I don’t know about you, but the first flurries of snow we had recently felt just like the release we needed in the midst of lockdown. Parents raced outside like big kids & spent the morning laughing, playing & chatting to our neighbours (socially distanced of course) while our 3-year-old made his first memories of snowballs & snowmen & all that winter magic. We also spent a fair while singing Christmas carols…!
Strapping your baby to you or popping them in a buggy in snowy conditions can feel scary at first, but it’s a wonderful way of exploring beautiful winter scenes together.
Top Tips from Blaze Co-Director, Ché:
❄️ Good grip: If you don’t have snow/walking boots = wellies & warm socks.
❄️ Spare gloves & socks – snowy gloves get cold & wet quickly when you’re having fun!
❄️ Walking poles great for balance/stability if baby-carrying.
❄️ When you’re not sure how quickly you’ll get cold or how slippery the ground will be, keep the walk nice & short, somewhere you know/where there are others around.
❄️ Take a warm drink/snack
⛄️ Keeping baby nice and toasty:
❄️ Layer baby up (one more layer than you) so you can add/remove layers as needed - woollen cardies/trousers are your friend! Snoods/balaclavas, hat, gloves, leg warmers & booties all great for protecting extremities.
⛄️ If baby-carrying:
❄️ Sling/carrier ideal under your coat so it fits properly & baby is close - they'll get the benefit of your body heat.
❄️ Coat options - your normal coat with zip-in panel, left open with a carrier cover or a spare fleece/coat tied around carrier, or an oversized/baby-wearing coat to enclose you both. Avoid snowsuits for your baby as they can overheat.
⛄️ If using a pram/structured backpack carrier:
❄️ Baby can get chillier if not moving much, so try out combos of coats/snowsuits, blankets or padded cosies/covers, taking care they don’t overheat.
❄️ Raincovers = shelter from cold wind/snow. Keep as open as poss so they can enjoy the air/view too!
❄️ Hot water bottles in a spare blanket = good for warming up you/their feet while you head home for that hot choc/babyccino!
Walking and friendship - how it works...
After organising dozens of parent and baby group walks now, I’ve realised that walking and friendship goes like this:
🌿 You turn up a stranger in a new place, with your young baby and a bag full of things you don’t know if you’ll need on a ‘hike’, maybe knowing one or two people but not everyone - this takes guts
🌿 You start to gather, smiling at each other’s babies (some snoozing, some gurgling, ready to go), comparing notes on how much sleep you had last night, and finding out who’s explored these parts before.
🌿 You set off, starting to chat with those nearest you, feeling yourself relax, and the conversation moves to what you do in your ‘real life’, how you chose your baby’s name, how you managed without any help during lockdown - who knows, you name it, it comes up...
🌿 As we stop for a nappy change, or to tie a shoe lace or to just catch our breath, the group shifts shape and you talk to new folks, whoever you happen to wander near - more chatting, more realisations of connections you share
🌿 By the time we get back to base and sit down for a well-earned coffee together, we realise we spoken with everyone, about loads of different things, sometimes baby-related but equally as often not.
🌿 All grateful to each other for showing up and giving us the reason to get out of the house and go and achieve something for ourselves.
🌿 We go away, feeling happy, looking forward to the next walk, with some of the same people and some new faces too. Next time not as strangers but as friends who walk together 👣
If you’re even sliiiightly tempted to come on one of our walks, just do it! There are lots of different ones coming up in the calendar and a whole bunch of awesome people waiting to walk with you…
Katy
The Blaze Trails Story
I’m Katy - working mum to two young daughters, and founder of Blaze Trails. I wanted to share how Blaze came about because it made itself - that is, as soon as we started walking with other parents and babies, we couldn’t stop, it felt too good. I hope it shows you that getting out walking with your baby or toddler and other parents is not only achievable, but feels downright awesome.
2017
My partner Stuart and I have always loved getting outdoors together, and when our first daughter arrived in Autumn 2017 I knew I wanted to raise her to feel happy and at home in nature too. Like any other new parents finding their way, the first few weeks were a heady blur of unparalleled joy, sleep-deprivation and poo (so much poo!?). When things got difficult, the things that helped were: family & friends (all the feels), tea (on tap), chocolate brioche buns (too many), and walking (a little, then more, then lots). I soon realised that if we didn’t get out for a walk each day, the baby and I would really feel it. My other new mum friends said the same, so in between the health check-ups, the coffee stops and the weird and wonderful baby classes, we’d meet for a wander round the local park. Always arriving back home feeling knackered but happy, and like we’d achieved something.
2018
With the new year dawning and as I gradually felt more like I had the whole mum-thing down, I started to look ahead to the rest of my maternity leave. I decided that as well as love-bombing my little one and caring for her development, I also wanted to nurture myself and make the most of this somewhat strange interlude to ‘real (working) life’. I knew it would involve walking, and my daughter seemed to love being out in her pushchair or in the sling, looking up at all the trees, sleeping well in the fresh air. Stuart and I also went for our first proper countryside ramble with the baby in the sling and it was a success - no-one got hypothermia or fell in the mud! So I googled variations on ‘parent and baby walk/pushchair walk/baby hike London’ to see if there was some kind of parent and baby walking group we could join.
I found nothing local. I couldn’t believe there weren’t more parents out there who wanted to get out walking with their babies. Surely, I thought, there are thousands of people who like getting out for a walk, and who happen to have a baby at some point? And surely there are people who have never really been outdoorsy types, but who have a baby and find that walking (somewhere, anywhere, for any length of time) helps keep them sane and the baby soothed? So I started organising walks.
