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We took ours away to France last summer when he was 10 months - we just had a tent, he slept in one of these which was handy as it doubled as a playpen / jail cell as well as a travel cot.

martin

Welcome to ukcs,

Youre not mad, and I'd say I found it easier with a baby in a tent than in the caravan tbh. In the caravan there was always something to grab hold of and climb up, and cupboards to bump themselves into. A small travel cot if you have room will be invaluable as a playpen in the day to keep her out of mischief when cooking, not that I had one , we just used to strap ours into pram when cooking. Bathed him in a storage box. The fleecy all in one suits that you get with the feet in are great for camping , worn over pyjamas, try to get one now, try primark, in a size big enough to fit her by the summer, as you can't get them then. They are ideal if you have one who kicks all the covers off. The fresh air knocked him out and he slept better when camping than he did at home. He slept on our airbed in between us as he did the same at home.

 I saw a great kids airbed with raised sides to stop roll off on amazon for £15, if you want to get one of her own .

there are loads of threads about camping with babies, try a search, you'll get plenty of good tips,

Relax and enjoy it, the baby will.

hi maddy

i am taking my 10 month to france for the first time camping too. You know you wont let her come to any harm and she will love it.

take plenty of pics for her baby book.

If it feels a bit mad, that means it's worth doing !

We are on baby no.5 now (he's 10mths old) and I think babies are far more flexible than we often give them credit for.  The limiting factor is really the parents' ability to adapt.  In our experience the 2 challenges with a baby are

1. Feeding - jars are a great option, but bottle feeding is a bit of a pain if you are steralising, etc.  You just need to think this through beforehand.

2  Mess - I am afraid to say a crawling baby is the most difficult stage.  Pre-crawling, they are happy in the travel cot, and when they are walking they just need an eye kept on them (and when do they grow out of that stage ??).  But crawling means several changes of clothes, I am afraid.  Even in good weather it is surprising how wet/muddy a campsite is - morning dew, a brief rain shower, or just slightly damp grass - it is very difficult to pursuade your little darling that the world outside is not a fascinating place that needs exploring (because, of course, it is).  Don't fight it, just be prepared for it !

Once you have been camping with kids you wouldn't ever want to go without them.  It makes the whole experience more fun, and as experienced campers, it puts back a bit of challenge that you have probably long since forgotten !

The next stage is migrating from lightweight, essentials-only camping to everything-including-the-kitchen-sink camping.   This hit me a few years ago when sat on the ground cooking a meal for 5 in my old meths Trangia - I lost count of the amount of times I was asked "is tea ready yet ?".

Have fun !

I found that a couple of these all-in-one plastic oversuits helped with crawling babies in campsite mud.

One thing I used to do was to put a set of walking reins on the baby, with the strap at the back but leave one end unclipped. then I pegged a spare guyline out on the ground, maybe about 10feet long, and threaded the end of the strap onto it. The baby (I've had three) could then crawl up and down this line but not be able to escape. Of course close parental supervision is still necessary, but what that meant for us was usually Hubby sitting reading his paper right next to the baby while I cooked or similar. None of our children seemed to mind this at all, given enough toys, and it would stop them going near dangerous areas like the cooker or road. Kept them on the shadey side of the tent too.

I think the most exhausting times to go camping with small kids is when they're aged between about 7/8 months (thus crawling) till about five years old! The non-stop vigilance required can get tiring, because even if you've got your tent set up safely there's always the muppet on the next pitch that sets up his barbecue as close to your tent as possible, or leaves all sorts of nasty stuff out. My youngest one was nearly six last summer and it was just so relaxing!

Have snacks / milk available for when you arrive and need to pitch the tent.

We took our 2nd when he was only 3 months old. Unfortunately although he was breast fed I had all the hassles of expressing, sterilising and heating milk for his colic medication. We were knackered when we arrived and were packed up by 10am the following day as it was just so much work. If we hadn't have been so tired we could have coped alright.

We then took him again for a week at 5 months which was far simpler esp as still only breast fed.

We have an inflatable baby bath from mothercare that I fill from the showers and used for him and our 3yr old who doesn't like showers.

Our son slept in a vest, babygro, fleece all-in-one (incl mitts), hat, usual baby sleeping bag with blanket underneath and one on top. He was nice and toasty.

hi maddy

i got a sleeping(gro) bag for my daughter with sleeves in from verbadet, havnt used it yet brought it for this year, im sure she will be toasty warm in it

got some fleecy sleepsuits from mothercare in the sale