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Jenny Wiegand
I gave birth to my first kid one week before Mother’s Day last year. Had you asked me then what I wanted for Mother’s Day, I would have said a poké bowl and a Mexican lager (or two or three)—the things I had been craving most after nine months of deprivation.
As for gifts that would make motherhood easier, I had no clue what those might be. According to the Instagram posts I was being fed at the time, that list would have included a trendy leather diaper bag, aromatherapy candles or bath bombs, and a jumbo Stanley water bottle.
Now, 11 months into my mom gig, I know exactly what I would have put on my first Mother’s Day wish list: gear to help me and baby get outdoors. What made my first months of motherhood both easier and more pleasurable was doing what I loved to do pre-baby—with my new family. That included walks and then eventually hikes, road trips to see friends and family, SUP days at our local lake, and new activities like stroller-blading (more on that below).
Getting out the door with an infant and keeping them comfortable, happy, and fed is no small feat, even when you’re just headed out on errands. Throw in an outdoor activity, and you best be prepared. To any new, outdoorsy moms making their first Mother’s Day wish list—or to the thoughtful partners, friends, and family members wondering what to get the new mom in their lives—here are six products that made outdoor adventures with an infant not only manageable, but fun.
Some of these items are admittedly pricey, but in my experience, well worth the investment. Mom hack: You can find some of these bigger ticket items in almost-new condition on sites like GoodBuy Gear, Rebelstork, Stork Exchange, and Facebook Marketplace.
At a Glance
- Baby Carrier Built for Hiking (from $139)
- All-Terrain Stroller ($650)
- Portable Sound Machine ($80)
- Leakproof Thermos (from $35)
- Compact Cooler ($250)
- Folding Chair ($65)
- Versatile Picnic Blanket ($89)
(Photo: Courtesy Ergobaby)
A Baby Carrier Built for Hiking
Ergobaby Omni 360 Mesh
From $139 at Ergobaby From $159 at Amazon
There are a plethora of baby carrier options on the market—from simple wraps best suited to toting infants around the house to versatile and burly carriers designed for more active pursuits. The Ergobaby Omni 360 Mesh falls into the second category.
This one-size-fits-all carrier accommodates a newborn from 7 pounds to a toddler of 45 pounds and has four carry modes (front-facing inward; front-facing outward; hip-carry; and back-carry). It also features mesh panels in the front for better breathability—key when you’re essentially carrying around a little furnace.
I started using the Omni 360 when our baby was around three weeks old with an infant insert (at 7 pounds and 19.5 inches long, he seemed to drown in the carrier without the insert). Getting the carrier on by yourself is a little cumbersome given the two shoulder straps, one back strap, and the main hip belt you have to buckle and cinch, but once you get it set up for your baby and your body, it becomes more intuitive. After one week of use, I had no issues getting it on and placing baby in it by myself.
And like a good backpack, all those straps and attachment points exist to take the load off your body, making the Omni 360 a great option for longer walks and hikes. I regularly carried our baby in it for 4-plus-mile hikes and experienced no pressure points, load shifting, or uncomfortable chafing.
(Photo: Courtesy Thule)
An All-Terrain Stroller to Get Off the Beaten Path
Thule Urban Glide
$650 at REI $650 at Amazon
We weren’t expecting to use the Thule Urban Glide before our kiddo turned six months old, since that’s when he’d be big enough to safely sit in the forward-facing, upright position. But this stroller is so much nicer to push around than the other stroller we own that we bought the Thule car seat adapter and used the Urban Glide with an infant car seat from day one. (You can also buy a bassinet attachment for this stroller.)
The three large tires—including a front swivel wheel that locks out—navigate uneven sidewalks, gravel and dirt trails, and grassy parks like a dream. While the Urban Glide is not as aerodynamic as the Urban Glide 2, which Thule markets as their jogging stroller, this model can also be used for jogging. It can even be used for stroller-blading—aka, rollerblading as you push the stroller—an activity that I’m going to take credit for inventing. Keep the speeds low and use the integrated twist hand break in the handle when going downhill, and you’ll have no issue keeping the stroller safely under control.
The only downsides to the Thule Urban Glide: price and bulk. It’s an investment, but we found ours secondhand and in great condition for $400 on Facebook Marketplace. It’s also heavy and doesn’t pack down as well as other, more streamlined strollers. The Urban Glide takes up the majority of trunk space in our Hyundai Santa Fe and doesn’t leave much room for other gear or dogs. On big road trips, we’ve started popping the wheels off (easy enough) and stashing the stroller in our roof box.
(Photo: Courtesy Roar)
A Portable Sound Machine For Sound Sleep Anywhere
Roar Sound Machine + Speaker
$80 at Roar
Measuring roughly 5-by-2-by-1-inches, this rugged, waterproof sound machine-and-speaker-in-one is about the size of two decks of cards stacked side by side. This makes it much smaller than your average sound machine and even many portable, bluetooth speakers on the market. However, its diminutive size belies its power.
