Holy cripes, what an experience! ;-)

Our two-year-old (2 3/4) is a little monkey and never sat still. She loved paddling (didn't particularly love getting in and out...there was a stand-off for her first time getting in when I thought for a bit that we weren't going anywhere...but once she was in, it was fine). We tried putting her in different locations. In front of me in the bow was okay, lessened the unstable feeling of the canoe moving back and forth with her weight as she moved around (because it's so narrow there), but she interferred with my paddling. Farther back, she'd move from side to side and there was a nearly constant unstable feeling in the canoe. She loved her little paddle, loved the boat on a string...she loved paddling (she complained when we got to portages, lol), but mama didn't love it that much. I'm glad we were doing day trips and not a true trip. This girl just does not sit still in general, and it's no different in a canoe.

Congrats on taking the plunge. I'm impressed.

Our youngest was three when we took her into the BW. We also base camped; because of really bad weather, but that's another story. In the end it was a better idea.

Ours three year old did pretty well. Even napped in the canoe on nice sunny days. We even carried her over one portage sleeping, otherwise the portages weren't too numerous or long. We did the Isabella River. Great for kids.

Our secret weapon were tootsie pops. She's happily sit for quite a while working on those.

Sleeper of the portage...
Best of luck with future trips!

Sleeper of the portage....LOL! Very cute picture.

Where did you have her ride? In the middle? I don't know what we would have done with lots of gear...had she been sitting on gear, I think she would have toppled in....We had her sit on top of a crazy creek chair for padding (not that she really sat much...she mostly kneeled). In the bow, I had her lean on our pack full of rain gear when I needed her to sit down to get through a windy patch. She was not happy about that (I even pushed her down...felt bad but I HAD to paddle).

This was our configuration: me in front, husband in stern, 11-year old on a drop-in seat in the middle, and toddler either in the bow or somewhere in the middle. Once she sat on the seat and the 11-year old sat on the Crazy Creek, which I preferred, though I don't think it would have lasted very long...she just can't sit in one place too long.

Picture taken over my head....her head is on the right between daughter #1 and my husband, leaning over the water....

If we trip next year, we would rent a three seater...or a four seater? Not sure...Input? Daughter #1 is almost 5' tall and 90 pounds...

Love the photo. It looks like you had great weather. I do see the toddler peeking out behind your 11 yo. I like the dragging paddle. Pretty funny.

Our youngest was in the middle seat and shared it with our child who was 6 at the time. Otherwise, she was in the stern, on the floor between dad's legs. I didn't think I could handle her up by me (since I am the navigator).

We usually rent a 3 seater, however we just started renting a four seater canoe. Three kids, ages 11,9,5. We rent either a Bell Northshore 20.6', or a 23' Kevlar Wenonah MN 4. Both have 4 seats.

I agree with BW, seems like a three seater should work for now.

Our gear consists of two packs, one food pack, 2-3 small backpacks. It all as fit nicely. However, we do get some looks. :)

Tell us more about your trip! Are you planning a trip report? Would love to hear about it.

Well, you gave her a taste of it Nola! I actually think a loaded boat would have been BETTER in terms of stability AND it might keep her in one place longer.

Our first time out with all three kids, the youngest had just turned 3 years old. We rented the canoe we ended up buying (SR Quetico 18.5). The 3yo was up in the bow where I was at the time. This kiddo does have ADHD in real life, but at the time she was freaking about having all the packs and people in the boat and leaving our safe car behind. Didn't help her that it sleeted or hailed twice on our paddle in (May). So she needed to be right by mama or daddy. We tried both, back by stern at dad's feet and in bow with me. Frankly, it depended on who she was more enamored of at the time - the boat was fine with either.

We used to always trip with 2 full packs and then gave each kid a day pack with their clothing in it. Easy places to sit on those day packs anywhere in the boat.

By the end of that first trip, 3yo was riding on the third seat WITH her two sibs. (That's the picture I've posted before of three kids across and me in bow from the back.)

