Quote: Originally posted by thewelshman on 02/4/2009
So, what is your viewpoint on babies and camping? Do you feel they shouldn't be taken along?
I have been woken by babies crying, and yes its a bit annoying but it's also a natural thing and we just deal with it. Much better that the drunken idiots tripping over guylines at 3 in the morning
On both of these occasions, it wasn't just a case of "being woken", the babies started in the early hours and went on till about 7.30 - 8 in one case and the other one started at about 10 pm and didn't shut up until gone 4 am, when it was starting to get light.
In the first case, they were asked to leave after 3 nights (they also spent most of the day having rows), and in the second they left after 4, which was probably 2 nights longer than I'd have left it if it'd been me.
On family orientated sites it's almost to be expected, I suppose, but these were quiet rural sites of the kind favoured by walkers and twitchers. I certainly don't think it's a good idea to take babies that aren't good sleepers camping, if it means that no-one else can get any sleep. I don't take drunken idiots camping either!
Quote: Originally posted by thewelshman on 02/4/2009
So, what is your viewpoint on babies and camping? Do you feel they shouldn't be taken along?
I have been woken by babies crying, and yes its a bit annoying but it's also a natural thing and we just deal with it. Much better that the drunken idiots tripping over guylines at 3 in the morning
On both of these occasions, it wasn't just a case of "being woken", the babies started in the early hours and went on till about 7.30 - 8 in one case and the other one started at about 10 pm and didn't shut up until gone 4 am, when it was starting to get light.
In the first case, they were asked to leave after 3 nights (they also spent most of the day having rows), and in the second they left after 4, which was probably 2 nights longer than I'd have left it if it'd been me.
On family orientated sites it's almost to be expected, I suppose, but these were quiet rural sites of the kind favoured by walkers and twitchers. I certainly don't think it's a good idea to take babies that aren't good sleepers camping, if it means that no-one else can get any sleep. I don't take drunken idiots camping either!
The couple were probably dead on their feet. If thats what the kids were like camping, imagine what the parents must be going through. I have to say though, if any of my kids were to cry non stop for 6 hours, the first place i'd head was the doctor. Kids dont cry for that long unless something is wrong. My daughter who's 3 later this month started camping at 13 months. We had a couple of nights that she wouldnt settle, so me or OH opened the car, and took her there to sleep. It done the trick and she settled fine after that. As a parent, im always conscious of those around us, I always have found folks to be very understanding, again though we have been lucky with our 3. Its only happened a few times and usually for a couple of minutes - Unless some drunken fool starts singing, shouting or whatever then he wakes everyone up.
Just on the subject of camping with babies. I was up at Go Outdoors recently and my 3 year old daughter was like a magnet to this It was so cool and she's nearly 3 as ive mentioned and it was really roomy for her AND you can close the zip to keep toddlers from crawling out. She was a bit miffed that we wouldnt buy her one. I think she is definitely headed for these forums as soon as she can read.
------------- Always forgive,Never forget;Learn from mistakes,But Never regret;People change,Things go wrong;Just remember life goes on
Cool campers use Delta Pegs.
The happiest people aren't the ones who have everything they are the ones who make the most of everything they have
Noises from outside of your tent is just one of the things that happens with camping!
If it's not caused by selfish or inconsiderate attitudes then there is no point in complaining. Babies don't cry/snorers don't snore/foxes don't wail, just to annoy campers!
People who find children trying will probably head for adult only sites anyway, and a lot of people seem to use earplugs as a matter of course simply because there are sometimes noises - nylon/canvas just isn't soundproof!
So those with little nippers, don't worry about it!
Sharon.
------------- Go on! Do deformed rabbit, it's my favourite!
I've had probably 1 AWFUL night camping with our two when they were about 1.5 and 3 (this was right when we started taking them camping). I've had a few nights that seemed awful at the time, but weren't really that bad.
That said, I've had LOADS of great nights where they slept fine, apart from the occasional fussiness, which is obligatory for small kids, isn't it?
Don't let them get cold (difficult with my two little clothing-optional people...!)
Try and get them used to their sleeping bags / airbeds / travel cot BEFORE you go. They need to know that they are safe places that they can sleep in.
EXPECT them to go to bed later than they normally do. Prepare yourself mentally for this. You're not putting them down in a pitch black quiet room - you may need to wait until they
a) collapse from exhaustion or
b) it goes dark (we did have a couple of 10pm nights in the north of scotland where it NEVER seemed to get dark...)
