Safe age to take baby 4wding

IMHO, min is to wait till as you say they can support their head, + few weeks for safety..

Is it worth the risk not to wait a month or 3?

YMMV

G'day DP
took my first born to Craigs Hut for her first taste when she was 10 months. I prefered to wait until her head control was pretty spot on. When she started to go really nuts in the jolly jumper, I figured it was time.
Blue

We took our baby 4wding from about 2 months old. She was in a rear facing baby seat in a very reclined position (just about lying down), so head control was not a big deal. She is now 12 months old and sitting upright, but we have an inset for the baby seat which holds her head fairly steady.
She loves 4wding and will happily fall asleep whilst bouncing along.
Andrew

Have you read the info in - TOPIC SEARCH - Trips with Kids. There is info broken down in 0-6 mths 6-12mths etc. We have taken our kids away at around 6 months on long duration trips and all the info on this and some submitted by others is loaded in the Topic Search section.

Gidday DP,

Firstly, congratulations and welcome to the world little Cooper.

We took our son all around the Pilbara when he was 4.5 months old, and our daughter was 3.5 months old when we did the Murchison-Gascoyne outback earlier this year. I think the main concern is bub's head and ensuring that it's well supported. Baby capsules/seats etc are all rear facing and come with over the shoulder harnesses so they are pretty well secured body-wise. We bought a unit with plenty of padding and also came with removable inserts for head, shoulder and hip support (which are removed later as they get bigger). Even so, when our two were newborns there was still plenty of potential for their heads to move around. I placed a rolled-up cloth nappy around their heads so it was resting on either side of their ears and around the top of the head (picture an upside down U). You can also buy a similar thing from baby shops and Big W etc for about $5. The only problem with all this padding is that bub can get a bit hot so keep the AC on.

As far as what age, well that's really a personal decision based on what you're comfortable with. Some bubs have pretty good head control from very early on, others can be several months old before they get the hang of it. A little tip here is that you can promote better head control by giving bub plenty of tummy time. It encourages them to turn and lift their heads to see what's going on.

BTW, we've always found that the rougher the track, the happier the kids seem to be. In fact, the more they seem inclined to go to sleep. We've often marvelled at how they could possibly sleep when the vehicle is rocking and rolling and jolting over some rough as guts goat track. But I swear it's the truth. On our last trip after nearly two weeks on almost exclusively gravel roads and bush tracks, we finally hit the bitumen heading for home and our 3 yr old complained and asked if we could go back on the dirt LOL.

:o) Melissa

All of ours started at about 10-12 weeks and then continued for the rest of their lives.
Grandparents were complaining when he spent the first one crossing the Simpson!
Our son now 20 used to complain that he never had any birthdays at home (1st july) and when he was 16 had had only two at home.
But he has had two at Neale Junction, 1 at Lake Caroline (northern simpson) several in the Kimberleys, two in Arnhem Land, 3 or 4 in the simpson somewhere, Alice, South western WA, SA, gulf. Appreciates it now though.

we took our daughter from gove to darwin when she was 7 months,no problem had plenty of provisions,and radio etc in case

DP, I'm glad you asked this question as it is one of much debate in our household at the moment, our little girl is due any time now and Dad wants to get back to the bush ASAP! :-)
Congratulations, and tell us how you go when you take him for his first outing, I'd be interested to find out!

DP,

With plenty of love and care, they can start any time.

Our 2nd daughter, now 22, and working at Cooinda Resort in Kakadu, was resident in a tank sinking camp in western Qld, when she was 4 weeks old. Admittedly she had a very doting Grandma there for a couple of weeks. but most of the time she was nursed, when it was time to shift camp.

Probably scarey to think of it now, with all the capsules and like available, but a bit of care is worth heaps, when you compare the people that let their kids stand on the seat, unrestrained, when in suburbia.

hooroo...

Thanks to all for their adcvice and passing on past experiences. All is greatly appreciated.

At this stage I will definitely wait a couple of months until Cooper is able to support his own head weight with good control. Surely this will keep Mum a bit happier and allow Dad to get on with the fun stuff. LOL

Thanks again to all.

DP

PS: and no he's not named after the tyre brand (or beer) either!

You should note recent comments about Coopers not lasting the distance :-)
I can imagine subsequent kids being called Michelin, Simex, Kumho. Still, better named after a tyre than a car (Prado, Musso, Toerag etc)

DP

We've got a 3 month old girl. You can get head support pillows from baby shops. they squeeze into the capsule and support them around their neck, so that it will not turn or throw from side to side. Baby loves it too, can't keep her awake even during her awake time. Sand should be no problems, the Sky Trek in Flinders was a bit rough with the large rocks but the pillow supports their heads nicely. If you can't find one at a shop easy to make one, just make sure it goes around their neck and if their head should turn it's not high enough to block their mouth.

Congratultions

D-JACK