Our walks started off with a few other mum friends and their babies, just getting out locally for short walks with our pushchairs in London’s parks, along the Thames at Richmond, or in wild spaces such as Hampstead Heath. We gradually built up to weekly walks going further afield, into the greenbelt, out of London, leaving the M25 behind. We travelled by train, by bus, by car. We went up hill, down dale. We got the slings and baby backpacks out, put the walking boots on, lathered up in suncream and just got out.
The babies loved it, we loved it. And the motley crew of us grew and grew. As friends of friends started to come along and we were meeting people we didn’t know, I wondered what it would be like to open it up to the public and reach other parents. All we were hearing was how exciting and liberating it was to get out in nature with other families, and that people had wished they had known about the group and started coming along sooner.
2019
I went back to work and continued to walk on my days off but juggling the walking group and busy family life was hard! So I was adamant that when I was on maternity leave again with my second daughter that I would really make a go of Blaze and take it out to more people.
2020-21
What a shocker of a year for everyone. Getting outdoors walking with my daughters is a huge part of what’s got me through this hard time.
My youngest daughter arrived in January 2020, so when lockdown hit in March I had a newborn and toddler to care for. We had the most incredible snuggly days together, but I also really struggled without the usual support of our families and friends. Getting outdoors each day for our hour of exercise was one of the few things that kept me going. No matter how low or anxious I felt, getting out with the girls for a walk made me feel so much better. They loved it too.We started discovering new parts of our local parks, finding joy and interest in small things like collecting twigs for 'campfires' or building dens.
As lockdown no.1 started to ease and I spoke with more mums, I realised how all of us were desperate for more connection and support. I started asking other parents out for socially distanced walks - saying hello to random mums in the park and telling them about Blaze Trails. Many said they were so pleased I had talked to them as they were feeling isolated. They started coming along on my walks.
Throughout 2020 I organised baby walks twice a week, and the turnout got bigger with each walk. The groups were really diverse - women from every background come together to walk, chat, people new people and connect with nature. There was a lot of demand - everyone said how liberating and important it felt to connect with other parents when there were so few other options.
The Blaze Trails model is resonating so strongly with parents that it’s growing into a national network of parent-led walking groups. Through lockdowns and more relaxed periods we have walked - always adhering to safe walking precautions. Adapting and formalising our structure to adhere to the guidance for parent and baby support groups. Making sure we can always be there as a resource to parents in these most difficult of times.
We now have 25 local branches and I'm supporting other parents to set up their local groups in other parts of the country. I’m incredibly proud of our amazing community of Organisers - they’re getting out every week bring other parents together for some well-needed fresh air and friendship.
My goal is for there to be a Blaze Trails baby walking group in every town across England!
I really hope Blaze Trails can inspire you to get outdoors with your baby or toddler. There are a range of ways to get involved, and we are growing and learning as we go, so please do share your ideas and feedback.
Thanks and hope to see you on a walk with us soon!
Katy
Group walking during Covid-19
Hi everyone,
6 months into Covid-19 and we’re slowly navigating the ‘new normal’. I’ve been organising group walks again for the last 8 weeks, and have been learning fast about how to stay safe when out walking during Covid.
I’ve developed this guidance to help everyone who comes on our walks, and those who organise their own walks, to be safe while out adventuring together. It’s a work in progress, so please let me know your thoughts and if you have any more ideas of things to include!
How have you been getting out safely during this strange time?
Katy
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Blaze Trails guidance for group baby walks during Covid-19
Blaze Trails wants parents to get outdoors safely with their babies. The Coronavirus pandemic means we need to take special precautions when meeting up for baby walks. Our priority is to make sure all parents keep themselves and their babies safe, at the same time as we have fun and meet new friends.
Most importantly:
If you or anyone you live with has coronavirus symptoms do not go out walking.
Stay at home and follow the NHS and government guidance.
Preparation:
Ensure the group leader has your full name and mobile number in case someone in the group later displays coronavirus symptoms and we need to contact/track-and-trace you.
Walk locally where possible, plan your journey to the walk starting point to minimise contact with others en route.
Carry everything you need with you, minimising unnecessary stops into shops or cafes, and reducing the need to borrow other people’s things. Take an extra 5 minutes to check you’ve packed your bag with everything you’ll need.
Consider carrying a mask with you to put on when going into a shop, cafe or other enclosed public space during the walk.
When out walking:
Keep your distance from other walkers.
Feel comfortable to ask other walkers to keep their distance. Don’t be offended if someone reminds you to keep your distance. Remember that everyone has different levels of comfort and anxiety around socialising - the important thing is to support each other to get outdoors safely.
Avoid touching each other’s babies and equipment such as backpacks or carriers (although it’s always tempting to coo and help!)
If someone needs help, for example with lifting up a baby backpack, anti-bac your hands before and after, and keep your distance as much as possible.
If you need to administer first aid to someone else, clean your hands and consider wearing a mask, minimising the time spent in close proximity.
If you need to touch a gate or stile, or other high-contact points, anti-bac your hands afterwards.
Be considerate of other people walking/park users. Be prepared to walk in single file, or move off the path. Be proactive and help other walkers move easily around you and the group.
Take all rubbish (including masks, wipes or anything else!) home with you.
After your walk:
If you develop symptoms of coronavirus within a week of a group walk, please tell the organiser so they can let the other attendees know.