Haven't been on for ages, but am what is known as a general lurker! I read absolutley loads and never post unless really need to - and I really need to now!!!!
We have a 6yr old, and 1 yr old twins. This year (in 18 days!!) is the twins first camping trip and I'm dreading it for all sorts of reasons. My oldest loves camping - loves the freedom, staying up late, running round all day in her flip flops! I'm really worried about the twins though.....what if they hate it!?
Now, knowing this site the way I do, there must be some great stories from people of some experiences of taking their babies camping for the first time. I just want to hear from others who've 'been there and done it' so to speak!! Our oldest was 3 when we took her for the first time so the only thing I worried about was keeping her warm at night. The funnier the story the better please to make me calm down a little....!!!!
The main thing is getting them to sleep and if they wake in the night - what's the etiquette for a crying baby in the night. I know it wouldn't bother me cos babies cry, but I've visions of one of us walking them round the site in the middle of night to get them of to sleep again, or getting in the car at 3am to drive them to sleep!!!!!!
18 days to go and excited and nervous all at the same time!
Hi , we took our son at 7 months and he loved it as far as we could tell lol, we just took him for walks on a evening and he never woke at all during night, We also took him away when teething big time and he woke grizzly a couple of times during the night and no one seemed to mind ( i think )
When he was teething he was also toddling so we got a bit of clothes line ( about15 ft or so ) and secured it by pegs into ground then clipped his reins to it and he walked around to his hearts content yet could not wander off ( we never left him un supervised by the way)
The fresh air tires them out easy I think , anyway good luck and I am sure they will love it
------------- Steven
If the answer may offend you then dont ask the question in the first place !!
we took our 3 year old and 14month old recently and, apart from the first night we the yougest didn't get to sleep till after 11pm, they were great sleepers. We were worried as back at home the youngest would often wake through the night. I think the reason for good sleeps was investing in good quality sleeping bags and air-beds. We got them Vango nitestar and midi? and they were ver snuggly.
I agree with the previoius post, fresh air and being out and about tires them out. They'll be happy running about and will probably hook up with other children.
If they are too noisy i shoot them, if you meet me you know i need my beauty sleep.On the serious side most campers except babies crying,what they dont like is rowdy campers. Most of us have had you kids and know the problems.
Just give them to the neighbours to baby sit Duffette!!! Can they really be a year old??? In our younger days we were known to park the car in the car park and take David there at 3am! luckily for us the other three were better at night. All of ours went at easter and were all October/ November babies and they slept better than at home. I think the fresh air wears them out. Also campers tend to start earlier in the day so it works out ok. Just set Pip on them !!! ( the neighbours not the twins) Oh you asked for funny....................remember to tell your beloved were you put the full potty for safe emptying in the morning before he gets up to see to waking baby.
------------- Good friends are hard to find, difficult to leave and impossible to forget.
We are just back from Carnoustie with Aaron, now 14 weeks.
he was as good as gold, he's still waking in the nighttime for grub but be prepared not to sleep, if like me, I was awake most of the night making sure he wouldn't start crying in the middle of the night and disrupt the other campers....
I reckon the fresh air was good for an hour or two extra sleep from him....
He loved the tent, by the way...
Camoing again in 2 weeks..!!
------------- Now theres Baby Aaron to include on trips! 1yr old
Went with no 2 son first time when he was 4 months old. It was fun booking with Eurocamp while I was pregnant - the booking came back unknown Ray. Since then we have taken our own tent but the first time I just couldn't face pitching a tent myself while I was still breastfeeding. Too much.
He was fine. Slept better than he had been at home. Noise didn't seem to bother him. He is about to go for his 4 th year and we have not had any problems. My eldest started when he was 3.
I think one of the tricks is to try to stick to your usual routine but to be a bit flexible.We stay on UK time so the kids go to bed at 8pm local time but still 7pm English time. Foreign kids seem to stay up a lot later than mine but quieten down around that time. We take them for a swim after tea then have a shower then quiet time then bed. They are both shattered having been outside the entire day and sleep pretty well after the first night.
I sympathise with your concerns about crying in the middle of the night having had a year when no 2 son woke again at about 10pm screaming. Mum wouldn't let me let him cry which I think would have sorted the problem on the first night but if you can live with glares the next morning I would let them yell. Once only obviously - any more than 1 night would be extremely anti-social and camping would not be the time to try out controlled crying! Campers seem very accomodating in the main and as others have said most have had kids themselves. the year that the midget was hideous I heard another baby crying and no-one mentioned it.
------------- pork
Remember a good wife always helps her husband with the dishes.
Whilst most of us have had kids and know they sometimes cry I don't think you can assume that just because noone says anything to you they were all ok about it.
I would hope that anyone with kids of any age would do their best not to let them disturb other campers whether the kids are 6 months, 6 years or 16!
I think you just have to try your best to keep the babies from crying through the night - so if that means walking or driving them in the middle of the night you just have to do it.
If they are normally good sleepers you should be fine. Stop worrying - all the kids I know seem to sleep better on site, but if they are normally up all night then please don't camp next to me!!
On our very first camping trip we were woken by our son (6) screaming at about 3am because he had cramp in his leg - we quickly took him into our bed and calmed him - when he stopped sobbing I took him to the toilets. There I met my friend with her 6 yrs old - I apologised for my son waking them (they were camping right next to us) - nope she said "to do that we would have had to have been asleep" - apparently hers had been up on and off all night due to the rave going on nearby. The following morning the kids were up and about at 7am playing football in their pjs, the hubbys were having a lovely cooked brekkie and extolling the virtues of camping and me and my friend could have packed the tents into the bags under our eyes!
Thanks to all who replied! Much appreciated, I know I'm worrying over not a lot, but it's what goes through my head in the middle of the night when one of them wakes up at home let alone on the campsite! Anyway, if it's that bad we might get a nice quiet spot if no-one wants to camp near us!!!!!!!!
Yes, Jan P they're a year old, the last time you saw them they were still a bump I think?
They are generally good babies, and don't tend to make a fuss so hoepfully things will go smoothly and if Hubby has to drive round Dorset in the middle of the night then so be it!!
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: Babies at night time.