The Roar can blast noise—either one of the three integrated sounds (brown noise, waves, or rain) or any other sound of your choosing when connected to a phone via bluetooth. It also has an impressive 20-plus-hour battery life. But parents be warned: Do not let this thing run out of battery while in use. On a few occasions we went too long between charges, only to have our son woken up in the middle of the night by a loud, female voice declaring repeatedly that the device had “low battery.” Unfortunately, there’s no way to determine how much battery life remains—there’s no battery life indicator on the device, so you just have to be proactive in charging.
That’s the biggest downside to the Roar Sound Machine: it doesn’t have a user-friendly control panel. It only features five buttons (power, play/skip to next sound, and two volume buttons), and these rubber buttons are black, blending in with the rest of the speaker. This makes it almost impossible to see the control panel in low light (as in a darkened bedroom or tent). I’ve learned to set the Roar to our desired settings before turning off lights to avoid fumbling with the controls in the dark.
Despite these shortcomings, the Roar Sound Machine + Speaker has become a must-pack piece of baby gear for any overnight trip or outing that will require a nap away from home.
(Photo: Courtesy Purist)
A Thermos to Make Formula On the Go
Purist Maker 10 oz
$38 at REI From $38 at Purist
I used the 10-ounce Maker for coffee and tea long before I had a kid, but now I use it regularly to make my son’s formula on the go. We learned early on that our kid was finicky about the temperature of his bottled milk. He liked it much warmer than room temperature, which proved challenging on high-alpine hikes in the colder months. At first, we’d premake his bottles at home the morning of our adventure, only to discover that by the time we fed him on-the-go, the milk had cooled too much. We finally wisened up and started pre-filling his bottles with formula and carrying hot water in the Purist Maker on our hikes, so we could serve warm milk on demand.
We love the small size of the 10-ounce Maker because it doesn’t take up much pack space, yet it holds enough hot water that we can mix it with regular water to fill two 6-ounce bottles of formula. Bonus: Purist makes three different types of lids that are interchangeable between their different thermoses. We like the Scope Top because it allows us to pour water into our son’s bottles without spilling or letting much heat escape in the process.
(Photo: Courtesy Yeti)
A Cooler to Tote Baby’s Milk
Yeti Hopper Flip 12
$250 at REI $250 at Amazon
I know I’m probably preaching to the converted, but you just can’t beat a Yeti cooler when it comes to keeping drinks and food chilled. When I needed a reliable way to keep pumped breast milk cold on the go, this is the cooler I reached for. Any mom knows that breastmilk is liquid gold and you simply do not mess around when it comes to storing it properly to ensure not a drop goes to waste. The Yeti Hopper Flip 12 put me at ease.
It reliably kept its contents cool with two ice packs when I left it in a parked car for six hours during a summer hike. Just two gripes: The leak-proof zipper is burly—too burly to easily unzip with one hand (and moms often only have one hand free). And like all of Yeti’s products, it’s crazy expensive. But you do get what you pay for: superior cooling and a bombroof design. If you just need a soft cooler to store a few bottles of breastmilk, the Yeti Hopper Flip 12 is overkill—I’d size down to the Hopper Flip 8, which would be less bulky to tote around. But if you also want a cooler that will fit snacks for you, baby bottles, and potentially even your breast pump parts, the Hopper Flip 12 is a good size.
(Photo: Courtesy Crazy Creek)
A Folding Seat For Trailside Pitstops
Crazy Creek HEX 2.0 Original Chair
$65 at REI $65 at Amazon
We’ve owned a version of this Crazy Creek chair for more than ten years and it’s been a staple for camping trips and lawn concerts. Now, it lives in the storage basket of our Thule Urban Glide stroller for trailside pitstops with baby.
There’s a lot to love about this portable chair, from its simple, lightweight design that rolls up for compact storage to its adjustable straps that make dialing in your optimal reclining position a cinch. I’ve used it many times to nurse our son along the trail, and even for emergency diaper changes—simply unclip the straps to unfold the chair into a flat mat. It’s not the most comfortable of Crazy Creek’s folding chair options, but it is the most lightweight and packable, making it a winning choice for moms on the go.
(Photo: Courtesy Coalatree)
A Versatile Picnic Blanket
Coalatree Kachula Blanket
From $70 at Amazon $89 at Coalatree
My mother-in-law gifted this versatile blanket to us right after our son was born and it’s become our go-to for outdoor picnics and playtime. Coalatree bills the Kachula as “the Swiss army knife of blankets,” an apt description for this blanket that can be converted into an emergency poncho via an attachable hood and pack into itself to become a travel pillow. Fully unfolded, it measures 50-by-72-inches, making it plenty big for two adults and a baby to sprawl out on.
I love that the top fabric (made from fully recycled materials) is a soft brushed nylon flannel that doesn’t irritate baby’s sensitive skin when he’s rolling around in just his diaper. It’s also water resistant, so you don’t have to stress about spilled liquids or baby accidents. My one gripe: the ripstop nylon bottom of the blanket is great for resisting snags, but it’s prone to sliding around on grassy hillsides.
The post What Adventurous Moms Really Want For Mother’s Day appeared first on Outside Online.
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