My 6yo daughter insists on carrying her own stuff even though she gets tired after like 20 minutes and I end up carrying her pack anyway. We did Rattlesnake Ledge last weekend and she brought a stuffed animal, three snacks, and a notebook. Anyone figured out a good compromise here or do I just accept this is my life now?
The independence is good but yeah they run out of gas fast. I usually start with short hikes to build up her stamina and let her see that she CAN do it. Works better than forcing her to use a backpack.
Have you tried getting her one of those tiny hydration backpacks? My 5yo is way more into it when it's designed for kids her size instead of just a scaled down version of adult ones.
20 minutes is actually pretty good for a 6yo carrying weight. Don't be surprised if that extends to 45 minutes or an hour as she gets stronger. The fact that she wants to carry stuff is awesome, lean into it.
I let my daughter do this too but I always bring a lightweight backpack in my pack just in case. After about 30 minutes she gets tired of carrying hers and I offer to strap hers to mine. She feels like she made the choice and I don't have to listen to complaints.
Mine is the exact same way. She's like a tiny pack mule and refuses any help even when she's dragging. I've learned to just let her work through it, she usually toughs it out another 15 minutes then asks for help.
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Honestly it's kind of cute that she wants to do it herself. Sure she gets tired but she's learning her own limits and that's valuable. Plus when she finally asks for help she's actually learned something instead of you just forcing it on her.