Hiking with Babies

Pressure equalization to prevent ear pain (cable car/car), carrying and transport, sun and rain, feeding, diaper changing and accommodation… these are all challenges when hiking and traveling with babies. We were in Tyrol with our 5 month old babies. Read on to find out how we made it all happen!

Where have we been?

We were in Neustift on the world-famous Stubai Glacier, in posh Seefeld and finally in beautiful Innsbruck:

Our hikes:

• Stubaital:
  • Wildewasserweg at the Stubai Glacier (incl. Grawa waterfall)
  • Elferlifte Neustift (to the Elferhütte and Autenalm)
  • Serlesbahnen from Mieders (from Ochsenhütte to Maria Waldrast and back with the Serleszug)
  • Schlick2000 from Fulpmes (unfortunately only a panorama trail due to lack of time)
• Seefeld:
  • Rosshütte and Seefelder Joch (Zirbenweg and descent from the middle station)
  • Leutasch Geisterklamm (complete round incl. waterfall path)
• Innsbruck Spa & Relax

Altitude

To equalize the pressure in the ears while using the cable car it worked quite well to give a bottle to the babies or a pacifier.

The same in the car.

Stays above 2000m were kept short or avoided due to the lower oxygen content.

Accommodation

Luckily our babies are still small and we never registered them on booking.com. Only mentioned in the inquiry that they still cosleep with us in our bed, but that we would also be happy to have an extra baby bed if it doesn’t cost anything.

In the Stubaital and in the hotel in Innsbruck we had a cot, in Seefeld it would have cost 40 euros extra per day.

However, we have found a technique that allows the babies to sleep with us and still not fall out of the bed so easily.

Baby Carrier

Patricia used the Ergobaby Breeze and I used the Manduca XT. The Ergobaby is more breathable and the Maduca has more adjustments. (Read our detailed comparison here!)

The babies fell asleep relatively quickly in both carriers.

Patricia’s baby often started crying when she stopped, but that was due to the baby and not the carrier.

The babies are warmed with our body heat. That’s an advantage when it’s cold. But for us it was summer and we sweated a lot under the baby carrier.

When babies can sit up on their own, we plan to carry them on our backs too. But then we can no longer use a backpack, instead we are considering using a fanny pack or belt bag.

Sun

The baby carriers have integrated hoods against the sun. In addition, we had baby flap hats with extra neck, ear and UV protection.

We dressed the babies with onesies so that the legs are protected.

Rain

It suddenly rained in Seefeld and I was glad to have my rain poncho with me. I can use it to protect both the backpack and the baby in the carrier.

Changing nappies

When hiking with babies, we learned that we always have to stop at huts to change diapers and relax (also to be able to feed the babies without hassle).

At least a bench was necessary to lay the babies down. In some huts there were even changing tables, otherwise we changed nappies directly on the bench but tried to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Luckily we always had wet wipes with us for cleaning because, for example, there was no water at all in one hut. It is important to take changing clothes with you, because of the baby carriers, the poo-poo is unfortunately sometimes pushed out of the diaper…

We often changed diapers in the car, and that went very well.

Feeding

We had already portioned formula with us. Drinking water was not always available, so we had to bring it. As said, it was better to feed in the hut, since the babies did not like the sun at all:

Our babies had already started with baby food at the age of 4 months, so we took it with us. However, we bought the ready made variante while we were on vacation. Of course we didn’t bring our Philips Avent baby food maker with us that’s why. Update: now we always buy these quetschies to save weight, but unfortunately with these you need 3 hands to feed (if you use a spoon):

However, it was always quite a mess. But when we undressed the babies, at least the food was not all over their clothes, but we might have drawn surprised looks (but no one complained about our naked babies).

Transport

We drove to the Stubai Valley and to Seefeld. With twins and all the luggage it would have been too exhausting to take public transport.

In Innsbruck we used public transport, but chose the accommodation so that we can reach it from the airport without having to change trains (bus F directly to the city center to Hotel Innsbruck).

We took the Doona+ Carseat Strollers from Vienna with us and therefore didn’t have to rent car seats.

First we had a Jeep and the car seats fitted well. Later we had a VW minivan which was huge but that was more of a disadvantage as we had to lift the heavy seats+babies high up into the car. At least this car was perfect for changing diapers!

Costs

*Actually* traveling with the babies wasn’t much more expensive than traveling as a couple. However, the accommodations in Tyrol are already plenty expensive… (apartments around 120 euros per night and the hotel in Innsbruck 173 euros! Rental cars around 100 euros per day without fuel!)

Maybe without babies we wouldn’t have rented a car and only ever rented double rooms instead of apartments, thus saving a lot of money.

And finally we went to almost every hut, because that’s the only way to change diapers and feed the babies in comfort.

For the 8 days we paid (without flight) 2174 euros, that is about 270 euros per day for accommodation, car, restaurants, supermarket, entrance fees and cable cars. The cable cars in the Stubaital were included in the Stubai Super Card, which we received at the first accommodation. In the future with kids such a holiday could become too expensive…

Conclusion

Hiking with babies was a very nice, albeit exhausting, experience for us. On the first day we were totally overwhelmed with the new logistics. But soon we became more ambitious and everything was almost becoming routine.

Often we just went downhill and not on steep paths, since the weight of the babies (7 kg) + luggage (small food jars, water, formula, diapers, wet wipes, etc.) was clearly noticeable. On the other hand, there is probably no better training for the back and the whole body than carrying a baby over a mountain – as long as our joints still work.

It was also important not to always have the babies in the baby carrier – even if carrying it is healthy for the back and fights colic after eating – at least to cool them down. We had prepared cloth diapers to put them on.

Anyways, we think that fresh mountain air and nature are good for babies. And for us too: We in a better mood we can do sports, which in turn reflects on to the babies. At home we go stir-crazy anyways, even if we have all the amenities here like changing table, baby cots, etc. (Click here for our room tour! )

Would you go hiking with (small) babies? Post in the comments!

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