in your head of your inventory so you take home everything you brought. And plenty of books!

Don't forget that the actual fact you are camping in the wilderness is a game and a toy in itself. Around the campsite, sticks and rocks will probably be the preferred toys: encourage that. Ideally the sticks would stay out of the tent and be left behind at each campsite. Children love to swim (with supervision and maybe with lifejackets for fun), go on hikes, clamber over rocks, and the perennial favorite, "throw rocks in the water". This alone can occupy our little ones for hours, especially if a parent can be sucked into wading out and retrieving all the rocks after they've thrown in every rock on the island.

How Many Tons Of Clothes Should You Pack?

Far less of the regular stuff (shirts, shorts, pants) and far more of the unusual than you would expect. Don't forget raingear (raincoat and splash pants,) plenty of warm and cool stuff (including both sunhat and warm hat), and a big plastic wipeable bib for toddlers. (You wash the bib as a dish after each meal.) It's a pretty good idea to just put the kids in the same pair of sturdy denim overalls or jeans for an entire week, since they get dirty so fast anyway. Keep a pair of sweatpants (they are stretchy enough to go on over jeans on really cold days and to fit another child if needed and some shorts in the tent pack. Plan to wear each shirt for about two days, and bring enough socks and underwear to change at *least* once a day (socks especially can get yucky going over a muddy portage, and can also served as mittens.) If you get warm windy weather on a day you stop early, or if you are wind bound, you can do a laundry partway through the trip, but don't count on it. Bring a sweater, or better still a hooded sweatshirt, for cool evenings. Make sure their coats have pockets.

Stash some presentable clothes in the car, for all of you but especially the kids. When you get out of the wilderness you may find your dirty little urchins are suddenly a little less cute. Take a damp cloth to hands and faces, comb their hair, stick them in something that's fresh from the laundry, and they'll be their old selves again. Knowing there are clean clothes waiting there will help you relax about the clothes they are wearing in the wilds.

How Far Can You Go?

Now a week is the longest you should go. Food is the weak link here. If you go for two weeks instead of one, you don't need to take twice as many tents or stoves, but you will need twice as much food, fuel, and somewhat more clothes and books. Start at short trips and work your way up. As the kids age (at least once you stop adding younger ones in at the bottom again) you will take less stuff: diapers, teddy bears, and so on will all make room for more supplies, plus your older ones will start carrying a pack as well. If you've tripped before, unless you used to set a very leisurely pace you will go slower now. Striking camp in the morning will take longer because you won't be all-hands-on-deck if one adult is watching the kids; portages will take longer for the same reason; the kids are likely to need shorter days on the water than you used to push yourselves to; you won't go as fast through the water if your front paddler isn't paddling much, and you need to stop earlier anyway in order to fit in the longer setting-up-camp time. Don't get obsessive about it, just set yourself shorter loops. You often set up our trips as "you'll go in here, travel inwards for three days, and them come back out the same way." As long as you go the same speed in both directions, you'll get out the day that we should. Alternatively, set up a loop with rest days, where you hang around at a great campsite for two whole nights. You might spend that off day fishing or hiking, or just lying around reading and watching your kids play. It is a vacation, remember? Don't decide at home where the rest days will be (unless there's only one great hike to a lookout or whatever) -- let the quality of the campsites and the mood of the group choose it. If you grossly overestimated your pace, dropping the rest days will let you meet the original schedule.

What Else Do You Take?

Let's see: food, clothes, cooking stuff, tents, toys, books, diapers, sleeping bags -- you mean we have to take MORE? Sure: first aid, repair kit, -- but what this section is about is the stuff you don't find in the ordinary camping books. Stuff that's neat if kids are along, or for keeping parents sane.

At least one, probably two, fanny packs. These function much like purses in real life, holding sunscreen, bug repellent, unwanted hats/shoes/toys, snacks (LOTS of snacks,) drinks, flashlight, matches, knife, shoelaces, Kleenexes and anything else a child might ask you for in the course of a day. These are next to an adult in the canoe or kayak and at the campsite, come along on hikes, and on portages in both directions. That's one of the reasons you want a fanny pack rather than a small day pack. Put on the fanny back backwards, with the pouch over your stomach, and put on your portage pack normally. Then head across the portage. If a child needs something you don't need to take off the pack you are carrying and open it up and root around, nor do you have to explain that the thing they want is in a different pack that hasn't come over yet. Then you head back for your second trip, leaving the fanny pack on, and still you have all your important stuff. The other reason we suggest a fanny pack is that it helps you to carry a child who's really a bit large to be carried, if tiredness or cold or sunburn gets someone all whiny and clingy. Put the bag on sideways, and sit the child on your hip with the pack as a chair. You'll still need an arm for support but it will be an easier carry.

Other Neat Stuff: glow sticks. Those things you break and they glow -- kids love to walk around with them in the dusk and then take them into the tent. If there is to be one small flashlight, there should probably be one per child. Bring one for everyone, whether it's an adult who will use it to head for the toilet late at night, a toddler who will just play and wave it around, or a child in between who will get an opportunity to learn responsible use, and stop asking to borrow yours so much. Use some small fluorescent flashlights for the tent: hang them up and several people can read by them. Outside a strategically placed candle lantern works very nicely.

Little Stuff ? Clothespins -- makes hanging up laundry on tarp lines so much easier. Several half rolls of toilet paper rather than one single roll, since kids do sometimes drop it, and older children are embarrassed to have to ask where it is or get it from a central location. Have at least one roll per tent. A pair of cloth gardening gloves function as oven mitts for hot pots, and blister-preventers while paddling. A little notebook to record what food was liked and what wasn't, how long things took, how much was left over, which campsites were good, and so on. Your packing list, to write down the things you forgot, so you won't forget them next year.

When Should You Give Up?

Adults can take a lot of misery, slogging through the rain for days, and come out saying it was a good trip, thinking of the one or two really good afternoons in there. Kids, in general, won't. There are times when the general misery level gets so high, you should make better uses of your limited vacation time. There are also times when you would be putting your children in danger by pressing on. Tired, cold, wet, grumpy people are more likely to have accidents, or to make serious errors in judgment like going out in wind and waves because you're all going stir crazy at the campsite.

Don't push on when you know you shouldn't. Be prepared to be wind bound. Be prepared to realize you have over-scheduled. Don't take chances with small, unpredictable, precious little people in your boat with you.

Take care, have fun……..