Our youngest is 2.5, up until this year we have always taken the travel cot (which we also doubled up as a playpen), luckily we had plenty of room in our tent so we used to put him in a "baby" sleeping bag like you would use at home with layers of clothes and blankets on top.
This year we put him in a my first ready bed, layers of clothes and then into a standard sleeping bag with some rope tied near to the bottom to stop him from slipping down.
I have 3 kids and their airbeds pretty much filled the width of the bedroom, but as far as I know he didn't come off his and into his sister bed. The my first ready bed also have a headboard on it which stops them from pushing up and coming out that way.
He didn't wake up once in the night and never felt cold in the morning.
My son is now 8 and he has camped since he was 6 months. His first couple of trips were in a travel cot and then we managed to find a blow up mattress with blow up sides, similar to a paddling pool. He then slept in the pod with us and then we could deal with him in the night if necessary. When he moved onto a normal mattress we kept finding him on the floor, so got him a camp bed and he loves that now
Quote: Originally posted by essexminicity on 03/5/2011
We've just returned from our first camping trip with our son. He's 11 months old and we chose to take a travel cot as it's what he's used before when staying with relatives. However, it's high sides became a real nuisance as it meant that everytime he woke in the night (quite a lot on nights 1 and 2) I had to get up off the airbed, see to him, then wriggle back down into my sleeping bag again - which didn't really help my wife's sleep either. On night 3 we decided to take out the base, wrapped it in several layers of blankets for insulation from the floor and had him down next to me. He only woke the once and it was much easier for me to put his dummy back in.
I think he may be ok on a ReadyBed as he doesn't wriggle much, but I won't be taking the travel cot again. Oh, and it took up so much room in our Polo.
Think he preferred my bed though
He is gorgeous Looks like a very happy camper hehe
Ready Beds are great but in my opinion you'll get more worth if you go for one of the inflatable beds with the inflatable sides. They are fantastic and well worth the money. Our 5 year old still uses hers when we go camping!!
------------- Apr 2011: Wicks Farm, West Witterings, Hampshire
May 2011: Nunnington Farm, West Witterings, Hampshire
Aug 2011: Gwithian Farm, Hayle, Cornwall
June 2012: Wicks Farm, West Witterings, Hampshire
just collected our latest ebay bargain - Kampa junior airbed - the one with the inflatable sides, used once, £6.50, still in box & bag, better than paying £16 for brand new - our nephew is now coming up 19 mths but I took his travel cot the 1st time when he was just 8 months old
------------- rescue - my favourite breed of dog :-)
we have used both the air bed with the sides and ready beds and have just bought SIM's for the kids.
The bed with the sides was a bit of a disaster as the sides didn't seem high enough to keep our 1 year old contained at night. He used to end up on the floor beside the others. The older two have only ever had ready beds, whcih have been good, but we have now mended them so many times after punctures that we have decided to try something different and have just bought the costco SIM. Have just used the SIM's and they seemed great, very comfy as I used one too, although more bulky than the ready bed if space is at a premium,
Ribble
Regardless of your choice of bed, I would definately recommend the same pod as youi. I discovered this on our first night, when I had to craw across the tent at two in the morning. Seemed ideal two kids in one pod, mim and da in the other. Next night dad was n his own and mum was in with the kids. Our next tent had one big bedroom.
Our youngest is 2 next month. So far this year we have been using either a Kampa inflatable or a Classic Travel Cot . But as others have said, the travel cot takes up too much room in the car, so isn't really feasible. The catch with the airbed is that of course it's not so straight forward to put her down awake, which is what we do at home. Next trip we'll try the Little Life Arc 3 which we got from TKMax at a bit of a bargain price.
Hiya,
Bringing this back up again - we managed to find a readybed at a car boot for a bargain so had to buy it! However, I'm still unsure what's worse - taking the travel cot (and having it take up loads of room!) and not needing it, or putting him in the bed and then him not sleeping in it!
Grrr!! We have a Khyam Ontario 8, so two small rooms and one big one and then a living area in the middle. We've decided that, yes, it's easier to have him in with us as it'll take me forever to get to him in the middle of the night, but now, do we have his ready bed (a junior one, so no sides...) next to me or have his travel cot in the room instead?
I just don't know!! I told OH that the TC could double as a safe place, but then we could just zip him into one of the smaller sections for 10 mins with all his toys if needs be.
Part of me thinks that the whole camping business is so out of his routine anyway, that a readybed shouldn't make any difference, but then does that mean we should use his TC as he knows it?
We had them in our pod on their own SIM when they were small. Then (with the two eldest) we moved them to Kampa airlock juniors in their own pod and now they're all back on SIMS in their own shared pod.
(the youngest was just over 2 when we moved him into a shared pod - we skipped the Kampa bed with him, though - he's always been on a SIM).
We tried ready beds and they both burst on the first jump (it's a bouncy thing on the floor - as soon as they are physically able, they will use it like a trampoline - the Kampas have stood up well to use as a trampoline!)
Hope you find a solution that works well for all of you!
Thanks dave, yes, we had a 'running up and down and back again' all over the readybed last night, which looks like fun at 6pm, but maybe not at 8pm once it's popped!
I like the sound of these SIMs, wasn't aware of these really. I always just thought they were just mats. But we're trying to keep costs to a minimum at the moment so will consider getting SIM for next trip!
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: Camping bed for 17 month old?
Looks like a very happy camper hehe