If you are expecting them to go down at 7 and try and settle them at that time (and if you're anything like me & my kids...) you're all going to get grouchy.
We're looking at going camping somewhere local when it gets a bit warmer, as we have a 2 month old at the moment...
Have fun, go with the flow and you'll have a fantastic time!!
Busy convincing my husband to take our baby son camping when the weather is nice. Hes 5 month old at the moment so he ll be anywhere from 7 month plus when we do go. Dh is worried that if he cries it'll bother others, but i've told him after reading this thread that the majority of people would be ok if he did have a little cry- he's not terribly a crying baby anyway.
Brill thread. I thought we were being a bit extreme taking our, just 2 year old, and 5 year old camping, its reasurring to know we aren't! As others have said babies and children dont cry/make noise constantly without a reason. Its about mutual condereration and tolerance I suppose. I wouldn't let it stop you from camping!
We go tomorrow, yay! The only thing that worries me it occupying them whilst we pitch the tent, its a 2 person job, and takes about an hour, I'm just worried about watching them, as they need supervision. They aren't the sit still with a book type, and I expect after the long journey, they'll want to run about and stretch their legs! They are both too little to really help with pitching, any tips please!?
Well, we are taking the laptop (and headphones if he will entertain them) specifically for this situation. He is fine normally bobbling about when we put the poles together and lay the thing out but when we are popping the poles up and loose visibility he needs to be in one place preferably strapped into something!
So I am thinking of sitting him in his buggy with snacks and a drink and putting the dvd on laptop on the camping table. Hopefully he will be able to see the screen. I am hoping this will give us time to get the tricky bits done.
Linny x
PS I am delighted that the vast majority of people take such an understanding view of children whilst camping. Camping is enjoying family life outdoors together IMO and young children have as much right to that as anyone, even snorers!
Thanks Linny, yes I'm thinking distraction and the pushchair is the way forward! Thomas the tank dvd should do it for mine, he loves it currently! Will report back on how it pans out.
Hey, we took our daughter when she was 3 months old and got on really well, so last year we took our son when he was only 7 weeks. We only used CCC club sites due to their facilities and family rooms, and stayed local enough, that if it did get bad, we could easily pack up the next day - which we didn't have to.
Our Children are the future faces of camping - get them used to fresh air!
The couple were probably dead on their feet. If thats what the kids were like camping, imagine what the parents must be going through. I have to say though, if any of my kids were to cry non stop for 6 hours, the first place i'd head was the doctor. Kids dont cry for that long unless something is wrong.
Well, I must admit, I wondered about that. It did seem an inordinately long time. All my friends are grandparents now, so it's years since I've had anything to do with babies. I remember my mate's boy regularly crying for 2-3 hours with colic though.
One of those campsite crying babies was teething, apparently. I don't know if that can make them cry for hours. .
The couple were probably dead on their feet. If thats what the kids were like camping, imagine what the parents must be going through. I have to say though, if any of my kids were to cry non stop for 6 hours, the first place i'd head was the doctor. Kids dont cry for that long unless something is wrong.
Well, I must admit, I wondered about that. It did seem an inordinately long time. All my friends are grandparents now, so it's years since I've had anything to do with babies. I remember my mate's boy regularly crying for 2-3 hours with colic though.
One of those campsite crying babies was teething, apparently. I don't know if that can make them cry for hours. .
yes teething is horrendous you can't explain to a baby thay it doesn't last forever, 1 of mine wasn't to bad the other 2 was lots of sleepless nights. got 3 teenagers now youngest still has her moments, only took 1 of them camping as a baby in a borrowed tent and he was fine slept through.
------------- Autism= Awesome, unique ,Special, talented, Intelligent, Smart and Mysterious.
We're going to be camping for the first time this year, and although my kids are older, I'm still a bit worried. The 9 year old suffers from achey legs sometimes, and I swear he has the most ear-piercing cry I've ever encountered. He nearly shattered my eardrums with his scream of temper a few weeks ago too. The 6 year old has had me up all last night being sick every 20 minutes - now I'm also worried about that happening whilst we're camping! To top it off, when I got back into bed I discovered a massive spider running around on the wall above the headboard. This was not a good night...
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Topic: Babies and Young Children
