We have recently had a new addition to our family, a lovely little girl. We are thinking of going away at the end of September for a week in out Pathfinder when the little one will be about 6 weeks old.
I'm not concerned about keep her warm etc as we have heaters in the camper, but I'm not sure if it will be fair on the other people on site if she decides to have a cry during the night.
As long as you can stop her crying quite quickly I cant see it being a problem. Depending on how the baby is fed you may need to take some kind of quick bottle warmer, or make a flask of hot water ready to use quickly, though if feeding by mum then that won't be an issue. Keep nappy changes down to minimum so as to not wake the baby fully, ( not including poo nappies of course) and just relax so that the baby stays relaxed.
You may want to co sleep with a safety element, eg one of those mini camping cot things that can lie on your bed with mum or you, or a carrycot in bed etc just so you can get to the baby really quickly and fleecy sleep suits will be a must for when you need to take the baby out of bed.
Really it will depend on the baby of course as some are great sleepers early on and others are hell!
by the end of September a lot of sites will be quietening down and if you are not not already committed to a particular site or even area you can have a ring around to see if you can't find yourself a site that isn't booked up and therefore has plenty of space - enough space that you should be able to keep your distance from your neighbours.
If she is 6 weeks old now, hopefully you may have a bit of a routine sorted - ymmv! and you have some idea of how well she sleeps at night and what makes her grizzly or break into full scale wailing. Plus if you have absolutely everything you could need in the night to hand if she does cry you will hopefully be able to keep it to a minimum
Personally, as a parent, I like to think I am tolerant of a crying child at night so long as the parents are trying or able to do something about it. If you subscribe to the let them wail until they get fed up school of thought - best stay at home ;o)
The great unknown factor in all this is how she reacts to a change in her home routine, if you can stick to home times I think you will be ok.
You could take the attitude of the late night drinkers and revellers - "what do I care if people complain, I'm leaving tomorrow anyway" but the fact that you have asked the question in the first place rather precludes you from membership of that clan. That said if you are really worried, don't go far from home - there aresome great places to go around Essex, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk which means you are never more than an hour or so from home and if things get too much, even in the middle of the night, you can always just leave the Pathfinder, get in the car and go home. You can always go back and pack up the camper later or try and resume the holiday. Having a viable plan B on place means that you don't get so stressed about plan A being the only option and having to work. I am sure you have found out already in six weeks that the less stressed you are the less stressed the baby is.
Any chance of having a single night away, one saturday maybe, before your weeks holiday - just to dip your toe in the water?
I hope it all turns out well - be sure to post and let us all know how it went.
If mum is breastfeeding and co-sleeping it will be a doddle. I took all of mine away from a few months old and it was actually a lot easier than when they were in the toddler phase and mobile, belive me! If you're bottle feeding and don't co-sleep however it gets a bit more time consuming and complicated but it's still perfectly possible.
One comment though...atm the baby has just arrived and no doubt you're all feeling on a high, but by the time six weeks have passed it's possible that mum especially might be feeling really, really tired from a lot of sleepless nights. First babies are especially wearing because you've not yet learned all the short cuts so if the time to co camping arrives and she's really not feeling up to it, be prepared to cancel rather than get her even more exhausted. Having said that some babies are more placid and contented than others, so it may all turn out great. Just be prepared to be flexible!
whoops - mis read OP, I read new addition is 6 weeks old not WILL BE - so i t may be a tad early for any pattern and routine!
Ditto everything Andcow mentioned and as Valkscot said be flexible and go with the flow.
The great thing about being on holiday with young babies is that they don't care if you don't go out somewhere nice everyday and that if mum and dad alternately seem to be spark out with their feet up, just so long as they get their fair share of attention, nosh, trips out in the pram and a clean bum they are generally happy with life.