Paddling the SR, I just don't worry about the boat rocking - it has never felt unstable and over time the kids have learned to stay mostly in the middle. They climb back and forth over packs to change positions even today. I don't think they believe the boat CAN tip over, lol.

The 3-seater still can hold just me and 4 kids tripping easily. But I think we outgrew it as a family of five (comfortably anyway) when kids were 9/8/6 almost 10/9/6. Then we brought the shorter canoe also and let the two oldest ones have a go at paddling it themselves.

This spring I took my 3 kids and 3 other adults, so rented the Northshore. Had 2 adults and 2-3 kids in that at a time. Sometimes one kid sat on packs in the shorter boat with 2 adults, leaving 2 in the Bell. I could have used my SR, but I was refinishing it at the time (still am!). I did a review of the Northshore under the GEAR forum. It was nice to have that space and probably it would fit our family of five still today if we packed light - not any more storage room than my SR. But I'm OK taking our two boats and letting kids get some experience on their own. We can always split the adults up to paddle with a kid in the bow if need be, or if we had to, I guess we could tow one canoe. With only 2 kids ("only" is relative I know, hee hee), I'd think the 3-seater would be good for some time...

Nola, Cliff J once suggested I bring along a kayak and toss a kid in there while we paddled the gear. Depending on your portages, maybe B could paddle something like that alongside the rest of you in the canoe... OR you can get in the kayak and B can paddle bow? Just one more option I guess since you won't have two kiddo paddlers together for some time yet.

Thanks for the input. I think BWP is right that it would be more stable with a more loaded canoe, now that I think about it. Also I have heard that the SR is more stable feeling....if we go on a trip next summer, we'll rent a 3-seater SR 18.5. Sounds like a great canoe! And the way the seat is configured, both kids can probably sit next to one another on the seat. That would be good, as long as we could move one just in case. I'm amazed at how much they bicker like typical siblings even though they are 8 years apart. ;-)

B is too anxious for her own boat at this point, though I will keep that in mind for the future.

I compare the bickering to a car ride... for us it's the same if in one canoe. For some reason, don't hear that in camp much, but in a canoe? My main motivator for turning the oldest two loose on their own! Glad we're not alone... You'll LOVE the SR I think. Enjoy!

I agree that the SR Q 18.5 is rock solid. Even unloaded. Our 5 and 3 year olds really moved around the first few times we had them in it and it didn't feel tippy at all. One time they both crawled up to mom in the bow and she didn't even know they were coming until they started climbing into her lap from both sides.

Another example of how stable it is was on our trip last week, the last couple of portages that we got to I didn't even bother to get out one foot at a time and try to keep the canoe balanced. I just lifted both feet over the side at the same time, turned my body so I was facing out the side, and leaned forward to get out. This was in knee deep water. The canoe showed no signs of even wanting to flip.

Nojo, did you stop at the island on the way to the pictos? Maybe not, the way your little one didn't want to get into the canoe :)

Great pictures duck. Kids look so happy. Looks like you did Hog Creek?! How did you like that route with kids? How far did you go?

Paddlefamily, Thank you! The girls love anything that we do in the woods/on the water. In my post above the first 2 pictures are on a daytrip from Lake One to the Kawishiwi River and the 3rd picture (fishing from shore) is from a daytrip to see the pictos on Hegman.

We did do a Hog Creek trip with just our 5 year at the end of July. It was a great trip! She liked it so much that she wanted to go with my wife and I when we went on our anniversary trip last week. Here are a couple from our Hog Creek trip.

ducks - it doesn't get any better than that smile... love. it.

ducks, no, we didn't stop at that island, only at the portage landing. Also we forgot to go past the pictos to see the floating bog and the pitcher plants, which annoys me to no end, because I knew to do that but totally forgot. Guess I'll have to go back someday. ;-)

Oh and for next time: SR 18.5 ALL THE WAY! Thanks, everyone.