Hi, I really wouldn't worry too much - I took three of mine camping in a tent when they were very young, at home they slept in a Carrycot so took that with us so they weren't sleepIng somewhere unfamiliar. In my experience whenever we've taken the children camping even when they were babies ( they're now 13, 11, 7, 4 & 2) they slept even better because of all the fresh air. All mine were bottle fed so I used to take the ready made cartons of SMA and had the mothercare microwave steriliser bottle for when a microwave was available, when one wasn't available I had to use the Milton liquid cold water sterilisers. You would have to meet some very intolerant people if anyone were to complain about a six week old crying (i know it probably sounds like she's got huge lungs to you but whenever I hear one so young crying in a supermarket it isn't half as loud as you would imagine). The key is to just stay chilled out and don't worry, make the most of her being so young, because once she can walk you'll be trying to figure out ways to stop her escaping from the camping area, stop her touching the cooker etc etc, the list of the troubles that come with a toddler is endless ;-)
Anyone who thinks it's always possible to stop any baby crying quickly is a little naive. Babies and toddlers will cry, and sometimes you can fix it, and sometimes you can't. If your camping neighbours can't accept that, there's not much to be done about it.
I agree with the comment about staying chilled out. Often it's worse for neighbours to have to listen to a parent losing it then listening to a howling baby.
I've done some serious miles with a buggy / pram on campsites. Sometimes to lull a little one into silence, sometimes to share the burden of the noise!
Thank you all for your replies and very useful tips.
The little one seems to be suffering from colic so does tend to cry a fair bit and isn't easily calmed.
We haven't booked on a site yet, but have one in mind that we have been to before and is reasonably local to us which we will book up closer to the time if we decide to go for it.
OH is taking little one to doctors tomorrow just to confirm that it is colic and to hopefully get something that will help. We will then see how things go over the next few days before making a decision.
I'm sorry but IMHO I wouldn't take a baby that young camping, especially not at the end of the season when the night temps are going down and the nights are drawing in.
I know others on this thread have said they have taken their babies away and they've come to no harm.
I took my baby away camping in August (many years ago now!) and the damp in the air gave him a lung infection which meant we had to come home early and he had to have antibiotics for a fortnight. He was approx 6 months old.
(ducking and waiting for the fall out!)
Remember this is only my honest opinion, and based on my own experience only.
I'm with Jax365 on this one as well. End of Septemeber could be pretty cool at night if recent weather is anything to go by and 6 weeks on first baby could be quite challenging still on everyday life yet alone packing all up and going camping where you don't have all home comforts.
I would also be concerned if damp weather and being in a much damper environment than your house.
Plenty of time for all that next year- enjoy your new addition! They are great (most of the time;) )
Hi we took our baby away when she was about four weeks old and she was fine. It was early September I think and the nights were a bit cold but you say you have heaters so should be fine. I always co-sleep with her and am BF so that makes it much easier. She is one now and we have had five great trips with her this year. I always put a fleecy suit on top of her pyjamas and extra socks (head uncovered)I am still a little nervous about her crying out in the night and she still does :( but not very often and i think its fine if you can respond quickly to them. I believe that most people will be fairly tolerant of a new baby and most people love to see them so small. I have been disturbed on camping trips much more often by older children crying (two-three) but just put it down to the nature of the beast.
Fresh air will help her sleep to I bet! Good luck and Happy Camping
We have booked up to go to Ferry Meadow caravan park the week after next, but we're taking my parents caravan rather than use our FC, as I was worried about the damp issues raised.
Congratulations! Hope the doctor helped with the colic.
If it's the CC site at Ferry Meadows, I have the impression that it's pretty big, I would have thought you would be able to find somewhere away from others to minimise noise at this point in the year. I too do not mind a baby crying, I just feel sympathy if anything. I am sure your baby will be fine in a caravan - many people live in them year round after all
Looking on the brightside, my daughter was sleeping through from 11pm til about 6am from 5 weeks of age. I fed her myself so she rarely got to the point of crying with hunger and we were lucky on the colic front too - she never got that!
I did get very very tired though, and my (now ex!) husband really didnt seem to understand. I would echo val's very wise words about being flexible. I hope you have a lovely time
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Going away with newborn baby
